Who's had gelling with ULSD???

[GaryOwen]

steved



Forgot to mention - I used two heater hose tees that are 5/8" x 5/8" x 3/8" (NAPA P/N BK 6601484). I just replaced my original heater hoses with standard 5/8" heater hose.



Gary

 

[Greenleaf]

For the first time in many years. Today is 1° above (I know, that's not cold so please don't comment) The fleet went down. (School buses. Talk about a major 911 when students are stranded) The supplier said there is three times the additive in this new UL fuel. Still not enough. The engines range from 1992 to 2005 Cummins 5. 9



They begin to loose power and cut out.



My fuel tank, 2500 gallons, be frozen enough that the pump will not suck it.

 

[JLEONARD]

NO problems gelling here in Ct and temps hovering around the zero mark for several days now. I'm using FPPF antigel/boost.

No problems with the 99 Jetta TDI either.

 

[TLanier]

i go out to the airport flying J to get my fuel in the winter, as they keep straight #2 all winter, no blend. last year i started up just fine at 0' all winter long. last friday morn it had been -14 out, and must have still been -5 or -10 at 7am. she started up, ran for about three minutes, then slowly died the gel death. never happend last year with LSD. got up to a balmy 24' that afternoon, and after sittin in the sun, fired right up.



btw, i was going skiing. ended up studying instead.

 

[steved]

steved



Forgot to mention - I used two heater hose tees that are 5/8" x 5/8" x 3/8" (NAPA P/N BK 6601484). I just replaced my original heater hoses with standard 5/8" heater hose.



Gary

Cool, I'm going to print this out and install it in the near future!!



steved

 

[Alphacowboy]

-13 to -20 the last couple mornings, fired right up without issue here. FP still at 15+. BUT, I have noticed that this winter, my fuel milage has dropped HORRIBLY! It usually drops a couple miles every winter but this winter, it seems to be at least 4 mpg if not 6! WTH?! But they are blaming the upped percentage of BIO here as well for the gelling issues.

 

[JasonCzerak]

upped?

-13 to -20 the last couple mornings, fired right up without issue here. FP still at 15+. BUT, I have noticed that this winter, my fuel milage has dropped HORRIBLY! It usually drops a couple miles every winter but this winter, it seems to be at least 4 mpg if not 6! WTH?! But they are blaming the upped percentage of BIO here as well for the gelling issues.

upped? more then 2%?





heh, us MN's should beable to claim a 5% HP handy cap in dyno numbers and drag times

 

[Silver Bullet Ram]

I know mine has been running poor since ulsd came out. Got worse when it turned cold and it has been tripping codes. Is it related to the fuel, I could speculate.



Gary

 

[ROADWARRIOR]

After reading through all these posts, it seems like the problem isn't necessarily the ULSD, but more likely who manufactured it and to what specs.

I haven't ran any ULSD through my truck, but my Jetta seems to like it. My usual winter mileage drop is not near as bad as last year. I've started the car in -10 treated with the normal dose of the old LSD Amalgamated formula. BTW, I am getting my fuel from the local Bio-Diesel retailer as well. In the summer it is B20, not sure what it is in the winter.



Dan

 

[MRosinski]

Out here in northcentral IL temps havent been above 15* and dropped as low as -12* for the past week and a half. Running pure ULSD and runs like a champ, no problems yet... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . Knock on wood :-laf

 

[JKinney]

After reading through all these posts, it seems like the problem isn't necessarily the ULSD, but more likely who manufactured it and to what specs.

I haven't ran any ULSD through my truck, but my Jetta seems to like it. My usual winter mileage drop is not near as bad as last year. I've started the car in -10 treated with the normal dose of the old LSD Amalgamated formula. BTW, I am getting my fuel from the local Bio-Diesel retailer as well. In the summer it is B20, not sure what it is in the winter.



Dan

Ive been buy irving fuel, a canadian firm with fuel comming in from the maritime provinces. No problems to date.

 

[FFutch]

Thanks for all the responses guys. All the trucks seem to be o. k. since the double dose of P. S. and slightly warmer temps. I bought the last 4 cases of P. S. there is to be found in my area. Maybe I should buy stock in that company!

 

[steved]

I got a response from the local diesel supplier (the BP station I started using)... they are guaranteed to -5*F!!!!! Only -5*F?!?!!? I drive to my parents and can see a temp change down to -25*F!!!!



Not a warm fuzzy feeling...



steved

 

[Wayne M.]

No problems here. I'm still running LSD.

 

[RustyJC]

Here in southeast Texas, we don't get winterized fuel, but I've noticed some funny fuel pressure readings lately. I have a Westach dual combo fuel pressure gauge that reads pre-filter and post-filter fuel pressure. At startup with an ambient temperature of 40 to 50 degF, I get 16 PSIG pre-filter at idle but 10 to 11 PSIG post-filter fuel pressure. After 20 to 30 minutes or so, post-filter fuel pressure will be up to 14. 5 to 15 PSIG, again at idle.



I never noticed this with LSD. I've been using Chevron ULSD - maybe I'll try some other brands and/or start throwing some Power Service in with it.



Rusty

 

[Oasis-3]

new fuel

On Tuesday morning I left the house @ 7:30 am temp was +7F full tank of ulsd and a jug of P. S. 911 the truck started but I had to watch the fuel psi gages one before the filter and one after the filter. I had to watch the one after the filter and let off every time it would drop down to 2 or 3 psi. after about 45 minutes it got better. Then I started my Cummins N-14 1/2 tank of fuel and 3 jugs of P. S. 911 and it ran for about 2 minutes then shut down, so I got my propane torch out and heat up the fuel filter for about 5 minutes and re started it ran for about 7 minutes this time so I heated up the filter again and restarted. Then put the heat back on the filter as it was running for about 10 more minutes then it ran good all day long. So insted of getting on the road at 8:00am I got the truck going down the road at 9:45am

I wish we could get the old fuel back and let the goverment run this junk.





Cliff

 

[abrankod]

As someone who keeps a fleet of school buses running, I've gone through about 4 cases of PS Diesel 911 this year, while in the last few years, I've gone through not even one case. I cant believe how bad the diesel is this winter. And apparently its not just me seeing this issue. Bus and truck fleets everywhere are having this issue. All of us who purchase fuel should be speaking out not only to each other but to the supplier companies. They seem blissfully unaware that anything is wrong. I urge you not to just tell your pumpjockey... but tell the managers who purchase fuel, and even send letters to fuel distributors about your problems. Maybe we can get some movement on this issue if enough people complain.



Just a note to anyone who uses PS's Diesel 911 product to de-gel fuel and to get rid of water... This stuff contains an alcohol in it, and while the design of the product is to cause minimal damage to injector pumps, the fact remains that ALL alcohol products reduce lubricity significantly. Remember that when using alcohol products. Thats why its marketed as a diesel 911... not as a continuous thing.



-Daniel

 

[rbattelle]

I'm running ULSD with 10% biodiesel blended and Stanadyne Performance Formula (newer ULSD formulation). One "hot shot" bottle per tank.



I had a 48-hour cold soak over the past weekend and startup at -7°F on Tuesday morning was fine.



Keeping my fingers crossed.



Ryan

 

[steved]

I'm running ULSD with 10% biodiesel blended and Stanadyne Performance Formula (newer ULSD formulation). One "hot shot" bottle per tank.



I had a 48-hour cold soak over the past weekend and startup at -7°F on Tuesday morning was fine.



Keeping my fingers crossed.



Ryan

A member on another site is becoming a regional rep, so I will be getting Stanadyne here pretty quickly...



steved

 

[Schlickenmeyer]

I was forwarded this article from the Wall St. Journal, but I do not have an account. does anyone happen to be a subscriber? Apparently this mentions a large number of states with gelling problems. If you do have an account, please post the full text. Thanks!

WSJ article on ulsd gelling - subscription required