Diesel Gelling?

[tcorbitt]

I have never owned anything but Diesel vehicles. Currently, 06 F350 PSD for towing (37K miles), 99 MB E300 TD(210K miles), and 95 MD E300D (309K miles). We live in Vermont. When the vehicles are not in the garage in the winter, block heaters are used if the temps drop below 0F and we plan to use the vehicle before temps rise up to 10F or so. Makes starting/warming up quicker. Antigel is added to the fuel when temps are forecast to be below 10 below or colder. I have a timer in line with the outlets used for the block heaters to turn on at 3am. Our neighbor went one step further and put a temp sensor in line to only turn on when temps are 0F and below. Not sure where he found this gizmo, but does seem like a good idea. I am told, the block heater on some of the new Diesels only activate when the temp reaches a specific level even when plugged in.

We are hoping to retire our 95 E300D soon. The new 08 E320s do not have a block heater. MB claims no block heating needed at temps down to -50F. We are not going to see -50F in North America (wind chill not a factor with cars as it is us humans).

[richfaa]

The post by wersqu sounds like the talk we got from out diesel guys at the bus garage on the new fuel. As a recap remember that fuel gelling and use of the block heater address two different things. Gellinig is another word for freezing. Diesel fuel WILL freeze. Do a little experiment.Take a small amount of ULSD and let it sit outside in freezing or below freezing temps..do the same with the same amount of LSD.Observe the results... Put both those glasses in your freezer and check the results. If, like us, you have a small freezer or a freezer that you are not using do a controled experiment..set the temp at say 20 degrees//observe both fuels..It is a interesting experiment and will answer many questions...for sure.. I will use my kill-O watt meter from the camper today to see how many amps the block heater really draws..will edit this post later.

[bullroc3]

I had a 1993 Chevrolet with the 6.5 turbo diesel and NEVER had a gelling problem. Last year was the first winter with the new "06 Duramax and it gelled on me twice. I asked around and they blamed it on the new ULSD fuel. Here in northern PA, they used to advertise winter blend of diesel. I don't see this anymore. I buy all of my diesel and the local Flying J and will be adding anti-gel to my fill ups. This leads to a question. Will adding kerosene to the fuel prevent it from gelling? That's what they do for a blend for mobile home tanks that are outside. Would it be safe for the Duramax? How much would need to be added?

[ols1932]

I don't have a Duramax, but I wouldn't add kerosene. It might not hurt it but then you never know. I can remember running kerosene in our old John Deere tractors but that's about as far as it goes. Just stick with an anti-gelling additive like PowerServe.

Orv

[skypilot]

ULSD gelled at a higher temp than the LSD it replaced (at least last year around here). About 20-25 degrees above zero and Dodge dealer was seeing parafin drop out in filters; winter blended fuel should be in most stations in the mid-western stations by now but here in Manhattan KS I fueled Monday night at Shell and they were not blended as yet and we have had temperatures in the teens already. So -- I'm running PowerService (White Bottle) and running it a little heavy just to be safe. Big boss has a Duramax and he had to have filters replaced last Friday -- he fueled in OKC and that fuel gelled on him last week ; not a happy camper at all.

[richfaa]

Put both those glasses in your freezer and check the results. If, like us, you have a small freezer or a freezer that you are not using do a controled experiment..set the temp at say 20 degrees//observe both fuels..It is a interesting experiment and will answer many questions"...Put a glass of lsd and ulsd in the freezer set at zero degrees,,been there for over 24 hours.Don't know if they are winter blend or not here in Northern Ohio but....they did NOt gell they are just cold. For whatever that is worth??

[skypilot]

Just to update my comments from above -- the local Shell station filled their tanks last night (I topped off this morning for the weekend trip to see the Cats whoop up on Neb ) The fill yesterday is blended fuel - they had a paper sign on the pump advising that this was their first blended fuel load. So, appears to be a factor of station usage (this one does a lot of diesel business) as well as location.