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Gelled up. Maybe

J

jrsavoie

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Location
Rural Clifton, Illinois
I ordered 150 gallons of B5 a few weeks ago. I thought I ordered premium winter blend as I normally would.
Instead I got #2 B5.
I noticed when I was filling the truck that the fuel looked like it was gelling. I added enough Hotshots winter to cover the 12 gallons I guestimated It took to fill.

I'm not sure of the status of the 12 gallons of fuel that was left in the tank before I topped it off.
Hotshots says to store above 32°. It's in the house. Will it mix with the diesel at 0° ?

I don't know if the truck is gelled or not. I haven't tried to start it since it got cold.

I topped the Jeep off too. Same amounts of fuel.

I have some John Deere diesel additive - I don't know that it's antigel though.

When I got the diesel, I added what little Power Service I had left. Not enough to make a dent in 150 gallons.
 
Will L. said:
It will mix in, so long as it isn’t so gelled that you can stir or shake it up.
Click to expand...
Not much shaking the truck, Jeep or the storage tank.

All these years, I never had to deal with a gelled vehicle.

I guess if anything is open when I go to town, I'll have to get some other kind of antigel.

Might be the first time I've been out of Power Service, Schaefer's or Optilube around here too.

I can't believe he brought #2 this time of year.
He's been delivering for many years.
 
The gm fuel heater- another penny pinched item. Can’t really heat a plastic tank well.
We don’t have the problem often here- but because there is never anything other than #2 at the stations, when it does dip or the folks go into the mountains- i have had to go play rescue boy a few times.

Add jumper cables to the truck, bypass (power up) the fuel heater and remove the filter. Taken metal cans with wrap heaters aka stick on pan heaters and siphoned fuel into them. Heat that fuel CAUTIOUSLY, and poured it back in. Power up the lift pump so it starts circulating. Once she is running, put in the new fuel filter.
Then go back to enjoying cosy temperatures the next week.
 
The son, going to shove the snowmobile onto the trailer, using his JD tractor with the loader bucket.
Just getting started and the JD starts sputtering and cutting out. Kelly had some Stanadyne performance formula additive. Maybe a pint left in the jug.
Me not knowing hos big a tank tje JD has, told him just dump that in there, he gives it a couple of dribbles and says this whole jug treats 500 gallons, or some such. He lets the tractor idle for about twenty minutes and it aint changing. Told Him we need to go get some no. 1. And so we did. After about an hour, with the big kerosene blower heater pointed at the fuel filter and engine on a fast idle, it started running a little better so we proceeded to load the snowmobile. By the time we got it shoved onto the trailer the tractor was running quite well.
In all the years of working as a mechanic for the DOT, that is the first experience I have had with gelled fuel.
B66D7D6F-C796-4E71-AC07-290BBCE23BA5.jpeg
DC1749DB-DC04-406A-B8D6-15556457E773.jpeg
 
Stoney said:
@Will L. There's a fuel heater built in the truck.?
Click to expand...
Yes, bottom of the ffm.
If I'm getting fuel up through the filter but not out the water separator drain hose where would it be frozen?
The entire filter housing.

And could I possibly put a hair dryer down in there to thaw it?
After you throw away the now ruined filter, yes.

But that is not the only place you will be gelled. As much water as you have, the fuel lines also. Possibly the entire system. You have to search and determine. Suckfest part of owning a diesel that not everyone gets to learn, and some learn the worst way. Guess which you are.
 
Last week before this cold came I got all the trucks and equipment ready at work, drills, excavators, pumps, etc, I bought 10 - 2 1/2qt bottles of power service white anti gell, used a 100gallon tank and double mixed it, pored some PS in each tank then filled up with more treated fuel. I over treat the fuel, we only have #2 here. I was surprised how many didn't know fuel would gel up, we got down to 7* yesterday morning, it was -1* at my house in the country. I have been stranded before with a froze up big truck, not a fun time so now I over treat everything...
 
Twisted Steel Performance said:
Last week before this cold came I got all the trucks and equipment ready at work, drills, excavators, pumps, etc, I bought 10 - 2 1/2qt bottles of power service white anti gell, used a 100gallon tank and double mixed it, pored some PS in each tank then filled up with more treated fuel. I over treat the fuel, we only have #2 here. I was surprised how many didn't know fuel would gel up, we got down to 7* yesterday morning, it was -1* at my house in the country. I have been stranded before with a froze up big truck, not a fun time so now I over treat everything...
Click to expand...
I was kind of taken by surprise.

I always order winter blend premium diesel. if I order in the fall. Previous to this year I have been running B-11.
So I always gave it an additional treatment, even though it was already winter blend.

Same driver for quite a few years. I'm surprised he brought #2 at this time of year.

There were years I would roll into the fall with #2 in the tank and I would just double treat it when that happened.

This year I cut back to B5.

I'm torn between the wanted lubricity and dealing with the issues Bio can bring.
 
@jrsavoie here's something that was in my owner's manual of my 1980 Audi 5000 turbo diesel. Under Winter Driving, it recommended using Winter Blended Diesel - or #1 Diesel if temperatures were consistently below 0°F. It also recommended adding 1 gallon of gasoline to the 20 gallon fuel tank (or the appropriate amount based on how full the tank was) if the fuel had gelled to get it to flow. Audi also recommended to use the 1:20 ratio of gasoline to #2 if Winter Blend Diesel wasn't available, but not to use more gasoline than that under any circumstances.
 
Might be a combination of gelling and icing. Just my observations from my past fuel issues. I use the Power Service white bottle too. But when it gets to zero or below it seems my filter ices up. Even though there does not seem to be any water in the filter. I just use blow dryer or heat gun on my filter casing and get the truck running. Once running it seems to do ok.
 
Husker6.5 said:
Power Service also has a Winter Anti-gel, as well as their 911 which is for de-icing/degelling tanks/lines that have gelled up already.
Click to expand...
Yep. White bottle.

I use Power Service White bottle, Optilube, Schafer's, John Deere & Hotshots for anti gel.

I avoid using Power Service red bottle - emergency use only - no lubricant.

I used red bottle once, but it turned out that wasn't the issue. There was oak leaves in the fuel tank. We blamed a grandson. They were still green, so they had been in there a few months.

I just got caught this year because I had #2 delivered when I expected winter blend.

I always give things another dose, even with winter blend, when the temp is projected to get to 10° F or below.

Which I did with the #2 this year. But it was a light dose because I thought I was just double treating premium winter blend.
 
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