We brought home our first Excursion this week from Florida.

2002 7.3L 148k miles. No Rust

But- ran into unexpectedly cold weather in Erie, PA and ended up with a gelled fuel problem. Stuck.

Luckily the hotel had extension cords and I was able to locate the heater plugin

So in an effort to find a more permanent solution that works in remote locations, I saw this:

Fuel bowl heater fuse # on 2002 PSD? - Diesel Forum - TheDieselStop.com

It refers to a fuel heater element in the fuel filter, but I couldn't determine if my 2002 7.3L Excursion has this? If so, it isn't working.

Unless it isn't automatic and needs some user intervention?

Any info, troubleshooting, pics, etc would be most appreciated!

 

Your 7.3 should have this. It's located under the filter in the fuel bowl on the top center of the engine. It's easy to replace should it fail. This doesn't help a whole lot of the fuel in the tank is gel'd. I'd post in 7.3 forums. Those guys know their stuff!

 

Thanks. I think it was just the filter starting to gel/wax up. Once we plugged it in for about 15 mins, it bumped a bit, then we just did a few cycles of that.

I didn't try to 'force' it into a rough start. I put the additive in the tank before the next to last heat/turn over cycle to get it through the lines and into the filter.

Good to know mine has this, I was looking for an aftermarket solution.

This Excursion is brand new for us. I am most familiar with diesel machinery and not yet oriented with the features and locations of things on the Excursion.

I'll dig into the connections and heater further. I appreciate your quick reply!

 

The main problem is you have "summer" gas.

Places that experience cold weather have extra additives in the fuel to prevent freezing and gelling (sp?).

Personally I would start off with a diesel additive like Power Service Diesel 911 or an equivalent and then fill the rest of the tank up in your local gas station.

Run the truck around for a bit to make sure you get the new mixture in the engine and you shouldn't have further issues with the fuel assuming everything else is working fine.

 

Right on the money. If you can get your hands on 2 quart bottles on Power Service brand fuel additive..... one bottle of the red diesel 911, one bottle of the white.


Pour the appropriate amount of the red bottle (911) in the tank, and if you can.... remove the filter cover and pour a few ounces into the filter bowl. Then add the appropriate amount of the white bottle to the tank for 44 gallons. The back of the bottle tells how many ounces / gallon of fuel. The red bottle dissolves the waxy solids when fuel gels, and the white keeps it from gelling in the future

 

You guys nailed it, for sure!

I figure with 2 fills at 1/2 tank levels, I could still have had a 75/25 mix of summer and winter diesel. Should have been good to about 10F or so.

It unexpectedly dropped to -16F. Yep, -16F is quite a bit lower than 10F, haha! I hung my head and told my friends that I was dumb. I know better. I was dumb.

Ironically, I had told my wife on the way to Erie that I was going to put together a toolkit with tools, diesel additive, emergency additive, fuel filter, cam position sensor, extension cord, tow rope, gloves, etc.

I made it to PA from Miami Thursday late in the day, crashed a few hours, then we left for Erie early Friday am.

The heater is for the future situations where I do not have a plug nearby and we are expecting very cold weather. I will have winter fuel, but may not have a plug. I do not plan to be broken down again. (who 'plans' to break down?)

I'll be better prepared as we head to North Carolina this next weekend, for sure.

Oh, and I now am over 150k miles since Wednesday at noon. That means I have put about 2000 miles on her this first week!

Lovin' the Ex!

 

Moved to the 7.3L PSD forum.

Stewart

 

Congrats on the new Ex!

One very important point when it comes to anti-gel additives that gets overlooked. They are only affective if u get it in the fuel before the fuel hits it's cloud point. Once the fuel starts to cloud (around 15-20F) it's too late. I won't reverse it, just prevents the wax particles from attaching to each other.

That is were a product like 911 comes into play. But 911 should not be used routinely as an additive. It's only meant to be used when gelling/icing has occurred.

 

Excellent tips!

Still having some slow starting, taking about 6 cycles. Going to buy and change the fuel filter. Noticed some electrical gremlins, might have a grounding somewhere (orange with green stripe fault?). That could be interfering with glowplugs, heater, etc.

I can't fit it inside my garage right now (long story) and it's pretty crappy weather, so not looking to get into too much right now until our trip to NC this weekend.

I'll plug it in and see if that helps, then I'll know to look at fuel and GPs and not something worse.

4hrs max plugin, right? I don't have a timer...yet.

 

Here is what you need to start............

- at least 10.5-10.7V when the glow plugs are on.
- at least 100 rpm's
- ICP of 500 psi. If you unplug the ICP sensor the PCM will not get the reading from the sensor and default to 750 psi.
- PCM/IDM sync signal - this shows as 0.6ms FIPW(fuel inj pulse width). Once the other minimums are met, the FIPW will jump above 3.0 ms.

In addition:

in the below zero temps 5W-40 or 10W-30 Diesel rated oil sure makes a huge difference in cold starts.

You can plug the block heater in as long as you like. 3-4 hours seems to do the trick for most folks. Anything over that just raises the electric bill. But if it's gonna be a - 10F night I'll just leave her plugged in overnight, have a beer (or 3) and go to bed ..........

 

Here is a great link to Wood-N-Things explanation of the 7.3L glow plug system and how to test your glow plugs & relay.


https://sites.google.com/site/woodnt...ow-plug-system

 

I'm kinda new to this too, so I'm wondering if, once the fuel has gelled, will it ever "ungell" when the temps warm up?

Thanks,
Curt

 

Curt...once temps get above the cloud point, the fuel "ungells."

 

Thanks for the info and the link. I'm handy with offroad diesel equipment, but this onroad is a different animal that will take a bit to get used to.

I told the Mrs. you told me it requires drinking a beer to prep for cold nights. I don't think she saw the logic in it. LOL

Also- I don't have a 'Wait to Start' just the glowplug curly light. I'm used to waiting for it to go out and listening for a relay to click before cold starting my diesels.

But I read the GPs can stay on up to 2 mins. Should I wait longer? I've been cycling them on 2-3 times when hard starting before cranking. Is that wrong?

 

Just fine to do that, you won't need to when the block heater is plugged in.
The "Wait to Start" light and the "Curley Cew" are the same thing. Yes, you are correct in that the glow plugs can stay on up to 2 minutes after the "WTS" light goes out. A lot of folks wire up a LED light and run it in the cab so the can see when the GP's are on. Others watch their voltage.