Moving in about a month to Tulsa area from central California. Going to use my '02 F350 7.3ltr PS diesel to tow a trailer filled with my worldly belongings. I have serviced the truck & checked the glo plugs and relays and all seem to be working. 15w40 oil in the engine.
I see talk of anti gel treatment for the fuel on this forum. will I need it for the trip out there or can I wait 'till I get there? It never gets that cold here so we have no experience with the stuff. What's the best stuff to use?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

Pick up some diesel kleen (white jug) at your local Walmart and put it in the tank when you stop to fill up and the temps are dropping. When I go back to Wyoming I also carry a red jug in case I freeze up but I have not had to use it yet. Not sure how cold it gets where you are going but one other thing to think about is the wiper fluid. Chances are the fluid you have in the truck is only good in rather warm climates and it will freeze. If you can't find any low temp fluid before you leave, drain the fluid down and buy a low temp fluid at any good truck stop along the way as they will all have it in colder areas.

 

All my vehicles get the Rain-X washer fluid - the winter and regular mixes. It's easier to see when all that rain doesn't stick to the windshield.

Tulsa doesn't sound that cold, but we who share a fence with the Canadians use 5W-40 synthetic oil in the winter for better starts.

 

I live near OKC, honestly you shouldn't need any "anti-gel" for your fuel currently. We do have some bouts of cold weather sometimes around late January to February. Welcome to Oklahoma.

 

You shouldn't need any anti-gel additives. The fuel will already be the winter version. But Tulsa? Yikes...

 

Cold doesnt start till you get to 0. I do not start with anti gel until 0 degrees. Just no use or point to it. I dont think you would ever see that down there. Hell my truck would think it was still July.

 

I live right outside of Tulsa and right now you dont need to do anything for cold weather. It was in the 70s this weekend and plenty of people were out in shorts. I dont know how well the winterize the diesel around here but I make it a point to put diesel kleen winter additive in when I think it will get into the 20s. I would rather spend a few extra dollars per fill up then get stuck because of gelled fuel.

Welcome to Oklahoma!

 

I'd suggest you check the weather forecast before you leave. Might be worth getting some anti-gel stuff to put in the tank if you're driving through the cold. And then only filling up at truck stops on the drive.

Winter grade fuel is in the pumps in the places that need it, but you are driving from the maybe doesn't need it area to maybe you do area. Don't want to stay overnight during a cold snap with the wrong stuff in the tank before you switch over.

Next step, research tornado shelter. Spring is coming.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I already use the low temp rainex fluid. Going to drive through Phoenix rather than Flagstaff to avoid as much snow as I can. Then turn north to go to Albuquerque. Hoping to avoid as much cold country as I can. The wife will be driving the F350. She will have the machine tools in the bed & I will be following in a rented 26' box truck with the rest of the household goods. Getting out of Calimexafornia.

 

If you have done the hutch mod you may get a surprise if it gets cold enough. I never had a problem with my truck gelling up until I did that mod. I almost never even ran additives either. When I did the hutch mod I gelled up a few times at the junk inline filter.
I'm sure others will argue what I said but that's my first hand experience.

 

I've seen the inline filter cloud up without additive, so no... you're not going to get an argument from me.

 

On the 6.2 Chev models in the Army we would blow air back through the lines and that would blow the in tank sock off. Would run great in the cold after that.

Also use to carry a fuel cap for all the trucks with me to pressurize the tank 5-10 psi. People always wondered why I could always get there truck started in cold weather lol. It used to be a love hate. People who didnt want to drive hated it. People who really wanted them started loved it.

But that above info was good stuff if I ever come across that problem. Just detach pre pump blow back slightly and re attach. Once it starts to go across that heating element and pump back to the tank a few times its fine, on these trucks.

 

Will take all this under advisement. I do have an inline filter on the front tank prior to the transfer valve. I used to fill my front tank with used hydraulic oil and run on that a lot. Probably have 100K miles on lube oil in that truck. I'm retired now and don't have access to the oil anymore. I should probably remove this filter.