did I jell up?
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From: Park Rapids MN
did I jell up?
First off I live in northern Minnesota and my F350 is only used when traveling and not around town. This morning when I left home on a 125 mile trip the temp was -23 at my house. I had my truck plugged in all night so it started easily. About an hour an a half into this trip or 75 miles my truck all of the sudden lost power and sputtered but we never got below 40 miles per hour on the freeway. I pulled into the next service station and topped my tank and added some anti-jell stuff and took off again. About 10 miles down the road this happened and I pulled over and sat for a few minutes and started out again with the truck acting like nothing was wrong. Again about 10 miles later this happens again, but this time after letting my truck have a breather it was fine the rest of the way, and back home later in the day. The outside temp when this first happen was -11 and I thought you needed a colder temp for diesel to jell.
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When is the last time you changed the fuel filters? How often do you drain the water separator?
I once had a 7.3 truck gel up around 0 degrees which is what made me a believer in running an additive all winter long. Of course thats a different engine and it wasnt ULSD and I only made it 10 miles before it died. Since then I have run additive and stayed up on filter changes (10k) and draining the water separator monthly. Havent had any other issues (knock on wood).
I once had a 7.3 truck gel up around 0 degrees which is what made me a believer in running an additive all winter long. Of course thats a different engine and it wasnt ULSD and I only made it 10 miles before it died. Since then I have run additive and stayed up on filter changes (10k) and draining the water separator monthly. Havent had any other issues (knock on wood).
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From: Washington,KS/Lincoln,NE
First off I live in northern Minnesota and my F350 is only used when traveling and not around town. This morning when I left home on a 125 mile trip the temp was -23 at my house. I had my truck plugged in all night so it started easily. About an hour an a half into this trip or 75 miles my truck all of the sudden lost power and sputtered but we never got below 40 miles per hour on the freeway. I pulled into the next service station and topped my tank and added some anti-jell stuff and took off again. About 10 miles down the road this happened and I pulled over and sat for a few minutes and started out again with the truck acting like nothing was wrong. Again about 10 miles later this happens again, but this time after letting my truck have a breather it was fine the rest of the way, and back home later in the day. The outside temp when this first happen was -11 and I thought you needed a colder temp for diesel to jell.
The computer on this engine is so sophisticated that it senses when the engine can't get the fuel it requires for the power demand. It will then take the engine to safe mode (low power). It won't run more than 2500 RPM in this mode nor put out enough power to keep speed up on the interstate.
You can reset the computer by shutting the truck off and restarting it, but the real cure is likely a fuel filter change.
Diesel fuel can gel at much higher temperatures than -11. It depends on quality and winterization. Poor fuel with no # 1 in it could give trouble @ 20 above. I do not believe, in your climate, that # 2 with an additive is sufficient below zero. I think you need, at a minimum, a 50/50 blend of #1 and #2 and then possibly an additive in this blend.
Perhaps the most critical thing about running a diesel is to know what quality and, in the winter, blend of diesel you're buying and putting in your tank. My Ford dealer's deisel technician ran an analysis on the fuel I buy most often. It didn't cost me anything.
BTW Are you running a winter front?
Last edited by Larry NCKS; Jan 25, 2009 at 07:25 AM. Reason: add info
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From: Park Rapids MN
Thanks for all your answers. I have a job 1 truck with about 9000 miles on it so it still has the orginal fuel filter. I didn't hear about the free winter fronts until it was to late so I now need to buy one. When I stopped for fuel only #2 had an ULSD sticker and I never shut off the engine. Thanks again for your help, I have learned to get the best answer you ask on this site and not the dealer
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From: racine wisc
you are in minnesota. does the fuel you use have any bio ini t? bio gells at higher temps. the higher the bio concentration the higher the temp for gelling. i have had 4 auto diesels and always used power service in them. usually a generous 4 or 6 glug pouring. i never had gelling issues. i understand ford diesel fuel filters are heated. it is possible that if you ran bio the filter was gelled enough to cause losses of power. if you can't get an attractive winter front get a sheet of cardboard and wrap tie it to the front.
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whporwil, I had the exact same scenario with my 2008 350 last week in Iowa. It was -20 + 35 mph winds and about 50 miles from home. I recently had my fuel filters changed at my last oil change which was about 8000 miles ago. Gonna have them do it again this week. Did you happen to have your cruise control on? I was doing 72mph at 20,000 rpms. I went all last winter without a problem. Stoppin, restarting, and deicer got me home. duvanh
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From: Normal
Yep, had the same thing happen to me two weeks ago, even with using additive and the sign stating it was treated to -20, temp was -15. Limped the truck home to a heated garage and dumped whole bunch more power service additive into the tank. I drained the water separator and it was just pure diesel. However, I have noticed the blue bio-diesel stickers, the ones that say 5-20% blend, and after talking with my diesel technician on that day they had a bunch of them lined up for the same issue. If you read the print on the power service label, it states to use double the amount for biodiesel blends up to 20%. So if you have the 38-gallon tank, one of those smaller 32-oz bottles of power service white bottles, plus a bit more should cover you. However, I didn't think they were using bio stuff up that far, check to see if there is a blue sticker by the pump. So, now I am using probably 3x the amount required just to be on the safe side. Walmart has really become EVERYBODYS friend lately the power service is becoming harder to find...grabbed the last gallon tonight as a matter of fact.
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From: Maine
I doubt it was gelling. 99.9% of the time it is water in the system. Usually the water will freeze at the water seperator at the frame rail. The filter has a fine mesh screen wrapped around it and a small amount of water will freeze there. The longer you can keep it running usually the better off you are because you are sending warm fuel back to the tank. The best way to avoid this is try to buy your fuel where the truckers buy it and they go through alot of fuel. If the fuel was untreated it can gell at those temps, but usually will not come out of it. $.02
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