well, after over 30 hrs without, we have running water again! yay! you don't realize quite how nice a flushing toilet and hot shower are until your property manager says "just wait for the pipes to thaw on their own." dumb bitch...but i'll spare all the details. i've been in touch with city code enforcement and health department since what she did was illegal and i'm not gonna be treated like that. nonetheless, we are looking for another place to live when the lease is up in may.

now, on to important things...still working on the truck...so damn cold i can't do much at a time. my batteries are shot for sure- i have them at advance getting charged for free. whoever last replaced them didn't do both together. one of them, the bosch, tested so low it prolly ain't coming back. the autocraft titanium is very very weak too but also under warranty, so i may be able to get two new ones for the price of one. i really prefer napa but even my buddy's discount isn't 50%! sometime this week i need to recheck the battery cables to see if they melted further down...

and i'm going to operate on the assumption that my fuel is gelled. how long should i expect it take her to thaw out? will one additive suffice to un-gel and prevent recurrence? i honestly know nothin about this...i'm not used to cold snaps like this!

 

putt diesel 911 in the tank and it should un gell it. not sure how long it takes.

 

It sucks having frozen pipes. It's happened to us here a few times too but we own the farm so noone to complain to. Except my kid that keeps leaving the well house door open.
Don't know if this applies to you but when we were in Pa, I found out that the landlords were responsible for maintaining heat and water in the house and if it went out in the winter you had the right to leave on a lease. Also you can't be evicted easily in teh winter there. It was kinda nice.

Get some optima batteries if you can. I have used them for several years now and really love them. Never had one go bad yet.

 

diesel gelling depending on how bad its gelled only take 20 minutes or so to degell with 911 in the fuel bowl and tank...


I know that when it started to gell in the fuel bowl on my truck, I put some 911 in the tank, plugged in the block heater, and two hours later when I got back from school it was all better.

 

Frozen piped bite! Everything we have up here is buried real deep or insulated. No choice up here. I've been wondering why all the gelling problems on the forum, but I forgot, you don't have winter blended fuel that far south. I've never had gelling probs until below -40. But, I've never run summer fuel in the winter either..... The guys are right on with the diesel 911 stuff. Works great.

 

How do you know when the fuel is gelled?

 

The only thing I like about living in Cali is that when we freeze its usually only because its 31 degrees. I think we are supposed to be in the upper 60's today : )

 

blah...yeah, we don't really do winter down here lol! i'll just the check the fuel bowl and prolly put the 911 in regardless. i don't have money to spare for sure, but i'd rather spend $10 or so on the 911 for nothing than risk clogged fuel lines or another expensive issue. i have bad luck, so ima play it safe! ;P

picked up my batteries today...as i expected one is shot, the other is showing 860 cca on the tester. soooo, i'm thinking i will try to get a used one to tide me over til i get battery cables and christmas paid off. anyone care to elaborate on why it is you are supposed to replace both together? i know the one-at-a-time thing is a no-no...

and then i guess i better suck it up and get busy with her...i've just been driving the honda cuz i don't wanna work in the cold...i'm a wimp i know...but i ain't really needed her either. gotta make another run to the hay barn next week looking like, and we need my 4wd for that. no more excuses lol

 

Mainly because it takes a lot to spin these PSD's over especially in the super cold climates. Two (2) new batteries of the same brand and power will last longer (In theory) than two (2) mismatched batteries of un-equal power and/or age.
Rog

 

Stick a new & used battery in a flash light. Doesn't last too long or shine too bright, old battery sucks off new one while running light. Stick two new ones in flash light lasts normal & shines normal. That's how they explained it to me. Your batteries are hooked in paralell (hot to hot & gnd to gnd) so its still 12 volts but adds the amps together. Also if one is bad the charge doesn't always go to the good one as the bad one trys to draw it all. Yeah, you could get a used one, charge it & test it, but you better put the better one on the passenger side.
Diesel Kleen 911 works well (red bottle), open filter suck out 1/2 of bowl & fill w/ 911. Dump the rest of 911 in tank & add another to both tanks. Heard of people putting ceramic disk heaters under truck to warm it up but IDK if I would. Maybe in an emergency. I use Diesel Kleen every tank.

 

thanks for the info...wish i had $$ to just buy her two new ones now and be done with it. will have my electrical whiz buddy over tomorrow to look at trailer wires and unscrew the !@#$ fuel filter that i can't budge for the life of me sure wish pay day came before the horses run out of hay! then i wouldn't be stuck in this pickle!!

 

Good Luck & God Bless

 

I got both my batteries for 160 i think. I'd have to look at the recipt.