I used some old comforters and towels to block it all up. Then an elec space heater.

When I went back out to try and start it - nothing. It didnt turn over! Not even a selonoid click. Put a battery charger on and both were good.

So now I think I will drink a beer and bang my head with a hammer.

 

this just may be a good time to have a hi pressure electric pump, warm the tank with a ceramic space heater positioned on the ground and the unhook the line to the ip and let it drain into a bucket with the key on....it should work. If you are in those kinds of temps and are not running white bottle diesel kleen, or maintain a red bottle for emergencies, then you are asking for trouble!

 

It sounds like you need one of Joes specialized hammers. lol you will have to chase down your electrical problem now. I noticed you said you poured in some fuel out of a 5 gallon can, and since you don't put many miles on it, it leads me to belive you don't usually keep your tanks full much. You will have way less water problems in the future if you keep your tanks full, so they don't build up as much condensation. Low tanks are a killer on the fuel system.

 

Amen! Star, you could add a quart of high detergent engine oil to emulsify the water and feed it through the engine.

A hair drier works real good to warm things up. It won't harm the nylon lines. I'd disconnect the line at the lift pump inlet and use a hose in a can to supply highly treated fuel into the system.

 

does anyone have a prefrence on what kind of filter to use? wix? luber-finer? just curious

 

All of them are good. Any of the name brands are going to be good. The manufacturers are constantly checking to make sure they measure up.

 

If you have summer non blended fuel in 18 degree temps, you probably have gelled fuel in the tanks and lines.

Adding fuel treatment to the tanks will take care of the wax there, but nothing for what is in the lines.

Without warming all of the line from the tank to the engine, at 18 degrees if you start at the tanks and work to the engine, by the time you get to the engine the line will be cold enough to re-gell at the tank end.

A warm shop or heat under the truck to warm it from the engine to the tanks long enough to melt the wax in the lines, then get fuel moving from the tanks through the lines will be what it takes to get you running again.

 

remember the top half of the tank is the same price as the bottom half!!

 

I think I just learned that I should not buy diesel in the summer and try and use it in the winter - unless I add the additive BEFORE the lines freeze up... Ok now that is in the permanent memory bank...

I am hoping that the selenoid stud is loose on the starter. Last year it came loose and I had that no start problem. I just need to dig out the snow drift enough to crawl under and see (hope and pray) that if that is it.

Then I will fill in the crawl in hole with snow to help insulate the whole underside and let the heat build from a space heater and see if that melts the lines.

Any reason why I could not try using a blow gun off my compressor to help clear the lines of any partly melted summer diesel after letting it warm up a bit? Going from the fuel filter side that is.

 

I had to take a heat gun to the lines in the diesel ranger a couple winters ago and it fired up long enough to circulate some antigell in the fuel. Only that ranger had probems but I think I dumped the same additive in the rest of the diesels as a precaution. I think what happens is the filter element itself is enough for the thickened fuel to stop flowing, then if it gets cold enough, the rest of the lines will actually gell up and then its over.

The ranger did still idle and run, it just lacked enough power to accelerate or climb hills. It would also get worse the further you drove as wax crystals accumulated in the filter.

My truck also had problems with the OEM water separator. It had water in there but not enough to cause the light to come on. One winter I went out to start it up and went back inside. Came back out and it wasn't running. I don't remember how I narrowed it down to the water separator (think it was because it wouldn't drain) but I removed it and drained as much as I could though the fuel lines. Then I heard rattling inside and figured it was ice. Left it overnight near the wood stove in the basement and put it back on in the morning. Truck fired right up and was fine after that.

It was at that point that I concluded I had to get rid of the OEM water separator. The nice thing about the later 87 and up filter separator assembly, is you can easily take it apart and the ice can be removed. Not possible with the POS 83-86 version. At least not with mine.

 

One of the measurements for cold weather diesel is CFPP - cold filter plug point.

A couple degrees below that is PP - pour point.

If you are colder than CFPP but above PP, changing the filter and filling the new one with Diesel Kleen should get it running again.

Once you are below PP, enough heat to warm the fuel lines is the only thing that will get you running again.

You could use shop air to blow the lines out, but you run the risk of blowing the fuel pickups off in the tanks or blowing a hole in a rust weakened fuel line.

If you blow the pickups off, you will run out of fuel at about 1/3 tank on the gauges.
If a rust spot blows out, having that happen at home is better than out in the middle of nowhere.

And last but not least, you will have a lot of air to bleed out of all the fuel lines.

Before I went through all that, pull the schrader valve out of the filter housing header, have someone crank the engine over while you catch the fuel in a catch can.

1/3 pint in 10 seconds cranking is the minimum fuel delivery.
If the line is not completely blocked, you should get enough fuel treatment up in the lines to take care of the wax with a couple 10 or 15 second cranking bursts.
Remember 2 minutes starter cool down time between cranking attempts.

 

He had ice in the filter Dave most additives don't make any claims to melt ice.
If there is ice in the low spots in the lines that is as far as most additves will go.

 

I do agree with that, the only saving grace part of that is the 88 filter is also the water seperator.
So the ice could have been water that was seperated out of the fuel, and never drained from the filter/seperator.

Partial tanks of fuel are much more likely for moisture condensation to have water in them than full tanks are, so how much water and where it is will be the determining factor here.

Worst case, there is enough ice in the tank to block the fuel pickup.
Best case, all the water was in the fuel filter.

Cranking the engine over with the schrader valve removed will either point to the suction line from the tank is open or the line is blocked.

If you get fuel, at least you know you are part way there to getting it running and there is a chance the getting the fuel suppliment sucked into the lines which may dissolve any wax in the lines.

Even if the lines are partially blocked with ice, with the tank level being low, the return line heat will warm the fuel enough to melt the line ice if the engine runs long enough to get the tank fuel temp above freezing.


No fuel, well then either the lines are completely blocked, there is a lot of water in the tank and the suction line is completely blocked or the lift pump has died.

I always try the cheapest and easiest way first, then work toward the higher cost and harder things after the cheap and easy don't work.