My tractor konked out

[danbuf]

I fired up my Kubota B3030 today to knock down some snow banks..
Started up fine & I ideled her for 12 minutes or so, and proceeded to carefully pick at the snow bank with the loader.. ABout 5 minutes into it, the tractor started to run real rough.. I got it back towards the garage, then it died.. I cranked it over & it started, but ran rough.. I managed to back into the garage..

Its been rather cold here lately.. High of 15, goin down to 5 or so at night..
I did add Power Service to the fuel in the fall, just before shuttin it down.
I have used it a few times in the last few months when it was warmer, and it ran fine'
The tank is not quite full, maybe 3/4 full

Could it be gelled fuel??? Ice ?
I took off fuel cap and there were some ice crystals on bottom cap.

Looked at fuel filter,and fuel looks a bit cloudy to me...

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[George2615]

I had the same thing happen about a week ago. I had added Power Service additive and the fuel still started gelling. I thinned my #2 Diesel fuel with #1 Kero and had to change the fuel filter. Its been fine since.

 

[DieselPower]

Yep, sounds like either the fuel gelled or some ice may have formed in your fuel. I would change the fuel filter and add some diesel fuel pour depressant to your fuel. A friend of mine who owns a fleet of 33 school bus's in MD had a horrible problem this morning with gelled fuel, it was about 6 degrees F. this morning around here. Some would not start at all and others just made it out of the driveway before they shut off. He made a quick dash off to TSC to buy 3 cases of PS 911. He also ordered 35 gallons of pour depressant today to treat his bulk tank.

 

[danbuf]

Thanks guys for the inputs..
I'll head to tractor store tomorrow..

Next winter I guess I'll increase the Power Service anti gel..


Dan

 

[LoneCowboy]

Your fuel gelled up.
That would be my bet.
I just stick some in every time I fill up.
Probably more than necessary, but well, sucks the other way.
although it usually runs good until it really gets below 0 (F) then it gets CHILLY.

 

[john_bud]

Been hearing that the "wonderful" ULS fuel is not being treated effectively. Theories vary that it is harder to suppress the gel point and may need 2x the dose and that the companies have been skimping betting on the warm winter continueing.

Truck has been a driveway queen for 3 days now.

First time ever.

jb

 

[workinallthetime]

Just a dumb okie diesel tech tech here but I have a question. Down here it doesn’t get as cold (60 today, 35 tomorrow) we get down to the single digits from time to time. Does diesel fuel just naturally "gel" up there when it gets that cold, or is it due to water in the fuel? I know trucks have fuel heaters built into them at the filter base but nothing in the tank. The water will sit at the bottom of the tank bound together in little jellyfish looking bubbles; I can’t count the times I have seen that. We treat that like contaminated fuel and do a drain and flush on the tank with a new filter(s). So with all that said is this "powerservice" stuff just an emulsifier of the water molecules to help it pass through the system without "gelling", or am I just lucky enough to not ever have to deal with an inherent property of diesel fuel.
Any of you guys ever thought of a way to hook up a fuel heater to tractors, you could use a relay and have it come on with your glow plugs. A 6.5 gm diesel filter has one 3/8 inlet and 2 3/8 outlets, also has a fuel heater (in the bottom). I think they are about 150 to 200 bucks for the complete unit (filter, base, bracket, heater and sensors) and they use plain rubber fuel line.

It was 60 here today and I played, oops worked my little Kubota till almost 5.

 

[jbrumberg]

danbuf:

Same thing happened to me around two weeks ago . I commented on it in the Oil, Fuels, and Lubricant secton of TBN. I used an electric heat gun and added additonal Power Service (White Bottle) to get the tractor running again. It ran without problems last week "plowing" the little snow we had. The temperatures were subzero at the time. Jay

 

[ccsial]

Does diesel fuel just naturally "gel" up there when it gets that cold, or is it due to water in the fuel? .

I believe the fuel gels because it contains paraffin. Be sure to use the white bottle of power service. I use it in my tractors and my Dodge Cummins and have not had gelling issues down to -10f. That's the coldest I've ever run them.

 

[workinallthetime]

Chemical composition
Petroleum derived diesel is composed of about 75% saturated hydrocarbons (primarily paraffins including n, iso, and cycloparaffins), and 25% aromatic hydrocarbons (including naphthalenes and alkylbenzenes).[5] The average chemical formula for common diesel fuel is C12H26, ranging from approx. C10H22 to C15H32.

c= carbon and h = hydrogen f=fun k = kubota fk = what you said when it died

just a little surfin and came up with this, I see paraffins there so I found this

Kerosene or paraffin oil (British English, not to be confused with the waxy solid also called paraffin wax or just paraffin) is a colorless flammable hydrocarbon liquid.

Kerosene releases heat when burned, making it useful as a fuel. Its heating value, or heat of combustion, is around 18,500 Btu/lb, or 43.1 MJ/kg, making it similar to that of diesel. It is widely used to power jet-engined aircraft, but is also commonly used as a heating fuel.

did you know jd made mortorhomes once apon a time?