Will diesel fuel and filter "ungel" if warmer and additive added?

[CobyRupert]

Will diesel fuel and filter "ungell" if warmed up and additive added. I realize that this is probably 2 questions. Seems like old posts have conflicting answers to this.

I get my diesel 5 gallons at a time, so I figured it had additives or was blended. (I now realize I shouldn't trust Hess diesel and should add an additive in the winter.)We've had -20 F cold spell here for a few days, but today was +20F and tractor started right up and idled well. It had ran well at +20F before the cold snap. When I took it out of the unheated shed it lost power and quit. Wouldn't restart.

I added about 1/2 gallon of kerosene to what I estimate is probably ~10 gallons in the tank. ( 1/2 gal kerosene probably isn't enough? It's all I had on hand. Some say 30% (or 3 gallons) would of been more appropriate? (But not necessary if I add the additive.)

I opened the drain on the fuel filter and fuel ran out (it looked clear, but hard to say). Tractor restarted, would idle well and I could run it up to full throttle no problem. It ran ok, and I drove it around ok , took it to the woods, but when I got to the first hill, I could tell it didn't have full power. Got scared about the possibility of having it quit away from the buildings out in deep snow. Drove back and parked it in a heated (~40-50F) garage.

I don't think fuel or filter could of been "very gelled" as the tractor had quite a bit of power.

I guess my biggest questions are:
1. Being inside now, if I bring the tractor up to 50F and add the treatment will the fuel in the tank ungell and be okay, or do I need to drain and replace?
2. Will the fuel filter ungell if its now inside or I hit it with a blow dyer and run some treated fuel through it (by turning tractor on)? (Can I avoid having to remove the filter and bleed the system? I'm sure it's not a big deal, but this is new territory for me.)
3. If I do remove the filter, do I have to replace it or does that depend if I still find wax a 50F?

Thank you for any replies.

 

[RalphVa]

Gelling is caused by wax in the fuel. Wax is just some paraffinic fuel that has solidified. It'll melt when heated or dissolved with kerosene (especially warm or hot kerosene). However, if the wax comes out of solution as a glob, it may not go back into solution when warmed that readily. Ever try dissolving lumps of sugar in lukewarm milk or coffee? Needs a lot of stirring, usually.

To really get wax fully dissolved reasonably quickly, it'll require heating the mixture up to around 80-100 F. Gotta be very careful how you heat diesel, too.

If your fuel filter gels up, you could possibly get it ungelled using a hair dryer. The fuel filter will be the stoppage point in your system. In the rest, it'll actually extrude through lines, pumps and fittings.

Happened to me once at -22 F one morning in Vermont with our 1972 220D Benz. Started great with an engine heater. About 1/2 mile down the road, it quit. Let sit about a minute or two. Restarted and drove another 1/2 mile or so. Quit again. Did same thing again. Never quit after that. 'twas just wax gel on the fuel filter. The fuel filter on a Benz (also on VW/Audi engines) is right up next to the engine. So, engine heat will keep the fuel from gelling in the filter.

I worked in lube oil industry in dewaxing for 31 years.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

If you use an additive, it won't dissolve too well in cold fuel either, but isn't very viscous. Use about 0.15% of additive. This was the typical dose of dewaxing aid (same kind of stuff) or pour depressant (again, same kind of stuff).

Just removing and replacing a filter won't do much good. The new filter will just get gelled up, too. Get heat on the filter via hair dryer and then engine heat.

Water, will put a stoppage to your fuel even in the lines. If so, get some heat on the lines. Won't take that much heat to unfreeze any water.

Ralph

 

[Coyote machine]

You might be able to degel a filter out of the fuel bowl easier by hitting it with the hair dryer, caution with where and how because fuel could ignite from dryer coils. Best case, replace it and thaw out tractor. Use winterized fuel from a reliable source all winter.

 

[CobyRupert]

If you use an additive, it won't dissolve too well in cold fuel either, but isn't very viscous. Use about 0.15% of additive. This was the typical dose of dewaxing aid (same kind of stuff) or pour depressant (again, same kind of stuff).

Just removing and replacing a filter won't do much good. The new filter will just get gelled up, too. Get heat on the filter via hair dryer and then engine heat.

Water, will put a stoppage to your fuel even in the lines. If so, get some heat on the lines. Won't take that much heat to unfreeze any water.

Ralph

Thanks. Am I right in not suspecting water since the tractor ran well when temps were in the 10-20F range? It's almost like temps dropping to -20F did something that had an effect even when temps went back up to +20F.
So if the additive won't dissolve too well should I add additive AND add more kero? Or just one?

I'll also probably drain a little fuel out of the bottom of the fuel tank drain just in case there is some water and to see what it looks like. What should I be looking for when I do? If the the fuel was gelled, would one expect it to still be cloudy if it's now at 50F?

 

[ovrszd]

Buy some Power Service 911. Pour it in the tank in the recommended doseage. Start the tractor and let it run on that mixture for several minutes. 911 will actually clean up any gelled fuel left in the system. Works great for your situation if you can get the tractor to run.

Number 2 Diesel will gel at 20 degrees.

Never under any circumstances trust a fuel provider when talking about "Winterized fuel". Never.

As soon as your temps get close to the 20 degree mark, treat your fuel with an additive to prevent gelling. I use Power Service.

Did I say never trust a provider??? I'll say it again. Never. Treat your own fuel as if it's straight number 2 Diesel, which gels at 20 degrees.

Edit: Oooppss sorry, I forgot to mention water. When the temps are below freezing water becomes ice. If an engine cranks, runs and then degrades into the situation you are describing it's not water. When the temps are below 32 degrees F water in the system is already frozen. The engine will not run if the system is frozen up due to water. People get really confused about that. Think about it.

 

[newbury]

The one time I had a serious "gel" problem I fixed it by adding hot water

I had filled up a VW Rabbit diesel in NJ (at about 40 degrees) and drove to northern Vt. Didn't have a place to plug in the heater. Next morning it was 40 below. I put a large plastic zip loc style bag around the fuel filter and poured boiling water into the bag. Let it sit till the bag got cold, repeat till it warmed it up. Poured boiling water over all the fuel lines I could reach. It finally warmed up so I could "idle" at about 10 miles per hour into town (6 miles) where I bought some kero and mixed it in. Definitely a memorable experience.

 

[CobyRupert]

The one time I had a serious "gel" problem I fixed it by adding hot water

I had filled up a VW Rabbit diesel in NJ (at about 40 degrees) and drove to northern Vt. Didn't have a place to plug in the heater. Next morning it was 40 below. I put a large plastic zip loc style bag around the fuel filter and poured boiling water into the bag. Let it sit till the bag got cold, repeat till it warmed it up. Poured boiling water over all the fuel lines I could reach. It finally warmed up so I could "idle" at about 10 miles per hour into town (6 miles) where I bought some kero and mixed it in. Definitely a memorable experience.

- Necessity is the Mother of Invention

 

[NoTrespassing]

Reading this thread scared me enough to go out in the 4 degree F. 40 mph gust weather just now and treat my tank of diesel in my tractor. It's supposed to be -16 F. here tonight. Since I was out there I plowed about 1/3 of our drive (no cab). There's about 24" of snow on some of our drive. Better safe than sorry I guess. Thanks for the post to motivate me

 

[aczlan]

Buy some Power Service 911. Pour it in the tank in the recommended doseage. Start the tractor and let it run on that mixture for several minutes. 911 will actually clean up any gelled fuel left in the system. Works great for your situation if you can get the tractor to run.

Ran into a similar situation with the BX2660 last week when it was in the single digits. Put it in the unheated shop with a 300W floodlight pointing up at the main filter. Poured a dose of PS911 in the tank, let it sit overnight, the fired it up in the morning.
Finished filling it from the big tank (which has white power service in it) and it was fine.

Aaron Z