Heres an interesting thing thats happened to me. I have a bobcat 873 loader I use for plowing snow and helping out at the neighbors farm. I'm running dyed off road fuel treated with power service arctic formula. Twice at 10-15f it has gelled up. However I've run it at -10 - 5f with no problems gelling. Am I missing something here?
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Wheat Farmer
Well-known Member
I had a road grader that did the same thing. I THINK the problem was the way the heat from the engine was blowing. The line from the tank was in the open. Tarp the side and added MORE power service. 2002 cadet 7305 is so bad I have to leave the fuel filter out. Still working on a way to heat that area.
Tony in SD
Well-known Member
Are you sure it"s gelling? That vintage of bobcat will lose its sump hose and you may be wrongly blaming gelling when it is a bad sump hose in the tank
Been there
Been there
Wheat Farmer has it right. Any spot where the fuel is exposed to wind and doesn't get the heat from the engine will freeze up more quickly than normal. My JD 2130 freezes up on the same fuel that the Kubota M4950DT I used to have would run on. The Kubota's fuel tank and all lines were above or right beside the engine, but the 2130's fuel tank is right at the front of the tractor, and the fuel line from the tank is exposed to the weather. That is the ONLY thing that the Kubota was better than the Deere for. I would maybe use some methyl hydrate or some other type of gas line antifreeze as well as more of the fuel treatment. I don't have much faith in something that claims to turn summer fuel into winter fuel.
yes you are missing something. The only way to keep fuel from jelling is throw away the expensive additives that don't work and use 100% #1 fuel when it gets and stays this cold. I am not trying to be a smart aleck, but after 15 years in the fuel business and going out on many sub 0 days and nights to rescue many gelled up trucks, tractors, and cars with that junk in the fuel tank I know it is the only sure cure for gelling.
crawlerjohn
Member
I had same problem with power service and changed to howe's diesel treat. No more problem.
armand tatro
Well-known Member
They make a heater that mounts to the filter base and the filter screws into the heater.(If you have a spin on filter that is.) Armand
justanothercase
Member
I have also been there easy way to check is fill it with fuel, prime pump and if it starts again that is problem. Then it will quit again after you run it a short while. Are you putting the power service in and then filling fuel so it gets mixed. I run straight 2 fuel all winter and blend with power service and have had no gel ups. 26 below right now tractor is warming up to feed and was not in a building. You must not be getting it mixed or your not putting enough in. What it says on the bottle is a recommendation, feel free to mix it stronger.
Its definetly gelling, I have a plastic inline fuel filter to catch the ugly stuff before it gets to the regular filter...a deutz mechanic suggested this, it looks like red slush when it gells. 2 minutes with a heat gun and its running. The part I don't understand is it hasn't gelled at -10f, but has gelled twice at 10-15f above zero.
rusty6
Well-known Member
- Location
- East central Sask.
Plus you need to get it mixed before the fuel gets really cold. I've used several products to literally turn summer diesel into winter fuel and have run my diesels through our typically freezing cold Sask. winters with never a hint of gelling up. This winter, for simplicity's sake I had my slip tank filled up with real winter diesel.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
I drive over the road and power service is the worst stuff out there.Best is schaffers or primrose
I hauled fuel for 27 yrs. Fuel jelling is a weird thing. For instance, a friend of mine's truck jelled up 2 days after our last time below 0. They changed the fuel filters 4 or 5 times and put 12 cans of 911 rescue treatment. We think it was animal fat in the diesel. They can put 4 % in without listing it. When fuel jells seems like it takes a act of God to unjell it! Once had a 8000 gal tank jell up. Would not run out of a 2 inch valve 1 ft from bottom. Tank was 1/2 full put 4000 gal of no.1 in it. Put it in from the bottom. Turned hoses around and tried to suck from bottom. Got about 100 gal then quit. Turned around and tried to circulate the fuel. Couldn't do it. Warmed up to about 30 deg. trouble went away. Trucks stayed running on fuel they got from the tank. It had good big filters on it. I put enough Howe's in 2 tractors and my Dodge to treat 300 gal. about 100 gal between them. No problem Yet!
The guys are right treatment doesn't work if fuel is already starting to gell, the wax separating.
The guys are right treatment doesn't work if fuel is already starting to gell, the wax separating.
Power Service will not prevent gelling, complete waste of money. About the only thing it does is suspend any water in the system so it is carried thu the fuel system causing damage. What you need to do is run at least a 50/50 blend of no.2 and no.1 diesel. If its cold enough run straight no.1. I run a 50/50 blend in my loader tractor and never have had it gell down to -30.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Any self respecting diesel owner would never put alcohol in the tank.
Power Service is meant to treat gelling AFTER the fact. I use Howes every time I fuel up and never have a bit of trouble. Have used 911 to ungell filters with good results, this being a CAT engine. When used as directed they are both good products. I have noticed that a 60 Series Detroit is about the easiest truck engine to keep running in cold weather. They return so much fuel to the tanks that even in below zero weather the tank will be warm to the touch.
Everyone seems to have different anecdotal evidence of what works and what doesn't. If someone has a problem while using a particular product, that product must be no good. On the other hand, if someone has had no trouble with a certain product, it must be the only thing that works. Actual gelling of the fuel isn't nearly as much of a problem as waxing. Paraffin seems to plug fuel filters, in my experience, long before the fuel will actually gel. I think some people confuse gelling with waxing, calling it the same thing.
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
As long as there is #2 summer diesel containing parafin wax in the tank during winter weather. The filter will clog .
Mixing elixers and potions with mystical brews does not eliminate wax that thickens with low temps.
The best way to handle problems is to eliminate the problem instead keeping the problem and coping with it.
Run real #1 de-waxed diesel or kerosene .
Contrary to common belief . #1 diesel is not a blend of kerosene and #2.
Mixing elixers and potions with mystical brews does not eliminate wax that thickens with low temps.
The best way to handle problems is to eliminate the problem instead keeping the problem and coping with it.
Run real #1 de-waxed diesel or kerosene .
Contrary to common belief . #1 diesel is not a blend of kerosene and #2.
When you have ice in the tank and lines you don't have much choice but to use methyl hydrate. That said... when you do use it, and it melts the ice... it keeps the water in suspension... and for whatever reason, the mixture will then pass through a filter... so if you are using it, do your best to drain the separators daily and keep lots of filters on hand. Alcohol is NOT a good thing in a fuel system... but lots of it does get used to get mobile when things freeze up.
Rod
Rod
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
In order or preference is Isopropyl Alcohol then Ethyl alcohol. At a distant 3rd place, that aggressive Methyl alcohol stuff.
By technical definition... it is the same thing. Wax falling out of the suspension is what causes the problem at very low temperatures... unless someone has a slug of water in the tank... in which case it's not gelling. It's freezing... which is the most common problem by far that I see around here. Keep the water out and there isn't a problem.
Rod
Rod
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