Fuel gelling

Russ from MN · Oct 24, 2023

It looks like I waited a week too long! I had too much diesel in our tractor this fall, and wanted to burn as much as possible, but now it's going to get down to 20 before I can get back to change it. It has regular summer diesel in it, and in the fall I drain that out and put in straight no 1. The tractor is in a garage that stays slightly warmer than outside, and has a block heater, so I will plug it in for a few hours before replacing the fuel in the tank and running it through. Do you think +20F is going to gell the fuel?

Hemmjo · Oct 24, 2023

Get a good fuel additive to keep it from gelling in the winter. It is cheap insurance to make sure your equipment runs when you need it!!!

rusty6 · Oct 24, 2023

(quoted from post at 06:33:08 10/24/23) It looks like I waited a week too long! Do you think +20F is going to gell the fuel?

I have no worries at all about diesel fuel until it gets down closer to 0F. At 20F our summer diesel is still fine and flows like water. We are at 20F this morning and a layer of new snow forming. All my diesels still have their summer fuel in the tanks.

jon f mn · Oct 24, 2023

You won't get gelling til well below zero. Most problems at warmer Temps than that are water related and get confused with gelling. Put a jug of Howes deisel treat in it and run it for a while and it will be fine.

jhwis · Oct 24, 2023

Put a bottle of PowerService in it.

Michael Soldan · Oct 24, 2023

Put a couple of gallons of gasoline in the fuel. VolksWagon recommends that for all their diesel cars , up to 30% gasoline is fine. Like other posters have said water in the fuel is your biggest enemy. A bottle of gas line de-icer will take care of that.

chcase · Oct 24, 2023

I always put some power service in my diesel s and run them a few minutes and call it good enought. Has worked my me for years.

rusty6 · Oct 24, 2023

(quoted from post at 08:05:51 10/24/23) I always put some power service in my diesel s and run them a few minutes and call it good enought. Has worked my me for years.

Same here. If I have not got around to putting real winter diesel fuel into my tractors by early winter I will just mix in some of the Howes or equivalent "viscosity improver" and it has always got me through even our severe Sask. winters.

rustred · Oct 24, 2023

save yourself all that work , it wont gell at that temp.

cumminstinkerer · Oct 24, 2023

(quoted from post at 07:52:04 10/24/23) Put a couple of gallons of gasoline in the fuel. VolksWagon recommends that for all their diesel cars , up to 30% gasoline is fine. Like other posters have said water in the fuel is your biggest enemy. A bottle of gas line de-icer will take care of that.

Do not ever put gasoline in any diesel newer than about 1990, the injector and pump tolerances are tight enough that you run the risk of galling either the plungers/barrells or injector nozzles, and you sure as heck do not put gas into any of the common rail/huei style system or anything with any aftertreatment you will most certainly smoke injectors, pump, and aftertreatment! Really big money, BUY a good commercially available anti gel additive.

On that note also never put the red jug 911 in any common rail/HUEI style or one with aftertreatmnet same results, catastrophic failures. The only stuff available to ungel fuel that has proven to be safe for these systems is some stuff called Meltdown, I am not blowing smoke or trying to insult, just inform, I personally have seen 3 Doosan engines and one Isuzu that were totally wrecked due to the gasoline or 911 powerservice, was a very exspensive learning curve!

rustred · Oct 24, 2023

thats a for sure! in the 80's GM tech's or whatever they were teaching us ,recommended 10 percent unleaded fuel to use when gelled up, to
dissolve the wax which is your pump lube. on the 6.2 diesel engine. i was not brave enough to try it though. plus the circulating fuel will
warm up the tank fuel. plus this was not to be an everday thing either.

flying belgian · Oct 24, 2023

I run summer blend all yr around in my bitter Mn winter. Just run the knipko on engine and fuel tank an hour before use. Engine starts good, fuel is warm, oil is warm, hyd work good, cab heater starts blowing heat right away. Probably doesn't cost much more then blended fuel and additive and block heater.

moresmoke · Oct 24, 2023

With some fuel you can get wax crystals starting to form around 20F. Usually not enough to cause a problem but some time will plug a filter. A little heat will melt the wax and get it going.

How long until you get back to the tractor? Its supposed to be cool for the next week and a half, but I would guess we will have some warm days yet this fall. Especially where it is parked inside, I would just top off with #1 when you get back there and go on with life.

showcrop · Oct 24, 2023

What Jon f mn posted I'll bet that 90%of the time gelling is really just ice crystals. Drain your water separator.

Scott 730 · Oct 24, 2023

(quoted from post at 13:09:29 10/24/23)

What Jon f mn posted I'll bet that 90%of the time gelling is really just ice crystals. Drain your water separator.

Yup. So many misconceptions about "gelling". And mis used terminology.

cumminstinkerer · Oct 24, 2023

Them older engines, like most of our tractors could tolerate a little bit more abuse than the newer stuff, I have rebuilt pumps and injectors from back to the early 60s through about the end of the mechanical injection stuff, I will promise as the stuff got newer the tolerances got tighter, big bosch nozzle out of a DT400 series IH I was rebuilding got a piece of lint from a rag on the pintle, couldn't even see the speck but it locked the pintle solid on the nozzle tester, that just shows you how tight the stuff is!!! gasoline and alcohol are a diesels worst enemy!!!!!

Russ from MN · Oct 24, 2023

Thanks for the comments, I probably don't have anything to worry about, this is a newer tractor, a 2001 JD 4600, I will do as planned. Every fall I drain out the #2, and put in 5 gallons of #1, and I don't expect to use the tractor over winter, but I want it ready, sometimes I have to snowplow a little in deer season, or pick up a really big deer, but then we head S for 5 months. I would NEVER put gasoline in a diesel engine! When I worked in the JD shop in 1972 I tore down a skidder engine that was running badly, and all the lands between the rings were broken, everything jammed down on the oil ring. When the head mechanic saw that he said they must have put gasoline in the diesel fuel!

paul · Oct 24, 2023

In Minnesota the summer diesel #2 can have 20% soybean oil and might jell a bit if 20 degrees is the high.

#2 diesel sold after October 1st has much less soy oil in it and should be fine at 20 degrees, I run into issues about 12-15 degrees.

If you are a farmer Power Service, if a trucker Howse additive at the correct amount will keep your tractor running on #2 winter soy blend in a typical minnesota winter.

It is a challenge to use the 20% soy blend in a typical minnesota winter, those below zero temps even the additives struggle.

And no I dont know why farmers prefer one additive and truckers prefer the other, but it is what it is.

MSD · Oct 24, 2023

If your worried about it and you're going to put #1 in when you drain it, why not just add the #1 to what you got. Around here when it gets well below zero they mix 50-50 #1 and #2 and all works well.

Russ from MN · Oct 24, 2023

Paul, your comment is why I drain it out! I'm not sure when I bought the fuel that's in it, and I don't take chances! When I put the 5 gallons or so away till spring I put some biocide in it, when it warms up in the spring I put it back in the tractor, using a fine screen funnel, and the last bit in the jug usually plugs the screen! So, I use that to start fires in the wood stove, it doesn't go to waste!

Fuel gelling

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