Are you gellin' like Magellan?

I've never had a problem with my diesel tractors gelling before. Yesterday it was about -20F and my JD 2950 started right up. The block heater had been kicking all day long and it was running just fine. I took off down the road and a few minutes later I was spearing a bale and all of a sudden she just bogged down and I could only maintin about 700 RPM. After a while it died and wouldn't restart. I was able to get it going eventually and got it near a 120v lifeline. Tonight it was 0F so i got it going again but it was not cured. Armed with a flashlight this time I found that there was air in the fuel filter. I bled it and it was cured... for about 10 minutes then it had air in there again. Bled it again and noticed that if I throttled it up to more than about 1000RPM it started pulling streams of air bubbles through the fuel filter. After I fed hay and got it good and warm it was fine and seems to be cured now.

Is this related to fuel gelling, ice in the line, or some other problem?

Im assuming you are using #1 fuel. There are problems with low sulfer full gelling this year. If you use a good additive you should be ok.

Tony: There have been problems with fuel gelling since the first diesel was built, I can't see where this year is different from any other. My question is why a good additive? In all these additives the only component that keeps fuel moving is methyl hydrate, so why spend 3 times the money when pure methyl hydrate will do the job at hand.

Whether you pour methyl hydrate in the tank pure or as a mixture of a snake oil, it all evaporates within a week.

If you wish to see methyl hydrate work, wait until you see a sediment bowl frozen solid, gas or diesel doesen't matter. Pour two thimbles full of methyl hydrate into the tank, then watch it thaw the bowl. Probably 60 seconds will completely thaw. Heck, don't wait for that to happen, just let a plastic water bottle freeze, then add MH.

Great product to keep around in winter. You can thaw locks, beef up windshield washer, keep fuel moving, clean ice off windshield, free up air brakes and deice your plane, and all with the same product. Use a hypodermic shringe for an applicator, just don't keep it in the truck if you cross Canada-US border. Customs Agents just can't seem to realize all the practical uses for a shringe.

where do you purchase this methol hydrate at.

All you have to do is go to your local truckstop or fuel supplier and get a jug or two of power serve or 911. It will have antigel plus lube additives that will be good for your engine. I use this as a pretreatment and also as arescue and it will cure a strugling engine in most cases. If what Hugh likes is so good why don't the truckstops use it and sell it instead of power serve or 911? Armand

Methyl Hydrate/Methanol/Wood Alcohol is sold as paint thinner or stripper in most hardware stores. Check the label, you don't want mineral spirits or denatured alcohol (ethanol).
Methanol discussion

Armand, for several years, I have made it a point to read Hugh MacKay’s posts, when they come up. I feel you can take what he says "to the bank". There could be several good reasons truck stops do not sell this product....profit motive, could be one many.

Ya know a lot of the problems with cold weather and a diesel engine come from the fact that a lot of guy do not go with a winter blend fuel and are still sucking out of the fuel tank that still has fuel from summer . Same goes with guys that have gas tractors and have starting problems in cold weather but not quite as bad as with below freezen with a diesel .Now i have sat back and listened to all the home brews and ya'll have your owen ideas. Now granted here in the Buckeye we don't get quite as cold as some of ya do but there have been times . Moisture is the biggest problem along with the wax in diesel. Keeping the fuel system cleaned out using a winter blend and myself if i must cut the diesle then i would much prefer kerosene as to the the socalled SNAKE OILS they do help and they do lube the older injection pumps and with todays junk fuels the pump needs all the help ya can give it . Before winter raises it ugly head one would be wise to To pull the drain plugs or fittings out of the bottom of the fuel tanks and give the bottom of the tank at least a good blowing out and put some air thru the fuel lines to make sure that there is no water laying in a low spot .Clean out the sediment bowls and water traps install new filters and switch over to the winter blend fuels . try and figure how much you will need and have a knowen clean moisture free tank for it . Try and keep the tractor that you plan on using for the chore work or snow plowing in at least a three sided shedthat has a good electric sourcefor plug in and if needed a battery charger and a space heater. What we have done at most of my buddy's places is that we have went with the old gassers for the winter chore work . The old S/MTA's 400's 460's and 706's get the job for winter. The diesels are all tucked away in the sheds and barns . But if really needed the tanks are full with a winter blend with new fuel filters and next to a plug .As for any snake oils in the fuel we have been using Lucas fuel system treatment , does it work all i can say is that ya can hear the difference in the engine and i know that after two tanks with the lucas in my junky old 806 she runs a lot betterthe cackel that was in it because of dirty injectors is gone less smoke out the pipe starts better. In the big trucks ya could feel the difference when ya pulled the same load over the same hills it meant a half a gear on the hills
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Rick: When I first started buying mathyl hydrate 40 years ago, the best buy was drug stores. In those days the old time drugists used to get a bit up tight about one gallon sales to farmers. About the only gallon customers they had nursing homes and hospitals. In 1965 drug store price was about 50% of other sources, and you'd get a lecture on the pitfalls of drinking this from the old drugist.

Armand: "WHY NOT", truck stops make 4 times the money on all those snake oils. I can remember buying Methyl Hydrate at truck stops 25 years ago, since that time it has gradually disappeared. Truck stops are also the most expensive place to buy a meal, doesn't mean we have to go there.

Even when truck stops carried MH they had to compete with hardware stores and drug stores. Why sell MH when you can mix it 1-5 with diesel and quadruple the price. TSC here in Canada for example has moved MH from their automotive section to their paint section. Don't want those snake oils competing with MH. Most folks think MH is no longer available at TSC.

I agree with using powerservice, as I have for several years with no problems. However, diesel911 is only for ungelling fuel that has gelled already. It even says on the container that it will not prevent gelling.

..but my 3/4 chevy van with 4.8l has been having a lot of lifter noise in this cold. Some say it's normal, but hadn't happened in years past, sure it's colder this year. But then it started doing when the engine was hot, after turning off for a few minutes then starting again. Bad clack, enough that I shut it down. Against my better judgement started it again to nurse it home, drove about 5 miles at 20mph, clacking all along, and the oil pressure was half normal, about 18-20lbs, when the noise stopped and oil came back up. Went to a good mechanic I know and he said he would bet it was the Lucas Oil I keep in it. I've always bragged about how good I think Lucas is, but in this case, my mechanic was right. Changed the oil, added no Lucas, and it's been fine the last two days, in the coldest weather of the year, -14 in the morning, no warmer on the engine, and no clack at start up even. I think the Lucas may have been getting cold and thickening up in the filter or something.

It gets too thick to go through the pickup screen when it is cold.

Red, there is a bulletin from GM about lifter noise. They have a redesigned lifter to fix that. The other issue is cam bearings that spin and slide out of their bores. The typical complaint is low oil pressure at idle that comes up above idle. I just finished replacing a 5.3 in a '05 Silverado that spun the 2nd bearing from the back. Ruined the block.
The bad thing about changing lifters in LS engines is the heads have to come off. Not very fun in a van...
P.S. Stop using that Lucas crap, especially in cold weather.

I too,am going to defend Hugh here. I remember Hugh coming to this board and remember thinking what a valuable experienced member of the group he would be. Why would a truckstop only sell 1 quart of the real deal when they could sell 10 gallons of snake oil? Boils down to 1 word....Profit

No help to the problem, but the title made me laugh.
Remember when the shoe pad co started that ad and said "are you gellin like a felon ?"
They quickly realized that was not a good thing to say, was quickly changed to" Are you gellin' like Magellan?" LOL. OOPS ;-)

I already have, but thanks for the advice. She seems to be running just like new again. It's got 285k miles in just over 2 years, and the only thing I've replaced is the u-joints, and I'm not sure they needed it much. Still has original brake pads even. I've tried to replace them 3 times, but each time I took them off they looked at least 95%. Never seen anyting like that. Considering the hard used, lots of very heavy towing cross country, mountains, hot desert, I can't believe she's held up so well.

The Japanese have nothing on the US makers, in my humble opinion.

B

Yep, that's exactly how it acted. Oil pressure would bounce around between 15 and 25. I could almost see in my head a big glob over the screen clogging everything up. What I thought was strange was that it would do it even when hot. But I guess the extreme low temps can cool the pan that much?

When I was growing up in ND we used several diesel tractors to feed cattle in the winter. Some did as you indicated, started up fine and then quit with jelled fuel. I think it may have had something to do with air from the radiator fan blowing on the fuel supply system. They never got warm, anyway I can't remember being warm. It is never fun to blead a diesel but real un-fun at 30 below 0. On the last bidirectional Versatel we had we would blow compressed air back through the fuel tank (remove the fuel cap) to clear it out and get it running. As others have said, winter blend or #1 fuel helps, but you will burn more of it.

8360 New Holland tractor did that 3 days in a row this past week. Winter blend diesel triple treated with anti-gel WILL gel up when it's that friggin' cold. Gotta run no. 1. Now I know.