Diesel additives

[JeffL]

Power Service in the white bottle here too.

It works great! (assuming you remember to put it in.........then you grab the red bottle.)

All our diesels have block heaters anyways, but better safe than sorry I suppose.

 

[pdqdl]

Propane torch and fuel filters, right? :monkey:

Yep. Works as a diagnostic tool, but doesn't correct the problem. Unless you can keep getting out of the machine and warming up the fuel or the fuel filter.

I have always wondered why nobody makes an electric fuel filter blanket that is thermostatically controlled, or perhaps a fuel pre-heater that would use engine coolant. It would certainly work in arctic conditions.

 

[Magnum783]

Yep. Works as a diagnostic tool, but doesn't correct the problem. Unless you can keep getting out of the machine and warming up the fuel or the fuel filter.

I have always wondered why nobody makes an electric fuel filter blanket that is thermostatically controlled, or perhaps a fuel pre-heater that would use engine coolant. It would certainly work in arctic conditions.

They do make such a fuel filter heater you don't see them on pickups but many road trucks have them on them. The peterbuilt dealer hear in town carries them all the time. They are not so much needed on pickups but on road trucks positively a good thing.
Jared

 

[custom8726]

Yep. Works as a diagnostic tool, but doesn't correct the problem. Unless you can keep getting out of the machine and warming up the fuel or the fuel filter.

I have always wondered why nobody makes an electric fuel filter blanket that is thermostatically controlled, or perhaps a fuel pre-heater that would use engine coolant. It would certainly work in arctic conditions.

I have a magnetic heater that you could put on a filter, block, water jacket, etc etc.. I do agree heating the fuel filter will work, but being pro-active is the best solution, (HENCE) clean fuel filters, additives, etc. I choose to use power service all year (WHITE BOTTLE) it cleans the injectors aswell as improves your MPG and helps keep you from gelling up in the winter...

 

[Thillmaine]

diesel

If you run off road....THen ask your supplier to cut it with kero...I thnk ours is cut 50 50 with kersone. As far as regular diesel...I gelled up something fierce ont he northway last week...Even with additives...911 works great for getting ungelled...We use diesel aid for every tank...and plug the trucks in... Trucks gelled are usually an easier fix then our chippers...you got to crack the injectors...PITA...oh well this weekl is supposed to be about 30 degrees warmer then the previous 2..

 

[J.Gordon]

I use Super-Tech two-stroke oil in my older diesels, my CTD’s fuel pump quieted down a lot after I added it. My old International tractor likes it also.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/a...tives-oils-lubricants/91963-2-stroke-oil.html

 

[DRTS]

hello everyone. this is a great site for information. some one mentioned home heating fuel oil, witch evidentally can be run in diesel engines, however when used as heating oil why doesnt it gel in the tanks that are commonly stored outside

 

[CentaurG2]

Running home heating fuel in an on road vehicle is illegal (government needs its 27 cents a gallon tax) and if you get caught you can pay fines up to $10k+. Off road vehicle fuel /home heating fuel are the same and has dye added to differentiate it from on road fuel. Fuel gelling is kind of a misnomer. It actually starts to get waxy flakes in it which plug up the fuel filter. The filters on home heating fuel tanks are much coarser than autos and are less subject to plugging. In addition to additives that keep diesel flowing in the winter, outdoor tanks (depending on your area) will sometimes get a blend of #2 diesel and #1 kerosene or if it gets really cold straight kerosene.

 

[DRTS]

thanks for the answer. that makes perfect sense

 

[pdqdl]

Running home heating fuel in an on road vehicle is illegal (government needs its 27 cents a gallon tax) and if you get caught you can pay fines up to $10k+. Off road vehicle fuel /home heating fuel are the same and has dye added to differentiate it from on road fuel. Fuel gelling is kind of a misnomer. It actually starts to get waxy flakes in it which plug up the fuel filter. The filters on home heating fuel tanks are much coarser than autos and are less subject to plugging. In addition to additives that keep diesel flowing in the winter, outdoor tanks (depending on your area) will sometimes get a blend of #2 diesel and #1 kerosene or if it gets really cold straight kerosene.

There is a lot of misinformation here: the off road diesel is EXACTLY the same product as the regular diesel, except that the red dye is added so that the inspectors can prove you are cheating on the road taxes. All engine fuel must meet the same federal standards, and there is no difference in operation. Winter and summer additives are different, however, and there are probably exceptions if you are buying fuel for your tugboat or ocean liner.

Years ago, off road diesel had more sulfur in it, and provided better lubrication for the precision parts in the injector pumps. In fact, my Bandit chipper even specifies "off-road" diesel be used. Too bad the old stuff is no longer available.

DON'T use kerosene or fuel oil: they are not filtered to the same exacting standards, and kerosene does not provide the same lubrication for injector pumps that the modern diesel does. #1 fuel oil will probably not be properly winterized, either, so expect more "gelling up" than before. The good things that were taken out of the old fuels to clean up the environment are replaced in modern diesel to keep your engine running right. Those additives are not in the substitution fuels. So what is there to gain?

 

[Magnum783]

There is a lot of misinformation here: the off road diesel is EXACTLY the same product as the regular diesel, except that the red dye is added so that the inspectors can prove you are cheating on the road taxes. All engine fuel must meet the same federal standards, and there is no difference in operation. Winter and summer additives are different, however, and there are probably exceptions if you are buying fuel for your tugboat or ocean liner.

Years ago, off road diesel had more sulfur in it, and provided better lubrication for the precision parts in the injector pumps. In fact, my Bandit chipper even specifies "off-road" diesel be used. Too bad the old stuff is no longer available.

DON'T use kerosene or fuel oil: they are not filtered to the same exacting standards, and kerosene does not provide the same lubrication for injector pumps that the modern diesel does. #1 fuel oil will probably not be properly winterized, either, so expect more "gelling up" than before. The good things that were taken out of the old fuels to clean up the environment are replaced in modern diesel to keep your engine running right. Those additives are not in the substitution fuels. So what is there to gain?

Please do not think that when I said add kerosene that I meant run straight kero I meant add a gallon or two when and only when you had gelled. He is exactly right kero does not contain near the lubricants diesel does.
Jared

 

[CentaurG2]

In the vernacular of the times…. my bad. I had originally interpreted the question ask by DTRS to mean “if home heating fuel=diesel fuel, then if it gels in my truck why does it not gel in the home heating fuel tank?” I tried to explain, all be it poorly, that if your home heating fuel tank is kept outside the house that it might not always be full of #2 diesel. Home oil company delivery services in my area will often blend home heating fuel with kerosene or deliver kerosene as cold conditions meet for home heat. Home oil burners do not care. I did not mean to imply that k1 can be used as fuel in modern diesels. Now I do have some tractors that run on K1 but that is beyond this forum. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[DRTS]

sorry for the confusion, it was simply a question about home heating oil in your homes heating oil tank only. i get my truck, chipper fuel from the pump at the station all taxed and legal. not planning on using home heating oil. just never had home heating oil gel in my home tank, and was curious as to why. now it is perfectly clear. thanks to all for your replies and your concern for keeping me legal. sorry again for the confusion

 

[pdqdl]

Diesel fuel really doesn't gel when cold. Under very cold conditions, some of the heavier molecules crystallize or "precipitate" out of the mix. This leaves zillions of small crystals of a waxy substance in the fuel that floats down the fuel line and gets glommed up in the fuel filter. If you were to take a fuel filter off and pour out the collected mess, it looks like a gelatin, hence the term "gelled-up"

Add a little heat, it goes back into solution, and burns up with the rest of the fuel.

Modern distillation is better than it used to be, and there are now much fewer of the heavier molecules in the newer diesel, mostly because the heavier elements don't burn as clean, and the EPA says they have to go. So...not as much gelling as in years past. Those heavier molecules also were the better lubrication in the diesel. Having been removed from the newer fuel, the fuel companies now must put in additives to increase the lubrication qualities of the fuel. That is also why diesel costs more than gasoline now. 20 years ago, the fuel distillers could take all the stuff that was too heavy for gasoline and mix it into the diesel. Not anymore!

Overall: it's not a good idea to use old-school cold weather solutions on the newer diesel.