smfcpacfp
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2007
- Messages
- 1,346
- Tractor
- Kubota B3030HSDC
I remember 25 years ago when my wife and I each had diesel vehicles, before global warming when the temperature here hit 30 below zero on a regular basis and my wife didn't properly prepare for the cold temperatures. She would start off to work and 10 min. later walk in the door saying my car won't run. She would take my diesel and then I would spend half a day getting her car back to our garage to get it thawed out. Fortunately I live on a road that probably has one car an hour that travels on it.
So after dealing with diesels for 30 years, here is the solution if you live in a cold climate. Use #1 diesel when the temperature is likely to be below freezing. #1 has a gel point of -40 degrees F. If it is colder than that you should probably stay home. Since #1 diesel has poor lubricating qualities, add a lubricant. I use Opti Lube XPD. There are three disadvantages to using #1:
- it has less energy than #2 diesel fuel
- it has less lubricating qualities than #2 diesel fuel
- it costs more than #2 diesel fuel
All it takes is one experience with a gelled motor to make you realize that using #1 diesel is the best solution to the gelling problem.
Some people on this forum have indicated that #1 diesel is not available in their area, which is a shame. That is probably because it doesn't get brutally cold very often in their area. An alternative to #1 would be kerosene which is considerably more expensive, at least in my area, but still preferable to dealing with a gelled up engine.
The problem with "winterized" diesel is that it is a blend of #1 and #2 diesel. #2 diesel begins to gel at +40 degrees F. As I said #1 begins to gel at -40 degrees F. If you have a 50-50 blend of #1 and #2, your fuel should begin gelling at zero. The problem is the pump doesn't tell you what that blend ratio is. I can remember one time, as an experiment, I asked the clerk at several stores what the blend was, or at what temperature the diesel would begin to gel, and as you might expect they had no idea what I was talking about. So the moral of this story is when you are buying blended diesel, you have no idea what you're getting. This was my wife's problem. She would buy the "winterized" diesel and we would have a really cold spell, and the fuel would gel up.
Sometimes you hear people here say that they just put a fuel additive in their #2 diesel to stop gelling. The problem here is the same problem as with blended diesel. How much of the fuel additive do you add in order to bring you down to the gel point that you are looking for. I have yet to see a fuel additive that gives you a ratio of fuel additive to diesel for various temperatures. Surely people are not foolish enough to think that you would add the same amount of fuel additive if the temperature is expected to be zero versus -40 below zero.
The simple solution is to use #1 diesel fuel with a lubricating additive when temperatures are going to be below freezing. You'll never have a problem if you do this.
So after dealing with diesels for 30 years, here is the solution if you live in a cold climate. Use #1 diesel when the temperature is likely to be below freezing. #1 has a gel point of -40 degrees F. If it is colder than that you should probably stay home. Since #1 diesel has poor lubricating qualities, add a lubricant. I use Opti Lube XPD. There are three disadvantages to using #1:
- it has less energy than #2 diesel fuel
- it has less lubricating qualities than #2 diesel fuel
- it costs more than #2 diesel fuel
All it takes is one experience with a gelled motor to make you realize that using #1 diesel is the best solution to the gelling problem.
Some people on this forum have indicated that #1 diesel is not available in their area, which is a shame. That is probably because it doesn't get brutally cold very often in their area. An alternative to #1 would be kerosene which is considerably more expensive, at least in my area, but still preferable to dealing with a gelled up engine.
The problem with "winterized" diesel is that it is a blend of #1 and #2 diesel. #2 diesel begins to gel at +40 degrees F. As I said #1 begins to gel at -40 degrees F. If you have a 50-50 blend of #1 and #2, your fuel should begin gelling at zero. The problem is the pump doesn't tell you what that blend ratio is. I can remember one time, as an experiment, I asked the clerk at several stores what the blend was, or at what temperature the diesel would begin to gel, and as you might expect they had no idea what I was talking about. So the moral of this story is when you are buying blended diesel, you have no idea what you're getting. This was my wife's problem. She would buy the "winterized" diesel and we would have a really cold spell, and the fuel would gel up.
Sometimes you hear people here say that they just put a fuel additive in their #2 diesel to stop gelling. The problem here is the same problem as with blended diesel. How much of the fuel additive do you add in order to bring you down to the gel point that you are looking for. I have yet to see a fuel additive that gives you a ratio of fuel additive to diesel for various temperatures. Surely people are not foolish enough to think that you would add the same amount of fuel additive if the temperature is expected to be zero versus -40 below zero.
The simple solution is to use #1 diesel fuel with a lubricating additive when temperatures are going to be below freezing. You'll never have a problem if you do this.
