Diesel cold weather issues

[DeereMann]

Posters are right, ULSD tends to emulsify water, you need a demulsification additive to force water to separate & drop to the bottom now. Also change your fuel filter so you are starting fresh.

I use Opti-Lube XPD for anti-gel, demulsifier, cetane booster, lubricity additive. It is too bad diesel fuel is not very good these days.

 

[Jerry/MT]

The new Ultra Low Sulfer fuel tends to keep water in suspension rather that seperating out like the old fuel did.
This makes it very difficult to remove the water from it. Keep changing your filters.

Good luck

While I'm sure water can temporarily be suspended in ULSD, I haven't noticed that water stays in suspension in ULSD any more than it did in old #2 "road diesel".! I had a problem with water in my ULSD diesel fuel from a previous owner's problem and I removed most of it with a hand pump with the pump inlet held on the bottom of the tank with a stiff wire. Pumped over a quart of free water out of that tank of ULSD. Haven't had a problem since.

As I understand it,some diesel fuel additives help suspended water adhere together to form globules so it "slides" off the filter and can be drained from the filter canister.

 

[D7E]

Don't rule out bio-diesel as a contributor. The CPP (clouding pour point) of bio-D is a lot warmer than neat ULSD #2, let alone #1. The "fatty acids" in bio-D won't pass thru most primary filters any better than ice crystals will.

Agree this . Bought a semi truck this fall (Cummins M11) with full fuel tanks but as soon as it got down to -10c or so the **** thing had no power and was eating fuel filters, drained it and replaced with farm diesel and away we went . Test revealed it was bio diesel .

 

[Industrial Toys]

I should ask my dealer is there is bio in there with his deliveries. I didn't think so, but who knows. Spoke with Lucas expecting to speak with some sort of a fuel expert. That's apparently not the world we live in any more!

Picked up a new fuel filter for my Kawaskaki Mule Diesel today. Got a bargain for $60.00 cash. They go higher for that at a dealer. Robbery! Maybe it's some insurance just to have one on hand. Had the machine in a garage above zero, drained the old filter of water (if there was any, couldn't tell) and the machine ran for a while without trouble. This kind of says to me that once parafin paticles form, they don't stay that way (as someone suggested) , when the temperature rises.

 

[JoeL4330]

You can/should check your tankage with a dipstick and water-finder paste (water-gauging paste):

Water finder paste & dipstick for use in oil tanks: using a water finder paste on the end of a stick. Water indicating paste also called water finding paste or water finder paste, is coated over the bottom few inches of an oil tank probing stick or onto a string or flexible tape which can be inserted into an oil tank. The water indicating paste changes color (typically white to red, green to red,or pink to white) to indicate the depth of water in the oil tank.

You can google "water finding paste".

Consider installing water block filters instead of/in addition to your (glass bowl) separator ...and, if you have electric pump(s) on your bulk tank(s), try running the fuel through the water-block filter and back into the tank (polishing the fuel).

If you find water in the bottom of your storage tanks, you might shorten the pickup tubes of the pumps ...until you get rid of the water (by, say, purging the tanks with the pickup running to the very bottom (lowest point). [If the tanks have provision for gravity feeding (like home heating oil tanks) you can set up a drain that way.] The water-finder-paste dipstick process will show you how deep the water is in the bottom and (thus) how much you should elevate the pickup tube.

If your problem is not water, but you suspect gelling from summer-blend fuel, try a dose of Power Service 911 in the tank of the implement and see if there is improvement. Ultimately, if gelling is the issue, you can install a heated filter on the implement (Racor, e.g.) and that should keep the implement happy no matter the ambient temperature.

Let me know if any of this is helpful.

 

[Dingeryote]

Dunno about you guys, but I set up the skid tanks to favor the end away from the pump, by about 2".

That way I can drop a length of siphon hose into that end and rack off a couple quarts, put it in a jar and see if water is building up.

If it is, I'll siphon off 5 gallons or so, and go burn brush piles.

I'll second the concern with a distributor that sells Bio.
Even the 5% can be a PITA when slightly mixed with dino, as it dosn't take much for the fats to build up and choke a filter.
I got lucky and caught most of it in the pump filter, that is a crap load easier to swap than fuel line filters.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have a filter on my road diesel tank but not on the off road tank. When I bought a diesel truck I needed two tanks and put the electic pump,filter and meter on the road diesel and had just a hand pump on the other. Maybe this was a foolish oversight.

I have been using the more expensive road Diesel in my machines until I can get to the botom of this. I will make that a priority in the new year. Get a pump with filter and some of that paste. I am guessing you can't filter diesel enough!

I was talking to some guy that claims that BLUE dyed diesel is coming. Something apparently special for Tier 4 engines.

I have yet another supply of very old diesel. Regular sulpher diesel that was part of my Y2K doomsday supply. It's nasty and black. I wonder if that would burn in a friends oil fired shop heater.

 

[daveinnh]

Question on differences between products: I've been using Powerservice Diesel Fuel Supplement, but last winter ice formed that required Powerservice 911 and draining fuel tank.

How do Lucas Extreme Cold Weather Additive or Opt-Lube XPB differ from standard Powerservice? Any downsides?

 

[Becharpa]

I was told to mix K1 with Diesel as it prevents it from gelling. I have used K1 in my Mahindra at a ratio of 1 to 3 1 K1 to 3 Diesel as a mix and have had success. Maybe others can comment on this practice. I'm in Northeast and temps can go as low as -20 and so far so good. I tried 911 but would love to hear if there are better options.

 

[MikePA]

I tried 911 but would love to hear if there are better options.

All the solutions have a simple purpose, prevent gelling. If what you're doing now works, why change?