New Diesel Owner - Remote Locale + Cold Weather

[Adventurous]

Appreciate the replies all! Thank you! I will go ahead and get some of the diesel 911 so I have it in the event I need it, but otherwise will follow the feedback received. Not sure what winter diesel looks like here in central Texas, but I will dig more into that. Thank you all again!

A lot of stations sell a diesel blend that is weather appropriate, just like they do for gasoline. I've only seen a couple of gas stations in my travels that offer a DIY bar of Diesel #1 (Kerosene, better for cold temps but less energy dense), 50/50, and Diesel #2 (what you normally get) as separate choices.

Still, having some Diesel 911 on hand is good practice. As is having a fuel filter wrench, as those will be among the first things to gel up when the mercury drops.

Plug in when you can. When you can't, and the temps are really cold, RAM recommends cycling the truck through a run > off > run sequence to engage the grid heater twice before start up. It should go without saying, but make sure your batteries are in good shape. Also, the manual recommends the use of synthetic 5W-40 for low temps, which is good practice.

 

[CrazyDrei]

You can also carry a generator to plug the block heater into. My cummins never liked to start below 0. I did get my Ford 7.3 to start once at -17. Not sure how but it did, but rather reluctantly. After that I started carrying the generator.

Just make sure you carry a gas generator, diesel generators don't start good when it's cold.

 

[luthj]

Chinese clones of webasto coolant heaters aren't terrible expensive, and will warm the engine up quickly without external power requirements.

 

[chet6.7]

Here is some info you may want to know,the number of trucks affected appears to be small,but it is an expensive fix,if it happened in the back country it would not be fun. It doesn't get that cold most of the time in my area,and I could plug in most of the time,so I have disconnected my grid heater.I can always hook it back up if I needed to.
When starting the truck I don't pause and wait for the wait for the grid heater to cycle,I just go directly to starting the engine.
There are a number of youtube videos of these trucks starting in cold weather,and at least one without a grid heater.
Good batteries are key.

 

[chet6.7]

File this under FWIW.

 

[TwinStick]

I have been using Hotshots Secret exclusively since the day I drove our ZR2 diesel off the lot. No issues. It works. Their claims are backed up by science. Anti Gel in winter. EDT in every tank. No issues, 14,500 miles. Buffalo Ny area.

 

[Explorerinil]

I run Howe’s or optilube winter, depends if I get a good deal on bulk optilube on amazon or not.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Just bear in mind that wind chill has zero effect on a truck, it cannot get colder than the actual ambient air temperature.

Actually the older JD tractors with the nose fuel tank gel up faster than anything else because of the fan blast on the fuel line running under the radiator.

A lot of stations sell a diesel blend that is weather appropriate, just like they do for gasoline. I've only seen a couple of gas stations in my travels that offer a DIY bar of Diesel #1 (Kerosene, better for cold temps but less energy dense), 50/50, and Diesel #2 (what you normally get) as separate choices.

Still, having some Diesel 911 on hand is good practice. As is having a fuel filter wrench, as those will be among the first things to gel up when the mercury drops.

Heck yes.

Every once in a while the stupid blend crap hangs A BUNCH of guys when we get a colder than average cold snap. Gelled tractors and pickups laying dead all over the place.

Run the white Power Service bottle when running in cold temps, it will help make up for fuel station goofs. Keep a bottle or two of the red stuff on hand to save your bacon if you get in a pinch.

Also watch traveling long distances to different places. People drive up here from down south in the winter not knowing about fuel differences and thanks to the huge tanks they put in pickups/trucks now they don't have to refill along the way... and they gel up on their southern fuel.

Ungelling a new truck isn't as easy as an older one either, it can ruin hard parts you don't wanna replace in the field like injectors so be careful.

 

[crazysccrmd]

Actually the older JD tractors with the nose fuel tank gel up faster than anything else because of the fan blast on the fuel line running under the radiator.

They gel up faster because the wind cools it down faster but the fuel still can't get any colder than the actual air temperature.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

They gel up faster because the wind cools it down faster but the fuel still can't get any colder than the actual air temperature.

When they sit outside all night and start in the morning the fuel is probably colder than air temp to start with.

 

[crazysccrmd]

When they sit outside all night and start in the morning the fuel is probably colder than air temp to start with.

It can't be colder than the ambient temperature.

 

[dreadlocks]

sure it can, ambient air temp can change far more rapidly than diesel fuel..

example: 4am ambient temp is -5 degrees, fuel temp is -5 degrees.. 8am ambient temp is 1 degree, fuel temp is -4 degrees.

 

[luthj]

The important point, is that if your fuel gel temp is -10F, and the air temp is 0F, the fuel won't gel. Even if the "wind chill" is -25F.

 

[dreadlocks]

totally agreed, wind chill is meaningless.. most you can extrapolate out of that is excessive cooling which diesels dont need in such conditions.. extremely low wind chill might make you decide to block off radiator more than otherwise, but only as an indicator of wind speed and bitter temps.

The other point being, that current ambient air temps might not reflect the fuels current temps.. unless you have a thermometer that shows you the min low temp the night before, it could be much lower than you suspect.. so blanket saying fuel cannot be colder than ambient air temp is also misleading.

 

[crazysccrmd]

That is true. I could've said it more clearly I guess.