# diesel gelled up!!



## baddboygeorge (Oct 20, 2002)

any quick method of thawing a diesel system out ! my tank is gelled up an i cant get fuel to the engine! i guess a good heater an a few tarps is the only way to get it thawed out! any other advice?? thanks George


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## JeepCreepn01 (Oct 31, 2005)

plug it in, it will help


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## oldmankent (Mar 2, 2001)

Or get it into a heated garage for a few hours. You should thaw the whole thing out though, and then add a antigelling agent


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## blk90s13 (Sep 1, 2005)

Jeep;361111 said:


> plug it in, it will help


i thought the heater is for coolant only ?

heated garage for a day it will all come back to life i am running a quart of 2 cycle oil with each tank havent used any additives yet other than that


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## WALKERS (Nov 1, 2006)

George
Whats going on didnt your block heater work for you. If you can just do as they said roll into some where warm and wrap it up. 
bik
YOU put 2 cycle oil in your fuel tank????


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## carcrz (Jun 5, 2006)

Try plugging it in first. If that doesn't work, Power Service makes an emergency de-gelling additive that you can use, it is different than their regular winter blend. I would recommend using the gray bottle in the warm months to keep your injectors clean & the white bottle in the winter to prevent gelling.


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## Idealtim (Jan 15, 2006)

Am I missing something here? I thought the block heater only heated the block, not the tanks. And another thing, how is he supposed to get it to a heated shop when it won't start?


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## Wesley's Lawn (Sep 18, 2002)

Well first off dont buy crappy fuel  lol yea just put it in somewhere warm for a while and then some antigelling agent and fuel treatment to get rid of moisture should work good.


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## WALKERS (Nov 1, 2006)

It does heat the block but there could be a chance its in the line He should still PUSHwesport into somewhere warm.


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## carcrz (Jun 5, 2006)

Idealtim;361129 said:


> Am I missing something here? I thought the block heater only heated the block, not the tanks. And another thing, how is he supposed to get it to a heated shop when it won't start?


Apparently nobody here has tried to push their diesels into a warm place. If you guys are like me, it is really hard to find volunteers to help me on this task.

As for the plug, it depends on what brand of truck he has. On the Cummins, it is actually a grid heater, on the others, I think it is a block heater to keep the oil from gelling.


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## iakentdoz (Dec 20, 2005)

Get a metal pan and fill it up with Charcoal. Let the Charcoal burn down till just hot ash and slid the pan under when it's jelled up. Never tried it before, but know truckers do it when there big rigs are gelled up.


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## greenscapes inc (Oct 28, 2005)

Get some power service 911(red bottle). I would try taking your fuel filter out and pouring a little in there as well.


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## DBL (Aug 27, 2005)

greenscapes said:


> Get some power service 911(red bottle). I would try taking your fuel filter out and pouring a little in there as well.


yeah its called diesel 911


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## Oshkosh (Sep 11, 2005)

*I see it mentioned above...*

Link;

http://www.powerservice.com/diesel_911.asp

From now on I wouldnt fill up with out some Power service in the white bottle.I ran it every tank since 1991 and NEVER had a fuel system freeze up!


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## blk90s13 (Sep 1, 2005)

WALKERS;361117 said:


> George
> Whats going on didnt your block heater work for you. If you can just do as they said roll into some where warm and wrap it up.
> bik
> YOU put 2 cycle oil in your fuel tank????


yes sir i add a quart of wallmart universal 2-cycle oil to each full tank of diesel fuel in my truck

if you have a couple of hours read this thread

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/a...lubricants/4054-first-time-w-2stroke-oil.html


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## oldmankent (Mar 2, 2001)

Drain your water fuel seperator too. You might have more water in there then you think, and it could be freezing up enough to screw you.


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## spittincobra01 (Nov 14, 2005)

you don't need anything fancy to prevent gelling, just get some ATF and use about 1/2 a quart to a full tank and you won't have to worry about it again, and it's less than 1/2 the cost of all the other anti gelling stuff. That is what Ryder uses in all of thier trucks and they have ALOT of them


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## carcrz (Jun 5, 2006)

spittincobra01;361368 said:


> you don't need anything fancy to prevent gelling, just get some ATF and use about 1/2 a quart to a full tank and you won't have to worry about it again, and it's less than 1/2 the cost of all the other anti gelling stuff. That is what Ryder uses in all of thier trucks and they have ALOT of them


Don't use ATF!!! I have heard many people say they used it in their old trucks, but when they used it in their new ones, it caused some problems w/ the fuel system.


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## blk90s13 (Sep 1, 2005)

carcrz;361379 said:


> Don't use ATF!!! I have heard many people say they used it in their old trucks, but when they used it in their new ones, it caused some problems w/ the fuel system.


yea atf is not good for newer trucks


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## oldmankent (Mar 2, 2001)

Don't use ATF. Use Power Service or Standyne. I prefer Stanadyne. You really shouldn't need any additive though, the winter blend has plenty of anti gelling stuff in it. Maybe you got crappy fuel, or you don't drive your truck much, so you have summer fuel in it. But I'd think summer fuel would even be ok unless it is really cold.


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## 04superduty (Jan 9, 2004)

carcrz;361136 said:


> As for the plug, it depends on what brand of truck he has. On the Cummins, it is actually a grid heater, on the others, I think it is a block heater to keep the oil from gelling.


i think you got the block heater confused with the glow plugs/ heater grid. all of the big 3 offer block heaters on thier trucks. what is different is how each warm the engine up when you first turn the key on and have to wait to start it. cummins uses a grid heater, international and durmax use glow plugs.


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## dirt digger (Feb 27, 2005)

how cold did it get to gel your fuel?...i have never seen a diesel completely gel and it gets pretty cold around here


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## woodacres (Jan 24, 2007)

*fuel problems*

you by chance did not use off road fuel did you? off road fuel will gel up a lot easier. I own 8 diesels and never had one gel up.


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## PLOWMAN45 (Jul 2, 2003)

use marvel mystery oil to prevent it or a gallon or 2 of high test gas stops that


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Kerosene will work as well as the other additives. 

You guys that tell him to plug it in, what if it's gelled in the lines or the tank? Heater grid, glow plugs, whatever aren't going to thaw the fuel out there. Glow plugs and so on only heat the engine where the fuel is compressed to begin combustion. Not the fuel system.

Check your fuel\water separator and if you're not getting winter blend in KY, get some of the Stanadyne or Power Service and start using it every tank.


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## Ggg6 (Oct 14, 2003)

Take it from an old heavy diesel mechanic, only buy your fuel from a high volume station such as a truck stop. If it makes you feel better add some anti gel, I personally do not add any to my personal trucks or the fleets I have worked on. Don't add any gas, or oil 2cyl or otherwise to your fuel system, this was an old trick from days gone by. Todays diesels have completely different fuel systems and this trick can cause more harm than good. Charcoal under the fuel tank, yes it works on big trucks (metal fuel tanks), but most light duty trucks have plastic tanks so I can't recommend this any longer. Get the vehicle in a warm environment, either garage or use tarps and a heater. When I say get it there I mean push, pull, lift, or drag it. Just get it there this isn't going to be pretty. I have used skid steers to lift the drive wheels, back hoes to pull, end loaders with forks to carry them. Heating above the gel temperature is your only hope so plugging the block heater in itself will most likely not do the trick, but it most certainly can't hurt. It will warm the fuel bowl, injector lines, common rails, etc. As far as glow plugs or grid heaters, they will not do anything to thaw a gelled fuel system,thats not their job. The engine is not the only place to focus your efforts. As said earlier the tank, supply lines, filters, and return lines all need to be warmed up. Get creative, use things such as heat lamps, hot packs, heating blankets, gutter heating cable, hair dryers, etc. Just use a LOT of common sense, and be careful. The fuel only needs to be warmed to about 40 degrees to flow again. If you are unsure of how to do this, then hire someone who is sure, it's cheaper than burning a truck up.


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## carcrz (Jun 5, 2006)

04superduty;361527 said:


> i think you got the block heater confused with the glow plugs/ heater grid. all of the big 3 offer block heaters on thier trucks. what is different is how each warm the engine up when you first turn the key on and have to wait to start it. cummins uses a grid heater, international and durmax use glow plugs.


You're right. My bad


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## Vaughn Schultz (Nov 18, 2004)

Ggg6;362736 said:


> If you are unsure of how to do this, then hire someone who is sure, it's cheaper than burning a truck up.


Nice  :yow!:


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## spittincobra01 (Nov 14, 2005)

carcrz;361379 said:


> Don't use ATF!!! I have heard many people say they used it in their old trucks, but when they used it in their new ones, it caused some problems w/ the fuel system.





blk90s13;361458 said:


> yea atf is not good for newer trucks


I did some checking and you guys are correct, at least for the power stroke and duramax. The cummins will be fine with ATF. ATF works well with larger diesels and turbo's but today's smaller ones do tend to clog up with it. I will check my info more clearly before posting next time


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## baddboygeorge (Oct 20, 2002)

*thanks guys!*

well i thawed it out with a torpedo heater an a few tarps the i pull started it with oanother truck! it was running for 2 hours , ran well! i noticed it had a stumble at idle an sometimes seemed like it wouldnt get fuel! brought it back home, parked it, turned it off , tried to restart it an nothing! it would turn over but seemed like starter was draggin? went an got another starter an wow what a difference , started rite up! that was at 10 pm got up at 6 am to salt an she started fine!! went to first lot to salt an she strted stmbling again an she died an i couldn't get it to start! i called a wrecker an had it towed to a diesel mechanic! found out that one of the fuel lines was bad an was sucking air into system! also the fuel pump wasn't pumping enough fuel! truck will be ready tomm. so i will be back in action!!


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