PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - #2 diesel gelling / function of temp

PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/)

- Diesel Discussion (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/)

- - #2 diesel gelling / function of temp (http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/137368-2-diesel-gelling-function-temp.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dabenz

phidauex: didn't mean to sound snippy - my computer skills aren't good enough to figure out those "smilies" - I remember when the manual hand-crank cash registers were NOT unusual. On a more serious note, people die up here because of vehicle problems or going out when they shouldn't. It's a low population region, so you have to depend on yourself - and that may be a strange thought these days in other parts of the country.

#1 is fine with lubricants. #2 is fine with lubricants. It's the sulphur that provided the lubrication, but those high sulphur days went away decades ago. Kerosine is scarce and expensive up here because we use #1 wherever kerosine is specified.

Up here, the trucks that run #2 or a #1/#2 blend in winter have a heated garage, tank heaters, and a heated water separator to go along with their high-return fuel systems. Our benz's have a low-return fuel system, so the fuel lines can and will gell just as fast as the filter. A moot point for daBenz, of course, as it's tucked away for the winter "smilie - aarrrgh!".

No offense taken. :) The self sufficiency point is important.. Working in the mountains in colorado I was surprised by the number of people who didn't realize that their cell phones wouldn't work while up there! People have died there because they thought that if they got in trouble they'd just call 911, not realizing that the nearest cell phone tower is over 100 miles away! You have to be very prepared. Same is true in the open north country, you might be hundreds of miles from help, and you have to be prepared to take care of yourself.

Lubrication is key too, no matter what fuel you are using, if you are blending #1, you need to replace that lubrication. Incidentally, 2% biodiesel adds back all the lubrication lost in the transition to low-sulfur diesel. Most anti-gel additives also add a lot of lubrication of their own.

I'd say 30% #1, 70% #2, with a serious anti-gel additive like Arctic Express, and you'll be good to go for some incredibly cold weather. But carry that Diesel 911 all the same. :)

peace,
sam

Do you think using antigel when the temperature falls below 32F is a prudent thing to do? Or is the "worry temperature" lower than that?

It depends. If you have a car you don't drive a lot, and it's sitting in cold weather with a tank of summer diesel, 32 is just about cold enough to start thinking about gelling. You'd probably be fine a bit below that, but maybe not. If you're running winterized fuels, you don't need to worry about gelling until it gets much colder.

This is my daily driver. Probably the people running the stations don't know whats in their storage tank. Maybe I can find out who the owners are...

We don't have winterized fuel here, and it gets down to 15F . . . if it gets below 0F I'd start to worry, otherwise I think you just buying expensive fuel.:D

A reminder for people headed to Dakota to work on the shale or traveling across the northern tier this winter. One February night sometime in the mid seventies I pulled into the truck stop near Minot, North Dakota. The kid at the fuel dock asked if we were going in to eat. "Don't shut it off," he says. "It's 38 below zero." There were two rigs sitting in the lube bay with big diesel fired space heaters pointed at the radiators. No more room for me. The fuel mix of the day was 5 gl. gasoline in each hundred gallon diesel tank. I don't remember using anti-gel in those days but it may have been available.

We carried electric blankets that could run off the refer unit's generator (it ran continuously), down sleeping bags and winter clothing. We had a brand new CB radio with the new 40 channels. We made Seattle a few days later just fine.

On another trip north I did get stopped by deep snow between Watson Lake, YK and Ft. Nelson BC. My co-driver and I had wait out the storm several hours till the plow came by and got us going again. We used the down bags and the electric blankets. The idling engine did not produce enough heat for both the cab and the fuel tank heaters. We opted for the fuel tank heaters.