Diesel gelled, will it start once it warms up a little?
 

SOLVED: Tested the GPs and found 3 of the 5 brand new Autolite glow plugs (installed the week before this happend) were completely dead and a 4th was reading way too much resistance. The fuel was definitely gelled, I could see it in the clear fuel line and pumping the primer pump wouldnt move the fuel, but who knows if it would have started or not had all 5 glow plugs been working. I put in the old glow plugs that i luckily saved, and it fired right up, instantly. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER will i ever purchase anything with the Autolite brand name again, period. The Bosche glow plugs that were in there before look like they are 20 years old, and they still work. It is beyond belief that 4 out of 5 brand new glow plugs could go dead in a single week of use, Autolite should be ashamed of themselves for even having that product on the shelf. Lesson learned, brand names do matter sometimes and never assume something you just replaced is actually working just cause its new... And thanks to all of you for your suggestions.


I live in DC and it got down near zero last night, 10 deg this morning. I last filled up in Sept and had not driven it until last week when I finally got around to fixing the heater... Drove it yesterday, no issues, went to start it this morning, no go, got under the hood and pumped the primer pump, diesel not moving in the clear line that goes to the spin on fuel filter. I can clearly see it is gelled. Slowly poured a gallon of boiling water on the IP, filter, and fuel lines just now, still no go. Anyone have any experience here on this? Do I need to change the spin on filter now, maybe light a bonfire under the engine. Never even crossed my mind that it only had "summer blend" in it...

Do you NEED to drive it right away? That changes your approach.

If you need it on the road ASAP you'll need to use something like Diesel 911 to reliquefy the fuel. The bottle will tell you how much to use - you probably will need to put some in your tank and some in the spin on filter. This is an emergency thing only as the Diesel 911 is not good for your injection pump.

Putting some kerosene in the tank can have a similar effect but isn't as bad for your engine.

Another idea that might take longer - you can put a high-wattage light bulb (if you have any 100w bulbs left those can work) down in the engine compartment and drape a thick blanket over the engine before closing the hood to keep the heat in. A second bulb in the trunk can help ungel the fuel in the tank.

This happened to me at much warmer temps with some B99 that I didn't realize was made with animal base stock until it gelled at above freezing temps. The fuel eventually reliquified later in the day when it warmed up enough. It helped that I pushed the car out in to the sun...put the hood up and let the sun hit the engine bay, and the rest of the car acted like a greenhouse for warming up the tank. I was able to take this approach instead because I had no emergency that required me to drive.

The quickest remedy is to get the car in a warm place, if possible.

You can try changing the fuel filter and using a product like Powerservice DFS or their 911 stuff. Hard to say if it will remedy the problem since you don't know where the blockage is located.

No emergency really, hate using the "my car wont start so I'm working from home today" when several people are depending on me in the office to get more than one project out... The kicker here is, its parked in a parking garage with absolutely no available electricity, other wise I wont be out there with a heat gun... Only supposed to get up to 30 deg today, with it being in the garage, out of the sun, I dont see that being warm enough to help me out.

Lesson learned I guess, I was just about to fill up the tank on my way home yesterday (its only 1/4 full), but I decided to wait till today...

When did you notice it was getting cold in DC? Did this suddenly happen, or something that has been an on going thing? With all the Hot Air coming out of the Capitol there shouldn`t be a problem, get some of those Congress men in your garage and do their magic. :D

You can put the Fuel additives mentioned above, but then there is the problem with the fuel lines under the car between the tank and engine.

If you can get ahold of a generator, use a hair drier to warm things.

Charlie

Sounds to me like you may have picked up some water in the fuel. As the tank gets low you have more chance to get it drawn into the system (though 1/4 is not that low).

Diesel 911 white container stuff disperses water but doesn't unfreeze fuel. The red can one has alcohol and will unfreeze the fuel lines all the way up to the filter, but it's not great for the fuel system. However Whunter uses it when necessary.

The only way to get it going without waiting for an increase in temperature, or chemical intervention, is to move it somewhere heated.

I keep reading about kerosene but (at least here) it's about 4x the cost of Diesel911 white and harder to find.

See post #2 there is a PDF on the subject.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/351252-battle-anti-gels-lubricators.html

So, basically a week later now. It was up to 60 on saturday, replaced both fuel filters, pumped the primer pump and reprimed the system. Tried cycling the glow plugs 4 times before starting. Nothing worked. It turns over, and over, and over, but no start. getting some white smoke out the tailpipe when cranking, but it will not start up. Tried it with the pedal all the way down, no difference. Could something have been damaged when it gelled??? I also unhooked the vacuum shut off line, it was not the issue. I am at a loss, do I need to pull the injectors and clean them out???

Did you fill the spin on filter with fuel before you tried to start it? If not it will take more priming or a significant amount of cranking to get the filter filed and the car to fire. If possible, do you have access to a five gallon fuel can? If so, fill it with fresh diesel and then take the supply hose off the line coming from the cars fuel tank and put it in the five gallon can/ That way you will be drawing fresh fuel from the can instead of any questionable fuel from the tank. The white smoke tells me it is trying to fire. Last thought.....what shape are the glow plugs in? are you sure they are all heating up when cycled? Good luck and keep us posted.

Replaced all 5 glow plugs 2 weeks ago. I did fill the spin on when replacing, I am going to fill up a can with fresh fuel and try that this evening, hopefully that works...

It is difficult if not near impossible to fill the spin-on filter by hand priming, and you'll kill your battery before you can fill it by cranking, which is why it's so highly recommended that you fill the spin-on filter with some type of fuel be it diesel or virgin motor oil or whatever is handy before installing it.

If you didn't do that, you can try cracking loose the nuts where the injector hard lines reach the injectors. You can then crank until you see wetness at the top of each injector. This helps bleed air out of the fuel delivery side of the system.

Here is a guide on changing the secondary filter that covers the filling of the filter prior to install. This filter holds almost a half-quart/16oz of fluid.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mercedes+W123+Diesel+Fuel+Filter%2C+Secondary+Replacement/22555

Just wanted to update back that the problem has been solved. After a week of trying to start it every night after work, I finally got it going last night. I put in five brand new glow plugs 2 weeks ago, so I just assumed they were good, the light was coming on and everything... While the fuel did gel, the end all reason it couldnt start was that 3 out of the 5 brand new glow plugs were completely dead and one of the remaining 2 had about 4 times the normal resistance, so it was basically dead too. I could literally see the gelled fuel last tuesday, but who knows whether it would have started or not had I had 5 functioning glow plugs. I put the old glow plugs back in, and it fired right up. I can not stress enough to anyone replacing their glow plugs, under no circumstance should you even remotely consider using Autolite glow plugs. They were the only thing in stock when I was buying new ones 2 weeks ago, and they cost me big time, 5 says in the parking garage ran me up about 80 bucks...

Diesel should not be gelling, it should be good to at least -20F as it should be winterized. I've had no issues down to -14 so far this winter with any of my diesels.

The diesel was from August/September in Maryland. Had not run it since end of October, because the heater wasnt working due to a plugged up hose. Just started driving it again 2 weeks ago after fixing the heater. It got down to around 0 deg. f. last monday night which gelled that summer blend...