How cold does it have to be before diesel gels?

[alkillion]

I have about half a tank of diesel that was pumped in October, so I figure it is not a winter blend. Now it's been pretty cold in the Dallas area, so I'm wondering if my generator will start if we have a power outage. I'll put some anti-gel in it next chance I get, but that doesn't help right now.
Hopefully all this ice will be melted by the weekend, I need to get on the road again.

[JTHarley]

Just wondering out loud here but if your engine has a pre-heat or an aqua hot and you turn that on when the temps get low wouldn't that stop the gelling? If it does gel there are additives you can put directly in the filter like diesel 911……..or I'm wondering if it does Gel and you pre heat the engine before you start it wouldn't that take care of the gelling?

[Coyote74]

watch the state of Maryland mixing fuels around inspection time it may show up on test for emissions.

[mrkoje]

Keep in mind too that most of the newer diesel engines have fuel filters with 12v heating elements to prevent the filter from clogging with wax from clouded fuel. That helps a little bit with using #2 or summer diesel when it gets a little colder than 15F.

[alkillion]

Thanks for all the responses. Always learn alot from these posts.
It's a bit warmer here now so I'm not so worried, but I need to be prepared.
The first part of my question was about running the generator in cold weather, the second part was more general running the engine in cold weather.
Just to be safe I'll fill the tank as soon as I can and dump a little treatment in to be safe.
Thanks All

[ScottG]

When I lived in Ks. I never had my fuel gel even when it was well below zero. I think they're more proactive these days about treating fuel in colder places than they were years ago.

[Community Alumni]

So now I have a question about cold weather and diesel fuel and since the OP question was about that with a generator thrown in my question is:

How do you know when it got cold enough for the fuel to spoil the fuel filter?? What do I need to look at?

I am in SE Kansas now it has been subfreezing now for about 5 to 6 days with temps down to 4 last night and 7 a couple nights ago and a lot of teens. My fuel filter is hanging down from the Freightliner Chassis pretty much exposed to the cold I did fill the tank, 100 gallon, in October when I got here. The filter does have the plastic water separator on the bottom.

JimR

[wa8yxm]

I have stayed out of this because I drive a Gasser, but... I used to work for a company that drove Diesels.. Several of 'em.

The answer varies depending on Diesel 1 or 2 and how high the quality is.. So keep a can of anti-gel stuff in the basement,, If you need it, use it.

[Snowman9000]

sky_free wrote:
Yikes, this could actually be a problem for us. We live in the SF Bay Area and usually get fuel here, but our TDI can go 700 miles on a tank of fuel. It is conceivable that we would make it to some temps that are well below zero within 200 miles. This past weekend we were up in Tahoe with it and it got down to -10F. The Touareg was parked in the garage at night, but was out driving in below zero temps. I guess we dodged a bullet there.

As the other poster said, you're probably okay as long as you are driving. Although, gel-ups do occur in over the road trucks while they are driving. But overall, yes, you can easily run into this situation if you buy diesel in a warm area and take the vehicle into the cold.

[Sully2]

If on the last fillup...you double dose per Howe's Lubricator instructions...you NEVER have to worry about fuel gelling...etc.

Pick it up at your truck stop/ fuel depot. I sure do.

[dubdub07]

alkillion wrote:
I have about half a tank of diesel that was pumped in October, so I figure it is not a winter blend. Now it's been pretty cold in the Dallas area, so I'm wondering if my generator will start if we have a power outage. I'll put some anti-gel in it next chance I get, but that doesn't help right now.
Hopefully all this ice will be melted by the weekend, I need to get on the road again.

If you don't leave the state of Texas, you will never have to worry about it; and unless you are northern tier, you will not have to worry about the #1 - #2 mix. That is a non issue. What is an issue is the diesel fuel in Texas. Do they use a winter fuel? If not, you will want that in the tank if you go anywhere it is cold....at least 1/2 a tank.

WW07

[2oldman]

So, this is about your generator?

[wolfe10]

Driving in very cold temperatures is a non-issue, as fuel recirculates from engine back to tank.

And, those who say that fuel is "acclimatized" for current conditions are correct. BUT (large BUT) if you filled up in the summer or fall, that will not help if temperatures drop to the cloud point of the fuel in your tank.

Every Walmart has PS brand anti-gel. Put it in your summer grade diesel and drive/run diesel generator long enough for it to circulate.

[sky_free]

Yikes, this could actually be a problem for us. We live in the SF Bay Area and usually get fuel here, but our TDI can go 700 miles on a tank of fuel. It is conceivable that we would make it to some temps that are well below zero within 200 miles. This past weekend we were up in Tahoe with it and it got down to -10F. The Touareg was parked in the garage at night, but was out driving in below zero temps. I guess we dodged a bullet there.

[wny_pat1]

Trackrig wrote:
Dallas is showing 30F at the moment, you don't have to worry about it.

Assuming your engine has glow plugs, turn the key on until they go off, turn the engine over for a second until they come back on, stop turning the engine over, wait until they go off a second time and then proceed to start the engine.

Bill

I doubt either your Cat C7 or the OP's 340 Cummins has glow plugs. They might have a intake grid heater. And if they did have glow plugs, that would not help with gelled fuel.