Cold morning diesel gelling up I guess...

[WoodCarver75]

Good morning everyone. I live up here in Maine and boy its cold out side right now its been hovering about 0°F.. As alot of you might now we had a storm came through from Saturday night right through to Sunday night. went out this morning and my BX25 would not start. turned but no fire. got out my halogen lights out in hopes of warming the engine a bit. Killed the battery in the process. Jumped it and it started like a charm. made it half way down the driveway and it started starving for diesel. it just died and would not start. I used my jeep to pull it back to the house climbed under and replaced fuel filters. took the first one off and only had a drizzle come out. I than disconnected the up line end of the rear filter and again a drizzle. popped off the filter from the down side of the filter and had a gusher on my hands....got it all fixed up and was able to start the BX again. this time it ran for about 10-15 minutes and started starving again for fuel.. I ran to the parts store and grabbed some diesel 911 through it into the tank and started the tractor again.it will only run for a few seconds at a time. I was hoping to cycle the Diesel 911 throughout the whole tank and line.. for though who don't know Diesel 911 is to brake down the gelled diesel in the lines and filters.

I am open to any suggestions. I am doing all my work out side in the cold and snow.

 

[jonmad]

When I delivered fuel for a living we always put #1 fuel (kerosene) in outside tanks in winter because it doesn't gel. You could call your Kubota dealer and ask it it would be okay to use kerosene. Oil burners burn much cleaner with #1 but I don't know if its okay for a diesel.

 

[Jim L.]

I would suggest dunking the filters in kerosene for awhile for any gel, wax, or water.

Then add about 10% kerosene to the tank.

After that add fuel conditioner to the next tank full.

Assuming regular filters and not super-high filtration.

 

[BAP]

Go buy yourself a bottle of Powerservice 911 in red bottle and dump some in. It will help ungel the fuel. While you are at it buy a white bottle of the Poweservice antigel to prevent gelling in the future.

 

[DustyRusty]

When I had my diesel Mercedes, the Mercedes manual said to add up to 10% gasoline to the diesel fuel if gelling occurred. I have been using Service Power (by the same maker of 911), and have never had a gelling problem. I also have an engine block heater installed on my BX22. This morning when I went out to start the tractor it was -6 degrees below zero. Engine started quickly, and no gelling, although the hydraulics were slow to react until the hydraulic fluid came up to temperature.

 

[Jim L.]

Just to be clear, never add gasoline to a diesel tractor.

 

[WoodCarver75]

i was using Lucas anti-gel before this morning. i did buy Powerservice 911 and poured some in today.

 

[DustyRusty]

Just to be clear, never add gasoline to a diesel tractor.

Gasoline in 10% or less will not harm a diesel engine, UNLESS it is one of the new diesels that require DEF be added to the fuel. I don't want to debate this with you, however, I have been using diesel powered equipment for over 60 years, and long before there were things such as Service Power with Cetane additives, this is what we had to do. In the case of gelled fuel, the Service Power 911 is a product that breaks up the congealed paraffin particles in the fuel. Service Power in the white bottle keeps the paraffin from congealing. I was not recommending to him to add gasoline to his fuel, merely explaining what was done in the past. Many people have mistakenly put gasoline into their diesel automobiles, and sometimes with disastrous results, and other times, they were lucky and did no damage. It all depends on how much gasoline was mixed with the diesel fuel, and how far they traveled before realizing the mistake.
During the Second World War, people would add home heating fuel to the gasoline in their cars, because gasoline was a rationed fuel, and the need to stretch the fuel (gasoline) further. Sometimes unorthodox methods are used to get people and machines moving again.

 

[DustyRusty]

Woodcarver...

By any chance, do you or one of your close neighbors have a wood stove. If so, see if you can get a shovel full of hot ashes from the wood stove, and place the shovel with the hot ashes on the ground under the tractor. The heat from the hot ashes on the shovel will warm the filters, and allow you to start the tractor. This is how we started engines back in the 1960's in New Hampshire, when the temperatures dropped into the single digits, and the engine oil was more like molasses than oil. Just keep an eye on the amount of heat, since the fuel filters are made of plastic, and if they get too hot, they might melt. You only want enough heat to get the tractor running, so the 911 can circulate through the lines and injectors. Not certain if you can add the white bottle of Service Power to the fuel if it has been treated with the 911. Consult the bottle label for advise on this aspect.

 

[Fordtech86]

Gasoline in 10% or less will not harm a diesel engine, UNLESS it is one of the new diesels that require DEF be added to the fuel. I don't want to debate this with you, however, I have been using diesel powered equipment for over 60 years, and long before there were things such as Service Power with Cetane additives, this is what we had to do. In the case of gelled fuel, the Service Power 911 is a product that breaks up the congealed paraffin particles in the fuel. Service Power in the white bottle keeps the paraffin from congealing. I was not recommending to him to add gasoline to his fuel, merely explaining what was done in the past. Many people have mistakenly put gasoline into their diesel automobiles, and sometimes with disastrous results, and other times, they were lucky and did no damage. It all depends on how much gasoline was mixed with the diesel fuel, and how far they traveled before realizing the mistake.
During the Second World War, people would add home heating fuel to the gasoline in their cars, because gasoline was a rationed fuel, and the need to stretch the fuel (gasoline) further. Sometimes unorthodox methods are used to get people and machines moving again.

Not trying not to be a smart a$$ here. DEF is not added to the fuel in modern engines, it is injected into the exhaust system through its own injector. DEF is disastrous as is gasoline in any amount in a modern common rail engine. High pressure pumps in these engines that can produce 30,000 psi of pressure to the fuel injectors require the lubrication from the diesel, even small amounts of gas will destroy them.

 

[D2Cat]

DustyRusty, the idea of a shovel full of hot coals to get the fuel system open was risky business back in the day, but even then tractors had a taller stand.

Putting a shovel of hot coals under a BX tractor is foolish thinking with today's additives. Be sensible, don't give folks ideas to destroy their equipment. We're just getting snow off the road, not feeding animals or fighting wars!

 

[SidecarFlip]

DustyRusty, the idea of a shovel full of hot coals to get the fuel system open was risky business back in the day, but even then tractors had a taller stand.

Putting a shovel of hot coals under a BX tractor is foolish thinking with today's additives. Be sensible, don't give folks ideas to destroy their equipment. We're just getting snow off the road, not feeding animals or fighting wars!

Way back when, when Amy and I owned 4 tractor trailers, in the winter we sometimes had to shove the charcoal grill under the oil pan to get the big diesels to turn over....

You could warm the engine and grill hot dogs at the same time....

 

[BAP]

Only add gasoline IF you want to melt a piston, bend a rod, burn a valve, crack a head and ultimately buy a new engine.

 

[John T]

We used to keep old B model macks warm with a kerosene soaked toilet paper roll dropped into a coffee can.....

Under the oil pan



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[Georgec]

OK, so bottom line, two questions:

1. Now that the weather is near zero at night, and I am having problems, how warm does the weather need to get so I won't have problems?

2. I have put in some fresh (winter formula, I assume) fuel, added some 911, and another winter additive. Weather got above 20. Tractor started and ran well. But after about 5 minutes it was fuel starved again, so I shut it down. What's going on?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

OK, so bottom line, two questions:

1. Now that the weather is near zero at night, and I am having problems, how warm does the weather need to get so I won't have problems?

2. I have put in some fresh (winter formula, I assume) fuel, added some 911, and another winter additive. Weather got above 20. Tractor started and ran well. But after about 5 minutes it was fuel starved again, so I shut it down. What's going on?

When was the last time you changed the fiters, both of them?
Have you cracked the fuel cap on the tank when its getting starved for fuel, as a clogged vent can act like gelled fuel.