What To Do With Gelled Diesel Fuel?

If the fuel in the tank has gelled, add the entire contents of Diesel Winter Rescue (32 ounces) to every 40 gallons of fuel in the tank (s). Remove the fuel filters and fill them with a 50/50 mixture of Diesel Winter Rescue and diesel fuel. Start your engine after reinstalling the fuel filters. Allow your engine to idle for a few minutes to warm up the fuel system and clear any gelled masses.

Gelled Fuel in Fuel Lines or Fuel Filters:

Remove the engine’s fuel filters and fill with the same 1:1 combination of Diesel Winter Rescue and conventional diesel fuel if your fuel is liquid in the fuel tank(s) but your engine won’t start. Reinstall the fuel filters, start the engine, and let it warm up completely.

How Do Hot Shot’s Diesel Winter Products Work?

Hot Shot’s Diesel Winter Rescue is a fully developed emergency product that contains a military-grade de-icer as well as a lubricity additive for diesel fuel. It’s designed to re-liquefy gelled fuel and de-ice frozen fuel filters, restoring diesel fuel flow to the engine and allowing the vehicle to resume normal operation. Having products like Diesel Winter Rescue in your vehicle during the winter months, when gelling is most likely, is a good idea.

Will gelled diesel Ungel?

A variety of things can be put to a gelled tank to aid in the recovery of the fuel to its original state. Opti-Lube Gel Melt and Diesel 911, for example, are made specifically for gelled fuel. Simply fill the tank with one of these and follow the dosing directions. There’s no need to heat or mix the tank. These can take a long time to install, depending on the size and shape of the tank. The treated fuel in the tank may not be able to reach gelled fuel that is not in the tank, such as in fuel lines and filters, which is a significant constraint.

Product Details

In cold temperatures, use to liquefy frozen or gelled diesel gasoline caused by wax production or ice crystals. Quick-Thaw will completely thaw the whole fuel system in roughly 20 minutes if applied according to the guidelines. Excellent for diesel cars operating in colder locations, where wax crystals found in low- and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels can cause filter blockage.

A bottle of Quick-Thaw should be kept on hand in every diesel truck for emergency cold weather rescue treatment.

Can gelled diesel damage injectors?

The gelling, on the other hand, might not be enough to damage an injector. In other words, it gelled, and you didn’t try to run it again until it ungelled. However, if the fuel leading to the injectors has gelled up and the FICM is driving them, the injectors will be starving for fuel. It’s the same as if you were in a low (or no) pressure situation.

What can I put in my diesel fuel to keep it from gelling?

You get ready to go to work one morning, but your car won’t start. Overnight, your fuel in the tank has solidified. So, what exactly do you do?

For truck drivers, the winter months are more than just a dangerous time when they must drive extra cautiously. In fact, the colder months bring with them a slew of new issues, one of which being diesel fuel gelling. When the temperature of diesel fuel drops, the paraffin that is normally contained in it begins to harden. The wax in liquid form will solidify at 32 degrees, clouding the fuel tank. It will ultimately start to gel at 10-15 degrees and block the tank and fuel filter.

The gel point of diesel is the temperature at which it solidifies and can no longer flow through the fuel lines. The pour point, on the other hand, specifies the temperature at which a fluid begins to harden.

This is the most important one. The diesel fuel in the fuel lines has solidified and clogged the fuel filter. The engine will not start if petrol cannot enter through the fuel filter.

Some truck drivers have told us about filling up with diesel fuel in the winter and neglecting to add anti-gel treatment. When they get on the road, they discover that their vehicle is at best sluggish, and that it can’t even accelerate correctly. When accelerating, a mismatch between the intended fuel rail pressure and the actual rail pressure is detected. Because of the gelling of the diesel fuel, the required pressure frequently jumps while the actual pressure remains low, preventing the fuel from getting where it should go.

Truckers frequently mix #1 diesel, which has a kerosene blend, with diesel #2, which is utilized for road applications. Kerosene lowers the plug point temperature of the fuel and reduces its viscosity, reducing the likelihood of diesel gelling even at low temperatures.

Another typical option for diesel fuel gelling is additives and fuel treatments. They function in a similar way to the previous alternative in reducing the production of paraffin crystals. They also help to reduce the fuel’s pour and gel points. For than two decades, AFS products have reliably and affordably protected New England and Mid-Atlantic diesel enthusiasts with its patented cold weather innovations and comprehensive fuel oversight programs.

Our Winter Diesel 2010 Additive, which combines wax modifiers and wax anti-settling chemicals to improve low-temperature operability, is a good example of a fuel treatment. While ensuring fuel economy and emission management, it also provides L10 injector detergency, fuel stabilization, and corrosion inhibition.

Our technical staff is available to discuss any issues you may have about winter operability with you. They can provide advice on best practices and preventative measures that will help you and your customers prepare for whatever the winter brings. Advanced Fuel Solutions can be reached at 978-258-8360 for more information.

Can you put too much anti-gel in diesel?

Is it possible to use too much anti-gel in diesel? You’ve probably added much too much high-quality diesel fuel additive. Overloading your engine can result in clogged filters, reduced engine performance, and potentially a whole new set of fuel and engine issues. If you’re losing your libido, don’t overdo it.

How do you start a diesel truck with gelled fuel?

If the cold weather catches you off guard, your diesel-powered rig or light vehicle may be difficult to start or not start at all.

This happens because diesel fuel thickens inside filters and fuel lines, clogging your truck’s fuel system by forming a gel. For a truck owner/operator or anyone trying to travel and gets trapped on a dark and lonely highway in the middle of nowhere, this may be a very costly cost. Depending on the severity and location, emergency call outs to defrost a gelled system can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

Emergency CleanBoost Diesel Rescue De-GelTM was created with one goal in mind: to get you out of an emergency situation and back on the road as quickly as possible. Continue reading.

What is the gelling point of diesel?

In diesel fuel, a similar process occurs when the fuel crystallizes during cold weather. Gelling begins to occur when the temperature approaches 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit*, which can block the fuel system (*depending on the supply and quality of fuel, gelling can occur as high as 20 degrees Fahrenheit).

How To Tell When Diesel Fuel Begins To Gel

When diesel fuel begins to gel, Berg says there are a few telling indications, the most obvious of which is a loss of power and compression when fuel fails to reach the combustion chamber. If you could see the gasoline, it would have a hazy appearance, indicating that it had already gelled. Other indicators to look for include white smoke coming from the exhaust when trying to accelerate or the engine stopping running when you are sitting idle trying to throttle. Also, if the vehicle starts but does not run continuously, this could indicate that your fuel has gelled. Gelled diesel fuel is almost always the problem, whether it’s a lack of RPMs when an engine is running or a cold winter morning when the truck won’t start at all.

How to Fix Gelled Diesel Fuel?

Many people make the mistake of grabbing a can of ether to start the combustion process when their diesel vehicle won’t start at all. However, there are certain risks with this solution, as there may not be enough fuel to ignite. Spraying too much ether and having ether spray that isn’t contained causes even more issues. The uncontained spray might ignite other hot components, causing engine damage, or too much ether in the fuel line could simply ignite air in the lines rather than gasoline, causing the diesel engine to suffer severe damage. Fortunately, there are alternatives to spraying ether that are far safer. Here are a few preventative measures to consider:

  • Heat is the most effective line of defense. Avoiding frigid conditions by storing your vehicle in a climate-controlled garage or warm area. Other strategies include installing a series of heat-emitting light bulbs under the vehicle, enclosing the vehicle in a tarp with a heater blowing heat, and installing a modern-day block heater on the engine to keep the vehicle sheltered from the freezing temperatures. While building up the electric costs, the utility providers will adore you as well.
  • Kerosene: With the issue of staying warm when it’s 20 degrees below zero, people might experiment with different fuel mixtures. Pouring kerosene into the fuel tank to lower the freezing point is the most typical method. To take advantage of kerosene’s lower freezing point, many people mix #1 diesel, which is a combination of kerosene and #2 diesel fuel. This mix is frequently accessible in the northern parts of the country, but in the southern parts of the country, where temperatures are normally warmer, the #1 diesel may not be available. In either instance, kerosene has drawbacks, the most notable of which being reduced fuel mileage and efficiency. If, on the other hand, the truck stops running and kerosene is chosen, it is strongly recommended to leave the engine run long enough to combine the fuels and provide a continuous flow of the mixture. Consider the time it takes for the kerosene to defrost the tank in a semi-truck when operating with hundreds of gallons of fuel in a tank. The kerosene must next melt the frozen fuel lines and clogged fuel filter. The entire line from the gasoline tank to the filter to the injectors may take an hour of idle time to defrost.
  • Fuel Additives: There are now fuel additives that can provide a simple, low-cost, and no-hassle method to prevent gelling that any car owner can do themselves. “When considering an addition, Berg advises, “do your homework and analyze all of the products and promises.” “Investing a bit more time and effort to discover the greatest product is occasionally worthwhile. Additives are a means to offer an extra layer of protection to prevent the wax in diesel fuel from becoming thick, similar to wearing layers of clothing in the cold.” Many products contain alcohol, according to Berg, so look for one that provides not just proper temperature coverage but also protection for the entire system, including lubricity, cetane, water dispersion, and a success guarantee. Many preventive options are available, including some top picks being Diesel Winter Anti-Gel, which promotes coverage down to -40°F.

How to Prevent Diesel Fuel Gelling?

So, what’s the big deal about taking the effort to prevent diesel fuel from gelling? “If you contact a tow truck, you may still be stuck with a vehicle that won’t start after paying the tow cost,” Berg explains. You can save yourself the $80 and the headache in the case of a personal or light-duty car, or the $500 tow bill and missed time on the interstate in the case of a truck. Instead, taking use of the finest scientific additives could safeguard you from getting stuck in the cold for only a few dollars in preventative and an easy pour into the tank.

Emergency additions are also available for people who have failed to heed the warning, there has been no prevention, and gelling is still a possibility, or has already occurred! Diesel Winter Rescue, for example, is a formulated substance that requries gelled fuel and de-ices frozen fuel filters to restore diesel fuel flow to the engine, allowing the vehicle to resume normal operation. Diesel Winter Rescue, for example, is a good alternative to keep in your vehicle during the winter months just in case.

At what temperature does diesel fuel start to jail?

When the temperature of diesel fuel drops, the paraffin that is normally contained in it begins to harden. The wax in liquid form will solidify at 32 degrees, clouding the fuel tank. It will ultimately start to gel at 10-15 degrees and block the tank and fuel filters.