This upcoming winter will be my first with my F250 Diesel.

Do any members here in North Carolina add an anti-gel additive to their diesel in their F250 / F350?

Does diesel fuel sold in NC have a winter additive in it to prevent gelling?

From what I've read, it can become an issue under 32.

Don't want to get caught short here.

Advice is appreciated.

 

If it's below freezing, I throw a bottle in at a fillup just to be safe. Prolly be ok, but why take a chance.

Do you have block heater questions?

Adrianspeeder

 

I dont know if you got an electric heater or not??? but it might help. Plug it in if it does. If it heats the fuel it will solve the problem, even if it only heats the engine it will still help.

Deisel Fuel doesnt really start to gel up untill it gets down to about 20 degrees.

Once the temp gets below that, you might want to add some thing too it.

Just a tip, A full tank of fuel takes alot longer to gel-up then a tank that is almost empty. Keep it full if its going to get cold.


If you follow those rules, I dont think you will have too much trouble since you live in North Carolina.

If it gets flat assed cold "10 degrees or less" you might want to start it up and let it idle for 10-15 minutes. The warm fuel from the fuel return line helps heat the fuel in the tank. Besides, If it is going to gel up it is better for it to happen in the drive way then out on the side of the road.

Just my 2 cents.

 

No, the electric heater does nothing for the fuel, unless the truck happens to have a tank heater in with it, but not all of them do. The electric heater you talk about is only a block heater which circulates coolant through the water jacket raising the ambient temp inside the cylinder so that the fuel can ignite easier. There is a fuel heater in the bowl, but usually not in the tank.

Also do NOT, I repeat NOT, just let it idle for 10-15min like that. Its fine to idle, but it needs to be a high idle, ie 1300rpm. When its hot out it can be done, but still not recommended due to the higher ambient temps. The problem is at low rpms, especially when cold, the truck is incapable of buring all the diesel injected and it can wash down the cylinder wall with fuel thus getting it into the oil. When its cold, it needs to idle to get up to operating temp before you start driving it. Ideally you should be watching oil temp, but you don't have an oil temp gauge. To get high idle your truck either needs to have the cold weather package, or an AIC (auxliliary idle control). The AIC is the better route as you can control the rpms.

I always run fuel conditioner/antigel in every tank year round. Mainly for the antigel in the winter and the cetane boost/lubricity increase the rest of the year. A good conditioner such as PowerService (available at Walmart) should be run year round no matter where you live.

 

Nope, that is a sure easy way to "wet stack" a diesel like just described. Few mins idle tops and just baby it for a mile. Idling wont do squat for the rest of the drivetrain either. They need warmed up too.

Adrianspeeder

 

Its not as good as a fuel tank heater, but if its already got the engine warmed....The second it starts it will send warm fuel back to the tank through the fuel return line.

Fuel usually gels up in the fuel lines on the way to the engine. If he sending fuel back at say 45 degrees and its 20 degrees out side, it wont take but a few minutes for him to warm the fuel tank up to a safe temp.

The return line also usually runs right along the Send line, so it helps prevent gel up there as well.

I dont know about 1300, sounds awefully high to me. The last 2 trucks I have had WONT idle up that high?

 

You are correct that once the engine is warm you're sending hot fuel back to the tank (usually in the 130-200* range). This is why some of the better regulated return fuel systems are offering fuel coolers inline to the tank. The colder the fuel the better, but thats a whole other story. There is one problem with your logic though. While it may heat the small amount of fuel in the engine and may return SOME of it to the tank that small amount will raise the temperature level of the tank fuel 1* or less depending on how full it is. This does nothing to help cold starts, and certainly does nothing for gelling in the lines. An intank heater, or inline heater (such as whats used in the FASS system) will help some, but as you said the biggest problem is in the lines themselves. The return line running close to the sending line unfortunetly doesn't do anything to help warm the fuel inside the other line. Never has, never will. It might transfer a very minimal amount when you're pumping very HOT diesel from the engine after its been run for hours back to the tank. The only cure is to either park inside all the time, or to run antigel. Even if you warm up a little fuel in the engine, but your lines are gelled from the tank up, HOW do you propose to start the truck?


Like I said in my last post, in order to go to a high idle you need to have an AIC installed in the truck. The 7.3L trucks don't have any coding written into the PCM for a high idle so thats why an APCM (auxiliary powertrain control module), original name for an AIC, is used. This does contain the scripting for a high idle, and will send this coding to the PCM when certain conditions are met. For an auto the truck needs to be in park, e-brake depressed, and the AIC powered on. When thats done the AIC will take over and kick up the idle to a user defined level (I run mine on 1300). On a manual its the same thing, transmission just has to be in neutral. Pushing on one of the pedals (clutch, brake, throttle) will kick out of high idle.

The CORRECT full procedure for a 7.3L warmup when very cold out is as follows. You can plug it in to aid in starting, but it is not required. Cycle the glow plugs (ie turn the key on and wait 15-30 seconds before cranking) at least once. If its really cold as in below zero I will cycle the plugs about 2-3 times before cranking the engine. If you have a good set of plugs and the relay isn't bad then it won't take as long, but mine are getting tired. Once you start the engine you need to get it to a high idle, usually via an AIC. Let it idle for about 5-10min, or until your coolant temp reaches operation temp. Ideally you'd want to install an oil temp gauge and when that reaches operating temp you're golden. Now as adrian said this does nothing for the transmission, transfer case, or axles. It is important IMO to warm the engine up completely first before moving. Once your engine is warm then like adrian said drive very conservatively for a couple miles. That means keep it 1500-1600rpm and lower. If you have an auto and its cold you may also notice your torque converter not locking up for a short distance. This is a built in feature of the transmission to help aid warm up. When the TC slips it creates alot of heat, this combined with the bypass valve in the trans helps to get the fluid up to temp. I've had mine run unlocked for up to 5 miles in very cold temps, but its usually around 1-2 miles. Once your TC locks then you can take it up to about 2000rpm. After about 5-10 miles you can drive normally.


This is the correct way to warm up a PSD truck. Now if you don't follow this will it destroy the truck........no. Will it shorten the trucks life.........probably a little, but it all depends on the truck and the situation. In very cold temps such as in the upper midwest where I used to live we would get very cold and nasty winters. Podunk, since you live in NE you know exactly what I'm talking about. In climates like that its more important to follow these steps than in a place where it barely gets down to 32*. PA winters, from what I've been in (just last year) are not near as bad as IA winters where we'd have weeks of -0* temps. In the morning when I get up for work I would go out, start the truck, turn on the AIC, then go back inside and finish getting ready for work. When I would get out to the truck it would be nice and warm (including heat ). Since the average speed limit in PA is only 35mph, even in the country (unfortunetly I'm not kidding ) Drivetrain warmup is pretty much automatic.

 

For NC, don't worry about the block heater. You'll burn up more electricity that you need too.

As for additive, Stanadyne is great for colder weather start ups and overall running, as well as help mitigate the chance of gelling, if you get into a situaton where that is a risk. 20's and 30's you should be more than fine, but again, Stanadyne is great.

Startring and idling, hell ya. LOL Things have changed. I wouldn't let it idle for hours, but 10-15-20 minutes isn't a problem at all. Also, the 6.0 will step the idle up in cold weather. Mine steped up the idle by 100-200 RPM this AM and it was only about 50*. When it's colder it steps up to about 1000 RPM or so. When it colder, I'll let it idle for 5-10 minutes, but frankly, at idle it's not generating a lot of heat so 5-10 minutes is way more than enough.