diesel geled.what can I do???

Hey folks,
It's about 14 degrees F here and my tractor started after some warming and ran awhile. I loaded some wood and brought it up front to split and stack, left the tractor idling but it quit after a few minutes. Happened the other day at about 20 degrees and I pulled the filter out of the tank and it was covered with a kinda jello slush. Wiped it off and it was fine. Now it's colder and won't start back up. I grabbed a 5 gal can of fuel and dumped it in about a month ago when it was hanging around 40 degrees and, after looking today, I grabbed the wrong can and put heating oil in stead of the winter diesel that I had bought.
How can I fix this??? Need to use the tractor in the morning.

Thanks for any help.


Dave

You probably need to get in where it is warm if possible or get
some heat of some sort under it to warm it. Make a tent with a tarp
to hold the heat in. I have done that in the past to thaw out
transmissions that had water in them that were froze. We use
addditives like 911 here to get them going but it has to circulate.
You can put some gas it it to thin it down to get it going also.

Should be able to add 5 percent GAS to it and that will thin it enough to run..my Dad had an Oldsmobile Diesle and it did the same thing took it to the dealers and they thawed it out and told him to add gas to the diesle to thin it out..Charles

Cut the fuel 50/50 with kerosene, and add some POWER SERVICE 911 fuel treatment . Add to the fuel filter and then pour rest in tank . will start and run guaranteed!

diesel conditioner, kerosene, or a gallon of unleaded gasoline in tank, clean filters and lines. Or drain tank and refill with winter diesel. Or find a heated garage to warm fuel above gell point before sucking out tank and putting in proper fuel mix. Fuel/heating oil cut with kerosene and gasoline would be useable in most tractors for the one tank mess. Fuel pump shouldn"t be problem for short time- but some are not lubricated with engine oil so may be problem later- Bosch patterns on JDs good to about 20% gasoline mix in emergency. Morning use?- get out gas can and clean filters again, cheaper than calling dealer to pick up and warm shop flush tank and lines. RN.

Everybody's on the right track for un-gelling what's in the tank, but you've got to get the tractor someplace warm, to un-gell what's in the lines and injector pump. Once you do that, get it running, and add the kerosene or gas, you should be OK.

Everything everyone has told you is good sound advice except for adding gas in the deisel. That is a big no no. One thing I have done in the past was to also put a blanket around the fuel filters and stick a hair dryer running on high heat on the filters. This along with putting 200W magnetic heater on the tank has got me up and running. Been down your road and no fun.

Good Luck
Merle

There's nothing wrong with running up to 10% or so gasoline in the diesel in those conditions. It was common practice in days gone by.

Rod

I'd drain the tank, dump that stuff into the furnace tank where it belongs and refill the tractor with winter diesel. Bleed it and go.
You can do that now or after you struggle with it for the next month.

Rod

Hello dave2,
You can put 5% gas in a diesel mix.
VW rabbit had this recommendation when the diesel was used in the vehicle.
Guido:~)

I find cussin' helps. :>)

Allan

truck stoped 4 times in 1 night had to blow air in to tank each time toget to start in peoria,il kenworth & freightliner all truck stops was out of 911 had 2 botles of morles in 200 gallens of diesel got 4 botteles of preston water revover from walmart truck ran fine after that

FPPF is the only fuel additive I used in my cummins powered mack. I ran the truck across I80 from the poconos in ne PA to chicago for about 8 years. It did the job. I also saw it eat thru jelled fuel in other guys trucks while on the side of the road.

Through a tarp over it. Completely over it. Point a torpedo heater under it. Run it a few hours. Drain fuel tank, replace fuel filter/s. Put winter diesel in it. It'll purr like a kitten. Just watch the filter/s for a while, or sediment bowl if it has one.

Welp, I'm really going to start something here but...I have never in my life heard of diesel gelling at 14 degrees...but water will
You have water in your diesel! Now as far as gasoline 10% is not going to hurt anything and I come from where it gets down to twenty and thirty below zero. My neighbour ran Northern Ontario in the winter and he used 10% gasoline in his fuel, never had a problem and if you read Volkswagon literature they say 10% as well.I have never had the tractors fail with gelling and I use a deicer and if its twenty or thirty below, I put some gasoline in the diesel fuel, yes there is winter diesel..its got stove oil dumped into it..and thats pretty simple...as sure as I'm sitting here you have water in your diesel fuel, dump some deicer in and a quart of ATF..that'll take care of everything

Your problem is that the filter is now gelled, as is the line to the filter & the injector lines & injector.

It likely is as much water at jelling, 14-20 degrees has fuel only just barely thinking about gelling, not an actual problem yet. Same difference tho, you need that line & filter heated up, you need the old junk drained out or treated to flow.

Put Power Service, Howse, or whatever brand of anti-jell you use into the tank. Don't be stingy at this point yea it's spendy but you are where you are. Really shouldn't overdo it either, but go to the high rate, not the low rate - you have problems.

Diesel 911 in the red jug is also a good idea for you. Let this mix in a for a bit, time to seep around.

You can blend in winter diesel, it will help lower the gell point. I think you need the fuel treatment to deal with the water issue I think you have, but that is my guess. Winter fuel or gasoline alone will not take care of a water issue, just lower the gel point....

Get a 5 gallon bucket of hot water from the faucet - hot, not lukewarm - and pour it slowly over the fuel filter and fuel line. Don't mess with the injector pump too much, it does not like shock heat or cold loads, it should get itself going.

Pour the water slowly, let the filter & line heat up over time.

Start up the tractor & keep it out of the wind, keep it in a shed (door open, watch the fumes!) and let that tractor heat up to normal operating temp. You need the fuel treatment to get mixed in, let the fuel warm up some by curculating.

You said you pulled the filter & wiped it??? Buy a new one, toss this old filter. they plug up, doesn't have to be a gelling issue, just a plugged filter!

If you can get the tractor in a heated area & let it warm up for a few hours, that would be better. Then you can deal with draining off water, changing filter, etc. a lot better.

You can build a tent over the tractor with a tarp, put heat under it, and if you don't burn it up with carelessness, you can get the tractor warmed up 20 degrees in an hour or 2.

Some disel engines are ok with gasoline mixed in small % to thing the diesel, but I'd be real careful on that new ones do _not_ like this at all, new injector pump. Don't get carried away with it on an old engine, you can get the engine kinda ticked about it. As well it does nothing to help a water issue.

I generally don't have much trouble with this until it gets to be below 10 degrees. I suspect water, and I suspect you are trying to get buy with an old clogged up filter.

Sometimes I use 'Heat' for de-watering the diesel fuel, but there are 2 types and one is the wrong type - look at the label. I had 8 gallons of slugde when I put the wrong type of Heat in the diesel one year. Oops!

Draining the tank & starting over with the winter diesel, and putting a new filter in would be best, and might be where you end up.

We are looking at 15 below zero or so the next 2 days, high near zero. Been in your shoes a couple times. Good luck.

Water is bad for diesel pump and injectors. If you are having problems at 20 degrees, you might want to really consider draining the tank out, and starting over. Penny wise & pound foolish trying to get all that slush to go through your engine......

--->Paul

Paul has great ideas, we deal; with jelled fuel all the time here. Truckers coming out of Calif. get up here in the winter and jell. 14 degrees will jell summer blend fuel. Get it warm and get it running with additive.

Yea, Roger That!!!!!!

Your fuel should not of jelled up at 20 degree F. I would be thinking more in the line of that bacteria/algae that lives in diesel fuel especially the way it sounds you have your fuel for a few months. Once it's in your tank new fuel won't cure it the problem. Find out where you can get it tested and take a sample to them.

Kerosene will stop the gelling.Since you have a farm tractor the red dye wont cause a problem off the highway.Most kerosene has red dye in it.The fools that make the rules up never had to run a diesel in sub zero weather.

Heard of a few folks around here getting stuck with "winter fuel" I suspect their dealers still were selling non-winter fuel still.
You can try AMSOIL's Diesel recovery (see link)
pull filters and fill them then put the rest in the fuel tank (mix 1oz/gallon). Most folks replace the filters if they have them handy. You'll probably want some conditoners ect to help get rid of the water. If you store the tractor outside make sure you're not getting extra water from rain too (there is always some condensate in the tanks)
diesel recovery