Cold Weather Diesel Care

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
RVoorhis318

RVoorhis318

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Posts
845
Location
Florida
I have a 2019 Ford F3 50 super duty power stroke I’m not familiar with extreme cold weather diesel care what’s the best way to take care of this thing in the winter time with no access to a warm garage. Do the fuel providers change the blend in the winter saying states like Wisconsin or Vermont or do you put additives in to prevent gelling? Thanks
 
Most suppliers add additives for cold weather but it's good insurance to add your own when you fill up just in case the station you purchase from doesn't have treated diesel. They no longer mix #1 with #2 since #1 ULSD costs more than adding bulk additives at the terminal...
 
We’re in upstate NY and filled up just before getting to this site 9/12. I don’t know if the fuel was treated by the fuel company, but would not be surprised if it wasn’t. We’re here until 10/9 and I doubt it will be cold enough then to warrant treated fuel at that date, but one never knows, so I treated this tank and will continue treating until we make our way to Florida.
I keep playing with the idea of just treating year round.. Any thoughts about doing that?
 
I treat every tank of diesel fuel. It helps keep the injectors clean and raises the cetane a few points for a more complete combustion...
 
Diesel fuels are blended in cold weather to prevent gelling but you do need to be sure that you burn out pretty much all of the fuel once cold weather is coming and replace it with the blended fuel, if you will be driving it while it is cold. With any vehicle fuel you need to keep the tank as near full as possible when not in use to minimize condensation of moisture into the fuel. I also use an additive in the colder months.
 
The fuel switch has already occurred. Consider that as a commodity, fuel is refined and shipped everywhere. You may have fuel refined in California transported to Oregon, so... Sept 15 is fuel day where all fuel, gas and diesel are switched to winter blends.
That being said, winter blends are only so good. With fuel being a commodity, refiners are focused on profit, not your truck starting. You need to treat fuel, and IMO, every gallon in all 4 seasons. Fuel adds for diesels increase cetane, clean injector tips, and encapsulate or help water drop out. Most provide some type of anti-gel, some better than others for cold.
I've done lots of looking, you may want to as well, but can recommend Alliant Power Ultraguard and Opti-Lube.
www.dieselforward.com

Diesel Forward Landing - Alliant Power

As of November 2022, Diesel Forward has proudly transitioned to Alliant Power, your company for everything related to diesel performance and expertise. While our name has changed, our commitment to providing top-notch fuel injection, turbocharger service, and OEM parts remains stronger than...
www.dieselforward.com www.dieselforward.com

Opti-Lube Additives & Lubricants

Opti-Lube Additives & Lubricants
opti-lube.com opti-lube.com
Ultraguard covers all the bases as a general add for every gallon, unless severe cold.
Opti-Lube markets products broke down to more specific categories based on need and temperature.
 
Most fuel stations in the colder areas of our nation, generally change over to blended fuels as winter approaches......around here it’s around mid-november! However, an early cold snap prior to the change-over can give you problems. Or.....if you fuel in the southern states and head north into a cold front.

About 7 years ago we got caught down south when an early cold front came in! We had made a late October trip to Louisiana, returning to Wyoming the first week of November. When we left home the daytime highs were in the 60’s, when we returned home 2 weeks later.....the lows where around -20 F. Knowing that we would not be able to purchase blended fuel on the trip home....I bought fuel additive in BR prior to leaving. That said, once the blended fuel is available we never use additives.....and have not had issues down to a -30 F or so. And, we do not plug in the block heaters until we know that it will be colder than a -20 F when we will be starting the truck. However, this is a Cummins......the Ford diesel may respond differently in colder temperatures! As a safety precaution.....always have some additive with you should you get caught by a severe cold front. Better to have it and not need it......rather than the inverse! memtb
 
As Carbonation says, diesel fuel is a commodity but it's a regional one. They don't send winter-grade diesel to Florida or even southern California. ;) And the changeover date varies with the climate of the region. So if you are buying and using diesel fuel in a region that gets freezing temperatures, it will have been blended for that at the refinery or the fuel distributor.

It doesn't hurt to add an anti-gel additive if you are at all unsure of the fuel you have in the tank, but you will need to run the engine awhile to get the additive-mix fuel throughtout the fuel system. It doesn't help if the tank is liquid but the fuel in the filters or the line to the injector pump is like wax. You can't just dump a bottle in the tank a few hours before the big freeze.

There are folks here and elsewhere that swear by fuel tank additives and recommend them for every tank, for a variety of reasons. I'm not one of those.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
As Carbonation says, diesel fuel is a commodity but it's a regional one. They don't send winter-grade diesel to Florida or even southern California. ;) And the changeover date varies with the climate of the region. So if you are buying and using diesel fuel in a region that gets freezing temperatures, it will have been blended for that at the refinery or the fuel distributor.

It doesn't hurt to add an anti-gel additive if you are at all unsure of the fuel you have in the tank, but you will need to run the engine awhile to get the additive-mix fuel throughtout the fuel system. It doesn't help if the tank is liquid but the fuel in the filters or the line to the injector pump is like wax. You can't just dump a bottle in the tank a few hours before the big freeze.

There are folks here and elsewhere that swear by fuel tank additives and recommend them for every tank, for a variety of reasons. I'm not one of those.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gary -

My truck is a 2019 F350 Power Stroke and has always been in warm climates, Florida, Arizona, etc. I will see some extreme cold next trip so of course I always come here and look for advice from those that have this type of experience!

Rob
 
Your Ford uses glow plugs and if they are in good shape you should have no problems for this reason.. When starting, give the plugs ample time to heat before starting..>>>Dan
 
I would make sure the fuel filters are changed.
Every time I have had a prblem with my work truck [06 dura max] changing the filter solves it.
I run anti gel every tank in the winter and will have it happen about once during the winter.

I have never had a problem with the MH and we leave mid Feb every yr for Fl.
 
I had a Ford F250 diesel and learned this trick from my mechanic. In bitter cold (like -25 degrees F or lower) I was told to cycle the glow plugs twice and then start. Engine started noticably more quickly with this technique. Always wondered if that would cause premature glow plug failures but after several years I never had a problem.
 
Our last drive to FL for the winter our MH was filled in Aug. and we left home Dec. 26. Just in case, I added a quart of Power Service 9-1-1 to my tank the day we left home. The drive was uneventful and worry-free.
9-1-1 will even return gelled diesel fuel to it's normal state. There is no need to add anything while parked, just do as Kirk recommended.
 
Utclmjmpr said:
Your Ford uses glow plugs and if they are in good shape you should have no problems for this reason.. When starting, give the plugs ample time to heat before starting..>>>Dan
Click to expand...
Ok I'm confused. My truck is a 2019 and I cycle the glow plugs always before starting but are you saying there's no need for an anti-gel??
 
I have never added an anti gel and haven't had any problems. We occasionally see -20C, OF, for a week or so. My biggest problem is batteries, my American market Ram doesn't have a block heater so probably came fron the west coast.
 
Roy M said:
I have never added an anti gel and haven't had any problems. We occasionally see -20C, OF, for a week or so. My biggest problem is batteries, my American market Ram doesn't have a block heater so probably came fron the west coast.
Click to expand...
I'll be looking at -30F at times northern Wisconsin. Theres so many opinions on the matter it's confusing, this will be my first cold weather diesel experience. Normally I would be far south but plans have changed this year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,070 (members: 12, guests: 1,058)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,972
Posts
1,388,446
Members
137,721
Latest member
Dmac3003
Back
Top Bottom