Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Every day truck diesel fuel treatments

Most drillers of the time in the oilfield ran them as "crew cars" on off-road, drilling rig diesel. For that reason, they were popular in oilfield towns because many non-drillers in those towns ended up driving them also. Despite their terrible reputation and an ensuing class action suite because of it, people in those towns would mount a seperator up near the radiator brackets to filter water out and with a few other tricks, run them 250,000 miles plus down oilfield roads without problems and really good fuel mileage. I do remember my mom's 1982 Olds 88 gelling during a snow storm bringing us to school. I don't remember it getting below zero in that town, so I'm guessing it was 5 or 10 degrees, though could've been colder. Back then, some would mix ATF as an anti-gelling agent.

I remember the 5.7 diesels being in Oldsmobiles, pre-6.2 Chevy / GMC pickups and maybe Buicks. Not sure what else they ran them in.

Where we live it rarely gets below 20* so fuel gelling is not much of an issue. When the nights get down to freezing, I usually plug in my diesel trucks just because it makes me feel better. Don’t most diesels have a provision for heating the fuel to keep it from gelling?

huh?

Mine has an engine block heater.

I'm not aware of a fuel heater.

Ram diesels have used a fuel heater since 2012, if not earlier in the chassis mounted filter/water trap.

The 7.3 powerstrokes have a heating element under the filter, which is on top of the engine in the valley.

Regular Power Service when it gets cold. A bottle of Red Power Service 911 on stand by for really cold.

Heated fuel filters were a thing on semi trucks for a long time (Davco, usually). Couldn't even spec them on the last two Kenworth's I bought. We spend a good bit more money on Power Service, just in case. Fuel return rates are down, too, so it's all harder to keep from turning into cream cheese.

In all my years working in Alaska and living 60 miles south of Canada I've never put anything but fuel in a diesel....and I have 3 currently.

My company truck is a Chevrolet

Red dye, off road, fuel does not contain high sulfur content. It is the same as highway diesel. However, there is no road tax paid on it. Hence the red dye to identify it. If it had high sulfur you could not use it in any diesel equipment built after 2007. It plugs the dpf in short order. We are talking a few hours.[/quote]


I saw a Ford Explorer with a new diesel engine in 2009 burned up at just over 1000 miles when I was in Afghanistan. It was a low sulfur engine using high sulfur diesel. The heads were off the engine and the pistons were literally melted to the cylinder walls. Needless to say the company I worked for had to start buying vehicles that could use the high sulfur diesel. I understand they went to Toyota's and were getting them from India.

kwg

The block heater warms the coolant in the engine block which would warm the fuel in close proximity to the block, filter, pump, etc. I was thinking some if not all had a heater in or near the filter system to warm the fuel coming from the tank. Doesn’t keep fuel from gelling in the tank which I think, is the purpose of winterized fuel and some fuel additives. Could be mistaken.