James:
The blog post regarding diesel gelling is correct for the most part. However
there are solutions that are easy and inexpensive. There are many aftermarket
additives that will keep your fuel oil from gelling and also raise the cetane
level of the fuel. The cetane level is similar to the octane level of gasoline,
the higher the better it burns. DieselKleen, Stanadyne and others are good
choices. My 6.0L Ford F350 gets a full mile per gallon better mileage with
the addition of DieselKleen and I have not had a single engine problem in over
two years
of operation. One gallon of DieselKleen is about $17 dollars at Wal-Mart and
treats 300 gallons of diesel fuel. For climates where freezing temperatures
are a concern, make sure to purchase an additive that has anti-gelling properties.
DieselKleen in the silver container is the anti-gelling formula. Hope this
helps. - Jim T.
JWR:
Those of us who live in Canada (in my case 60 miles northeast of Toronto)
and drive diesel vehicles (1990 diesel Land Cruiser, HDJ81) know the problem
of diesel gelling all too well.
However there are measures you can take to lessen the problem, e.g. add an
anti-gelling diesel additive with every fill up, the amount varies with brand).
In addition install a heater on your oil pan, a block heater to warm the coolant,
and lastly and by no means least, wrap your battery (two batteries, in my case)
with an electrically heated battery blanket. Also, use a lighter weight oil
in the winter, such as 5W40. Regards, - Mark N.
JWR Replies: As this
article (cited in Eric's letter) describes, unfortunately the currently
available selection of additives do
not work in preventing wax dropout in the new USLD formulations.
