Any winter starting tips

It doesn't get that cold here in NE MD,
but in 1994 it was down to -20 degrees in Jan. and
even our fuel oil tank waxed up that fed the shop furnace. A lot of semi trucks were sitting along
I95 from DF2 waxing. Hal

I had this happen with 560 and 656. Neither had been used much all winter, but both had #1 diesel in tanks. One nice warm April day I started one of them, not only do they run much hotter, they don't sound right either. I drained the fuel off and filled both with #2. You have to be a bit sharper in the fall. They do have to start to blend tank contents with pump and filter contents.

Fuel companies up here climatize their formulas almost weekly in spring and fall. Only time we get caught is with a tractor were not using much at the time, or if we haven't filled that storage tank in awhile. Delivery guys and users are usually quite sharp on that one.

One of my former co-worker's called last winter when it was very cold about his son's
Dodge truck with the Cummins diesel had quit running. The knew the fuel was jelling and wanted to know how to get it started. I told them
to do as the German's do add about a gallon of gasoline to the diesel fuel.

The truck is garaged over night and he didn't have this problem until the truck sat
outside all day while he was working. I think
a farm tractor would do ok on DF1, they're not running down the interstate 60 to 70mph like these semi's are. The government had a diesel fuel called DFA for arctic temps. It looked like
clear urine even at -65 degrees. In 1994 when it was -20 we had about 20 generators on test and they all shutdown. We switched to JP4. We switched back after the temp warmed up. Hal

Every time you fill tractor with fuel add about 1/2 cup of methyl hydrate. If tractor sits couple of weeks it will evaporate and will need to add more. By the way you can usually buy methyl hydrate at your local drug store for about half what you will pay elsewhere.

All those other products you see on the shelves of automotive stores are purely designed to do little more than relieve you of money.

On motor oil and given the engine you have 15W-40 diesel service only. Make sure your block heater is working well. A good working block heater makes every start a summer start. You should never need ether.

In my lifetime I have probably logged 60,000 hours on 6 diesels. Only ever remember buying 3 injection pumps, couple of rebuilds, 1 new set of injectors and had 5 sets rebuilt. Since my farming days I have driven log trucks in winter temps similar to yours. Three different companies, two Cats and one Cummins. All three owners used the same formula as I did over the years, #1 fuel, methyl hydrate only additive, block heater and 15W-40 diesel service motor oil only.

We all run into the same problem in our daily winter driving. Methyl hydrate is also used in windshield washers as the agent to prevent it from freezing. From time to time we all swear about that poor jug of washer we got, as it freezes. If you pay close attention to that one, you'll quite often discover, been 4 or 5 dry days, you haven't used washers. Methyl hydrate has evaporated. At that point I just pour a bit back in the system.

We get the same thing with air brake conditioners, all kinds of fancy names out there for what amounts to nothing more than methyl hydrate. Lock deicers are the same. I make one stop do for my deicing supplies, I keep a gallon of methyl hydrate plus a 20cc hypodermic shringe with a small hose on the end. You have to remove plunger from shringe after each use as the alcohol will make it stick. Great way for getting product into air brake systems, locks, etc. I do have a bit of concern that someday, someone is going to question the shringe, I'm hoping 20 cc will look reasonable, for the use I'm making rather than what police usually think of when these thing are discovered. I've never been questioned about the shringe in that respect, then no one has ever gone looking. I don't think truck inspection would be too difficult, they are aware deicing problems. Police would probably understand. The one that would concern me is a customs agent, reasoning with them my be horse of a different color.

Now, some will tell you that too much #1 is hard on pumps, injectors. Some will recommend adding diesel fuel conditioner and running a higher percentage of #2 fuel. I have also heard that 1% unleaded regular gasoline (no alcohol) will keep #2 from gelling in the winter. I have never tired any of these and don’t know if they work or cause damage or not.