# Flooded diesel in extremely cold weather



## sparkola (Jun 9, 2014)

Went to start it up this morning and it cranked slowly for 30 seconds then started. Ran for a minute then died. Went to crank it a few more times then it seemed like it was hydrolocked. Hit the battery with a 15 amp charge for a couple hours and still going the same thing. It’s acting just like my companies boring machine that got rolled while running and ended up getting oil in it’s cylinders. Anyone have anything like this happen? It’s -20F here by the way. Okay just wait till Sunday to try and crank again it’s supposed to warm up to 45F


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

sparkola said:


> Went to start it up this morning and it cranked slowly for 30 seconds then started. Ran for a minute then died. Went to crank it a few more times then it seemed like it was hydrolocked. Hit the battery with a 15 amp charge for a couple hours and still going the same thing. It’s acting just like my companies boring machine that got rolled while running and ended up getting oil in it’s cylinders. Anyone have anything like this happen? It’s -20F here by the way. Okay just wait till Sunday to try and crank again it’s supposed to warm up to 45F


Does it usually get that cold there? Does the fuel station you get your Diesel from add diesel conditioner or do you add it yourself? -20F is very cold and Diesel fuel will likely start gelling in your tank and most certainly your lines if not enough or no conditioner is added. At those temps, the fuel will end up being the consistency of what would come out of a gel freezer pack. Gelling fuel would make sense considering it ran okay for a minute and then stopped.

Also a tip for when it's that cold. I find using the key to cycle the glow plugs a few times makes it have to crank less before it starts. Using the remote starter doesn't seem to glow the plugs long enough for a proper start.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

yep you got bad fuel


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## sparkola (Jun 9, 2014)

No we have a polar vortex rolling through here in Chicagoland. I think I’ll wait till Sunday when we hit the mid 40s and try to crank it again. I hope it’s not seized.


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

Likely gelled fuel as stated above. If you can wait for warmer weather it should start fine. 
Filling up at high volume stations can prevent getting warmer season fuel. 
An additive is not a bad idea if weather is very unusually cold or if fuel is questionable.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

Sounds like gelled diesel to me.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Sounds like bad battery if it cranked slow. Plus gelled fuel. 

Good idea to add an additive at anything below 25*F. 

When I was long haul. The trucks I drove had furnace heaters. They sometimes quit working below 25. I don't think they had a very big fuel line to them heaters.


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## 91794 (Mar 25, 2015)

fuel gelled. stop trying to start it until it warms up or after you tow it to a warm garage for 12 hours. It isn't necessarily "bad" fuel unless we consider all diesel #2 to be bad this week! I'm not sure there is any "good" diesel fuel at -30F except for diesel #1, which is available in places like Duluth MN. 

Many diesel #2 terminals are shut down due to cold. My son's company's diesel fuel is winterized #2 with 4% biodiesel, good only to -20F or -25F. It's been -30F for a few nights however. Last night he opted to drive his GMC Canyon diesel to a friend's insulated garage and borrow his friends gasoline vehicle so could do a fuel-delivery shift overnight. 

Also, the drivers have been unable to refuel the CNG rigs because the o-rings are brittle and will not seal. It's fail-safe failure for CNG refueling.


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## sparkola (Jun 9, 2014)

What the heck are you 2 talking about? Anyway, I noticed that my interior lights don’t even dim when I try to crank it now which leads me to believe that the starter isn’t “making” the connection. I hear the relay click but that’s it. When it warms up I’ll try to crank the motor over with a breaker bar on the crank bolt and make sure it’s not seized.


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

It is possible there is a poor connection preventing the starter from cranking the engine. Or the starter is bad. 
If your battery voltage is 12V at rest and doesn't drop much when trying to crank the engine the battery is good. 
You definitely could rule out an engine issue if you can turn it over easily with a bar.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

I don't add anything to my fuel for cold weather down to the -10 we get in my location. But like @boraz it's not unusual to be that cold here so they properly treat the fuel at the pump. I suppose if I were to venture outside of my region during unseasonable cold temps it might not be a bad insurance policy.


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