[Vwdiesel] insulating you're fuel filter

[Sandy Cameron]

At 10:30 AM 20/01/05 -0500, you wrote:
>Well, looks like  still have a problem.  Gallon of gas/kerosene didn't work.
>The sad part is that this fuel was treated with additives when it was filled
>and  about twice after, so its not like there is not enough in there ...
>Poor car barely made it 5 min from the house.  Yesterday it was fine, but it
>was warmer.  Guess today I'll go get some fuel line and re-arrange my heater
>until the winters over.  And to think I was looking for something to do when
>its -20C ...

There are a couple of other things to check,

The water trap under the car beside the right rear wheel, make sure it does
not contain a large ice cube.

The intake in the fuel tank has a fairly fine screen in it that wax could plug.
(the fuel line bubble test)

I had a problem many years ago with my MB 200D on a cold winter night. It
had a screen type pre-filter to take out the lumps before the big filter. It
was down on the frame where it could never get heat from the engine. I was
burning furnace fuel at the time. The car slowed down and idled like your
experience. I removed the screen filter and it was a white blob of wax.
Pouring hot water on it got me back home.

As and experiment, pour hot water over your filter when it appears to plug
up and if this clears the problem for a few minutes,  I suggest you empty
your fuel tank into a couple of 5 gal jugs and save it for summer, then
refill with good winterized diesel.

I don't think you can dope, dilute, treat, the stuff you have in there now.

I suspect you have been sold a load of furnace fuel, which, although
acceptable diesel fuel in summer,  is not treated for winter conditions, and
may have, infact, been summer furnace fuel.

I have seen oil furnaces attached to outdoor supply tanks quit in this kind
of weather around here.

Sandy

As and aside, I checked a couple of jugs of my used canola this morning,
still quite fluid at -20C. Maybe I'll get going on the dual system as soon
as I change the head gasket in goldie.