[Vwdiesel] Fuel gelling

[James Hansen]

travis gottschalk wrote:
> I am not for sure but won't the filters getting plugged with the wax
> crystalls make the pump have to draw the fuel harder to the point of
> cavitation and over time do damage to the pump. I thought I read that
> somewhere.

Yes and no.  The pump is a vane pump, and pretty forgiving.

Either way isn't it best to just either warm up the filter
> to get the wax to melt again or shock treat the fuel and change the
> filters.

We changed fuel suppliers on teh farm a couple years ago.  Shell decided 
to shut down all bulk sales in Saskatchewan after the corporate sale, 
and a bunch of other reasons I need not get into, but my local Shell 
bulk fuel supplier adn friend got really screwed over, and 
unfortunately, the really only viable option was to go with the local 
Co-op bulk supplier.
I hardly ever knew what gelled fuel was.
Now I know nothing but.
I'm convinced the Shell additive package is vastly superior to the Co-op 
one, regardless of advertising claims.  But that aside, I have a lot of 
machinery that gets moved occasionally in winter, and still has summer 
fuel in it. That is now a HUGE problem. Nothing runs on summer fuel in 
winter, period. It used to not be an issue when it was warmer than -20 
You can heat the filter all you want, once it's plugged with 
precipitate, you're screwed unless you can get the thing in the warm. 
I've used heat guns, car warmers, a hair dryer, layers of insulation 
around the fuel filter with a heat source inside (heat tape)  all sorts 
of stuff, some too stupid to get into, like a propane torch...
There is a product called "Melt Down" that works like a hot damn, and 
once in the tank, it dissolves the stuff, and it works again. Far far 
easier, safer, and less stressful, just takes time to work.

I have the updated filter on my 97 golf td, same old shit. There isn't 
enough heat to keep shitty fuel from gelling.  I suspect that the 
refinery has an issue with water in their system somewhere, or the local 
bulk tanks, or something... since trace amounts of water in fuel raises 
the cloud point considerably.

  Prevention is the best anyways. I have been going sevaral
> different times with -25 F (-32 C) and haven't ever had a problem. I
> use stanadyne for the lubricant/cetane boost/anti-gel treatment.

And that's your main reason why you have no trouble. You keep the water 
out of yyour fuel tank, gelling is pretty much eliminated, plus it does 
depress the cloud point as well.

  I
> have an 04 GOlf TDI and an 81 1.6 NA VW truck and neither show a
> problem. I did on my 81 rabbit car convert to the 1.9 aaz engine and
> in the process put the newer filter that once the engine gets warm it
> doesn't gel the filter as it puts the warm fuel into the filter below
> 40 F and not back in the tank. It may be a good up grade for some of
> you if you drive enough in cold weather. The bracket for the newer
> filter can bolt on (mine uses just the rear stud but it worked). I
> even had enough room to still have my hand pump (from a boot
> motor-fishing section in walmart) between the hard line from the tank
> and the filter to prime it when changing filters-or pumps. Just a
> couple of thoughts on this though. No one from here seems to have a
> problem with diesels not starting if they prevented it first.
> 
> Also the jetta that isn't starting but is smoking white. I would
> guess the plugs as well. You are just boiling the fuel and being it
> is cooler out (in the moring the engine will be colder then the
> outside temp as it holds the colder night air). I would say that a
> lower fuel quality, lower compression from being a more used engine
> and cold made it from hard starting to no starting and maybe a few
> glow plugs were working when it was just starting hard but still
> starting. Now it may be the point of no return. Check the plugs by
> taking the harness of them and seeing if it complets a circute with
> an ohm meter. If it doesn't complet the circuit the plug is bad. If
> that is all good then the harness may be bad as they go sometimes.
> There is a load of info on that on tdiclub.com

But he should still have a MIL light. Has to.
Other things are afoot here as well.

The TDI in question compares current draw from 2 plugs with the other 2 
plugs... if there is a difference, the MIL light comes on being an 
emissions startup issue.
-james