more PSD woes with cold weather

[Donald]

Recently I put 22 gallons of diesel into my truck, in a 24 gallon tank. I added one 16 oz container of the Power Service white container which is a diesel fuel treatment for the winter. Yesterday it was about 0F, maybe a degree or two below. I got "low fuel pressure" along with "reduced engine power" and a CEL code for low fuel rail pressure. Gave up. Today its 11F and same thing. Gave up again. I bought fuel locally so it would or should be a winter blend (Cumberland Farms). Winter blend fuel with 16 oz of winter diesel fuel treatment should have been sufficient so I would not have a problem.

Tomorrow it will be 40F. Hopefully it will run fine then.

I had an issue in November and after that I started to add one 16 oz container per fill up. The directions on the white container say 16 oz to 20 gallons below 0F and 16 oz to 40 gallons above 0F. I added 16 oz to 22 gallons and it was right around zero.

Maybe the fuel I got on Sat was not a winter blend and the only thing doing anti-gel is the Power Service white container of fuel treatment.

 

[OVERKILL]

Interesting. I've been putting nothing in our diesel's fuel at all. Petro-Canada sells "winter diesel" and that's what we've been buying. No issues, even when it was -26C

 

[bullwinkle]

Think I'd be giving the old red bottle of Diesel 911 a shot. Couldn't make it any worse, and the warmer weather isn't going to last more than a couple days.

 

[bullwinkle]

Another dumb question-doesn't your truck have a 35 gallon tank?

 

[BobsArmory]

When was the last time the fuel filter was replaced?

 

[Donald]

Both of the fuel filters were replaced within the last 500 miles.
The tank is 26 gallons. The remaining 4 gallons were treated the same way the previous fill-up.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

+1 on the Diesel 911. Do you plug your truck in at night?

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
+1 on the Diesel 911. Do you plug your truck in at night?


Should a '15 really need to be plugged in at 0*F? Good glow plugs and good fuel should be enough, I would think.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by 14Accent
Originally Posted by SubieRubyRoo
+1 on the Diesel 911. Do you plug your truck in at night?


Should a '15 really need to be plugged in at 0*F? Good glow plugs and good fuel should be enough, I would think.


It's not a starting issue. Truck starts fine. Not plugged in.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Think I'd be giving the old red bottle of Diesel 911 a shot. Couldn't make it any worse, and the warmer weather isn't going to last more than a couple days.


I think it's just anhydrous isopropyl alcohol?!???!

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by Linctex
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Think I'd be giving the old red bottle of Diesel 911 a shot. Couldn't make it any worse, and the warmer weather isn't going to last more than a couple days.


I think it's just anhydrous isopropyl alcohol?!???!


Ford says to not use any alcohol based products in the fuel system. I do not see any alcohol listed in the SDS. But they do mention "trade secret" when listing the ingredients.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Try some Howe's instead - https://www.howeslube.com/dieseltreat.php. They have a winter tow guarantee - https://www.howeslube.com/guarantee.php.

 

[danez_yoda]

Originally Posted by Donald
Both of the fuel filters were replaced within the last 500 miles.
The tank is 26 gallons. The remaining 4 gallons were treated the same way the previous fill-up.


Were the new filters OEM? If not could the new filters be more restrictive than the old ones?

Or plugged with something that shook loose during the replacement process. 40F is not that cold.

 

[jacobsond]

Im not a diesel guy but what jumped out at me was "would or should be a winter blend". Do you know or just assuming? Is it possible that they still have both blends all winter?

 

[dbias]

Could it be Sticktion? In extreme cold sometimes the oil used for the injectors gets sticky. Try archoil it helped my fords with hydraulic injection.

 

[racin4ds]

Originally Posted by dbias
Could it be Sticktion? In extreme cold sometimes the oil used for the injectors gets sticky. Try archoil it helped my fords with hydraulic injection.



This new PSD does not use HEUI injection, its common rail. Ford dropped HEUI injection after 2007MY mostly.

 

[Donald]

Its 31 today and truck finally ran properly. But now I am not sure what to do if it gets down to 0F again. Talked to Power Service people and they said I could add another 8 oz of the white container product. They said 911 is alcohol based also.

 

[meep]

shrinking HPOP o-ring? is yours in the family susceptible to that problem?

 

[fdcg27]

Our old fully mechanical Mercedes 240Ds were never a problem in cold weather, if you could get them started.
Neither of these cars had the cold weather kit although both were sold new in Ohio, so you couldn't plug them in.
Down to about 5F, you could get a start if you left the car outside.
Below that, you'd want the car to have spent the night in the garage.
Once you got it running, you'd see no problems of any kind. I can even recall long trips in sub-zero cold with no engine running issues and shirtsleeve heated comfort in the car.
You didn't have these low temperature running problems with your old Dodge Cummins either, did you?

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by fdcg27
Our old fully mechanical Mercedes 240Ds were never a problem in cold weather, if you could get them started.
Neither of these cars had the cold weather kit although both were sold new in Ohio, so you couldn't plug them in.
Down to about 5F, you could get a start if you left the car outside.
Below that, you'd want the car to have spent the night in the garage.
Once you got it running, you'd see no problems of any kind. I can even recall long trips in sub-zero cold with no engine running issues and shirtsleeve heated comfort in the car.
You didn't have these low temperature running problems with your old Dodge Cummins either, did you?


I never had these kind of issues with my Dodge Cummins. But the Ford being newer has much more high tech precision involved in the fuel injection system. I will say that given the Dodge Cummins was useless in the snow I did not drive it that much in the winter.