Howes failed me again

[Crumm]

As I posted last year in this thread Howes didn't really impress me as a anti-gel additive. They claim "Diesel Treat continues to be North America’s leading brand of Anti-Gel, guaranteed to keep you from gelling, or we pay your tow!". Well I almost needed a tow.

Last fall the truck never gave me any trouble but the test fuel I set outside just didn't look good so I ended up siphoning the fuel out of my tank and refilling with #1.

This fall once again I somehow ended up with #2 +10 in my tanks as winter set in. Last night as I left work a big red FUEL FILTER light that I had never seen in the 12 years I have owned this truck came on Outside temp was about -5º. I made it about 5 miles with the light on then the chugging began. Had to idle along in second gear for the last three miles home When I got home the light suddenly went out and she started running like a top I went ahead and changed the filter but all the fuel in the canister looked fine. Must have just been a little wax coating the filter that caused the trouble.

I am going to top the half full front tank off with #1 on my way to work and siphon the full back tank out into my heating oil tank next week. Just ain't worth the chance of getting stranded.

Moral of the story is while Howes is a highly rated additive for lubrication and I will continue to use it for lubrication it is not any good for use as a anti-gel. Just a heads up for you guys that don't run #1 during the winter.

 

[Tbar]

I used to buy in-line fuel heaters at work..........think they were Stanadyne brand.

Wonder if you could benefit from something like that.

It looked something like this........

Tbar

 

[Crumm]

Wonder if you could benefit from something like that.

Naw I just run #1 all winter long. I just seem to be slow to convert over in the fall

 

[95_stroker]

Ive never had an issue with Howes, I realize I dont run in conditions quite as extreme as yours but we do get our share of negative temps here.

 

[Zookie400]

tbar- that looks cool. i think i want one.

crumm- i was on top of a mountain in northern VT, and it was only about 10*F at night....it gelled up and it took me all day too get the power service 911 and kerosene run through the fuel system so the truck would even idle for more than a minute without starting to chug. my preventative measure for gelling was.................HOWES! power service anti gel has not let me down yet, however as stated before new england is not alaska!

 

[Crumm]

Ive never had an issue with Howes, I realize I don't run in conditions quite as extreme as yours but we do get our share of negative temps here.

It is not extreme around here yet. Everyone gets -5º temps from time to time. Since the Howes did not prevent my filter from plugging at -5º I know it would really plug at -45º. What kind of fuel have you had luck using Howes in? I had #2 +10º fuel in my tanks and the filters plugged at -5º.

I now have #1 in the front tank and a quadruple dose of Howes #2 +10º in the rear tank. Tonight I warmed the truck up on the front tank and then switched to the rear tank halfway home. No red light or chugging Temp is around -12º tonight.

it gelled up.
my preventative measure for gelling was.................HOWES!

You had the Howes in it when it gelled up? What fuel and what temp did it gel?

 

[95_stroker]

At a paltry -5 #2 shouldnt have hardly gelled. I use howes in both #2 and or winter blend, we dont get #1 around here but I have run it in temps at or around -30 to -35.

Me thinkst you had some bad stuff in your fuel to get it to set up at -5.

 

[Zookie400]

You had the Howes in it when it gelled up? What fuel and what temp did it gel?

the fuel came from a pump labeled #2, but it was winter in VT so who knows what it actually was. the weather station said it was low of +10*, i dont know how low it actually got that night but it gelled!

 

[Crumm]

Me thinkst you had some bad stuff in your fuel to get it to set up at -5.

Come to find out half the trucks in the state were gelled up. You would think the refinery here would know that it gets cold in Alaska but they must have some new guys running the place

Click here for a thread at the Alaska Outdoor Forum about all the gelled trucks..

" Ford stated that they had quite a few trucks coming in "
"Went to the Diesel Doctor and they told him that they had about 20 truck heating up in their shop so they could drain the tanks."
" I could not get close to the service bay at Lithia Dodge because of the 11 Cummins powered pickups in the way. All towed in since Monday night. 2 more coming down Old Seward on slide backs. Also saw 2 Duramax's and 2 Powerstrokes on the side of the road on the way out to Big Lake. Somethings going on with fuel I would guess."
"I seen 2 Dodges and 1 Ford parked this morning along the road with their hazards on. "

 

[95_stroker]

Come to find out half the trucks in the state were gelled up. You would think the refinery here would know that it gets cold in Alaska but they must have some new guys running the place

So..... maybe Howes didnt fail you.....