Hoth

Hi All,

Happy new year!

I have a subaru outback diesel and I was wondering whether I need to take any precautions against the fuel freezing in this extreme weather. Car is used off road 40% of the time (dirt track no grit etc.)

Temp last night dropped to -13 deg, and was still -2 deg in the garage. Do I need to add any special additives ?
Does anyone know if V-power diesel or BP ultimate diesel is more resistant to freezing ?

Thanks
Hoth

jef

iTrader: (13)

dont have any figures but at work we fill our vehicles with deisel from a remote tank on a trailor - its red deisel but dont think it makes a difference

anyway the tank lies exposed on an airfeild for the last 3 weeks at - lots of degrees, and i filled a cobra 2 today with no issues. so im presuming its not nearing diesel freezing temps

could be wrong tho lol

si-thee

Like most fuels, diesel is a mix of hydrocarbons, and the components have different freezing points. For Number 2 diesel, as the ambient temperatures drop toward 32 degrees F (0 degrees C), it begins to cloud, due to the paraffin in the fuel solidifying. As the temperatures drop below 32 F, the molecules combine into solids, large enough to be stopped by the filter. This is known as the gel point, and generally occurs about 15 degrees F (-9.5 degrees C) below the cloud point.
This wax then forms a coating on the filter which results in a loss of engine power. The same thing happens on starting an engine when the temperature is below freezing. The filter becomes almost instantly coated with wax - usually, enough fuel gets through to allow the engine to idle, but not attain operating RPM. There are two common ways to overcome this: one is a diesel additive, the other is a fuel heater.
In Alaska and other colder climates, lorries are running regularly at minus 51 degrees or lower so as you see it depends on additives and heating but to freeze as in turning solid you would need laboratory conditions as nature cannot go cold enough to freeze to a low enough temperature.

hope this helps

madscoob

iTrader: (3)

my dad used to work on lorries years ago , all they did then was add a gallon of petrol to 10 gallons of diesel . that worked then but dont know about the modern engines