Cummins Diesel Fuel Additive

[rkymntsno]

Hello all. I've been banging my head against the wall researching additives for diesels in cold climates. We're heading to Kansas City this weekend with the Ram 3500 but not towing. It's projected to be -14F Saturday night, coming back home Sunday. I've read Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement is approved by Cummins for use in their diesel engines so there's no issues about voiding truck warranty, if that ever became an issue. Since it's gonna be so cold, should I use an anti-gelling additive in my diesel while up there? We live in San Antonio so there's no need down here but it's gonna be cold in KC. I'm new to diesels so I'm trying to get advice on the subject. Thanks!

[PaulB12]

The last thing you want is gelling, use it.
PaulB12

[Bookemdanno]

^^^what he said.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by PaulB12

The last thing you want is gelling, use it.
PaulB12

So I'm assuming I want to treat the stock tank and the auxiliary tanks separately?

[Old and soft]

14 below you might want to plug in the block heater. P.S., the weather forcast is for entertainment purposes only. I wish I could screw up my job so bad, so often and still have a job.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Old and soft

14 below you might want to plug in the block heater. P.S., the weather forcast is for entertainment purposes only. I wish I could screw up my job so bad, so often and still have a job.

Yep. Plan to. Well the past couple of days they've nailed it. High of 7F today. Currently at 7.

[Radar57]

Originally Posted by rkymntsno

So I'm assuming I want to treat the stock tank and the auxiliary tanks separately?

You will want to treat it for fuel quantity in each tank separately.

[Marko]

Use it. Better be safe than sorry. Plug in your block heater to if you can. Also start it up every once in awhile if you not driving anywhere.

Stay warm out there.

Marko

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Marko

Use it. Better be safe than sorry. Plug in your block heater to if you can. Also start it up every once in awhile if you not driving anywhere.

Stay warm out there.

Marko

Thanks. Just bought a 12 gauge extension to plug in. Just there for two overnights but bitter cold all the way back home too.

[Lake Huron]

The power service you want is in the white bottle. It will say winterizer/antigel. Below 0, you dump the entire 32oz quart/50gal of fuel. And whatever fuel you're going to be taking up there I'd treat it too.
I had a 60gal replacement tank in my 99 Cummins. We were heading out snowmobiling for the weekend and it was supposed to be -10 to -15 during the nites. Drove about 250 miles and used about 1/2 tank. The truck sat all weekend at the hotel. Some guys were letting their trucks run all weekend. Time to come home, I went out there and let it cycle the wait to start light 2x, and rolled it over. It lit right off. It was a little pissy. It didnt take long and the high idle kicked in along with the 3 cylinder mode. Sounded like it was gonna throw a rod right out the side of the block! Lol! I let it run for maybe 10 minutes, sleds and gear was all loaded in the trailer and we hit the road. Diesels need heat to run and they dont make heat idling. Let it idle a little bit and send it down the road, but dont hammer on it either.
The newer trucks warm up faster and start easier in the cold compared to my old rattle trap Cummins.
Last winter I purposely pulled my 15 Duramax out of the heated garage and threw it outside in the negative temps for a weekend, on purpose. I wanted to see what it will do and what it's got. It wasnt plugged in, I stuck the key in the ignition and cranked it. Didnt wait for the start light either. It rolled over a few extra times and fired right up. My 99 Cummins wouldnt be able to do that, but it will always start if you wait for the start light. I did experiment with plugging in my Cummins, and it did make it easier to start and it had some barely luke warm air coming out of the vents inside.
If your truck is a newer truck, throw some power service additive to the fuel, I'd even have it sitting on a full tank that's treated as well, and drive it. Even at -14, I dont think you'll have much to worry about.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

The power service you want is in the white bottle. It will say winterizer/antigel. Below 0, you dump the entire 32oz quart/50gal of fuel. And whatever fuel you're going to be taking up there I'd treat it too.
I had a 60gal replacement tank in my 99 Cummins. We were heading out snowmobiling for the weekend and it was supposed to be -10 to -15 during the nites. Drove about 250 miles and used about 1/2 tank. The truck sat all weekend at the hotel. Some guys were letting their trucks run all weekend. Time to come home, I went out there and let it cycle the wait to start light 2x, and rolled it over. It lit right off. It was a little pissy. It didnt take long and the high idle kicked in along with the 3 cylinder mode. Sounded like it was gonna throw a rod right out the side of the block! Lol! I let it run for maybe 10 minutes, sleds and gear was all loaded in the trailer and we hit the road. Diesels need heat to run and they dont make heat idling. Let it idle a little bit and send it down the road, but dont hammer on it either.
The newer trucks warm up faster and start easier in the cold compared to my old rattle trap Cummins.
Last winter I purposely pulled my 15 Duramax out of the heated garage and threw it outside in the negative temps for a weekend, on purpose. I wanted to see what it will do and what it's got. It wasnt plugged in, I stuck the key in the ignition and cranked it. Didnt wait for the start light either. It rolled over a few extra times and fired right up. My 99 Cummins wouldnt be able to do that, but it will always start if you wait for the start light. I did experiment with plugging in my Cummins, and it did make it easier to start and it had some barely luke warm air coming out of the vents inside.
If your truck is a newer truck, throw some power service additive to the fuel, I'd even have it sitting on a full tank that's treated as well, and drive it. Even at -14, I dont think you'll have much to worry about.

Thanks. I'll be plugging it in too. Just a couple nights but still gonna be careful. Ordered an 80 oz white bottle at Tractor Supply, getting tomorrow.

[Lake Huron]

On a side note, -14 will let you know the condition of your batteries too. My Cummins is hard on batteries, I've been thru a few sets. One set was some top end Auto Zone ones. I was into my 4th winter with them and it got negative cold. Snowmobiling again, and the truck wouldnt hardly roll over. I pulled the cables off the driver side battery and it wouldnt even think of rolling over. I connected the driver side battery and disconnected the passenger battery cables and got it to fire up. Passenger side had some bad cells in it and was sucking the life out of the other battery. Needless to say when I got home I yanked them out and ponied up some big $$$ for a pair of Deka batteries. You get what you pay for.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

On a side note, -14 will let you know the condition of your batteries too. My Cummins is hard on batteries, I've been thru a few sets. One set was some top end Auto Zone ones. I was into my 4th winter with them and it got negative cold. Snowmobiling again, and the truck wouldnt hardly roll over. I pulled the cables off the driver side battery and it wouldnt even think of rolling over. I connected the driver side battery and disconnected the passenger battery cables and got it to fire up. Passenger side had some bad cells in it and was sucking the life out of the other battery. Needless to say when I got home I yanked them out and ponied up some big $$$ for a pair of Deka batteries. You get what you pay for.

LOL, you know I was thinking about that. April will be three years, OEM batteries. Texas heat is hell on batteries but they've served me well so far. We'll soon find out. Thanks for giving me something else to worry about, lol.

[Lake Huron]

Lol! 3 years on OEM batteries, you're in good shape! I've found, for some reason, OEM's seem to hold up the best.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

Lol! 3 years on OEM batteries, you're in good shape! I've found, for some reason, OEM's seem to hold up the best.

Yeah, I think so. Hope so.

[JeffInAZ]

Good morning all.
2 years ago we moved to Tucson to get out of Frozen Northern Michigan. Reading this thread brought back so many memories!! Stay warm up there!

[HecBec]

You can also use a blend of #1 and #2 diesel to minimize gelling. It is available at the pump here in northern Minnesota between mid-November and mid-March. It could be available in KC, worth checking. Cummins also recommends a winter front to keep the engine warmer at temps below 32F (flaps open) and the flaps closed below 0F. I have a 2019 Ram 2500HD and the above info is from the manual. Stay Warm! -38F (actual temp, not wind chill) in tropical, northern Minnesota this morning.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by HecBec

You can also use a blend of #1 and #2 diesel to minimize gelling. It is available at the pump here in northern Minnesota between mid-November and mid-March. It could be available in KC, worth checking. Cummins also recommends a winter front to keep the engine warmer at temps below 32F (flaps open) and the flaps closed below 0F. I have a 2019 Ram 2500HD and the above info is from the manual. Stay Warm! -38F (actual temp, not wind chill) in tropical, northern Minnesota this morning.

"UPDATE" We ended up canceling our trip at the last minute, after so much preparation. Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m., there was a 133-car pileup in Fort Worth I-35, six people dead. Horrible. I-35 is still shut down today. The exact route we were going to take. No easy way around the shut down. But that wasn't the only reason. We took everything into account, traveling in sub-zero temps and the weather. Now here in San Antonio we're under a winter storm warning until Monday noon. Fort Worth and Oklahoma City are expecting blizzard conditions today and tomorrow and we were coming back tomorrow, Sunday. Needless to say, we're disappointed but are safe.

[HecBec]

A horrible scene of destruction in Fort Worth. Did not realize I-35 was still shutdown.

[Springhook]

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".