Diesel Fuel Gelling in Dodge Sprinter
From : michaelhorsman
Q: hi again yes i have an equalizing hitch a reese dual cam setup installed by a dealer i keep the tire pressure in both truck and tt at max when towing tt loaded properly i have to admit i didnt weigh the tounge weight on my trips but try to keep the heavy stuff toward the front of the tt. it has been suggested to me that i may be pulling up too much on the equalizing hitch and making the rear of the truck too light i got to try that out on the next trip. the dealer of the tt told and showed me the tt should be level when pulling. i do that but mabey thats not as critical as they suggest. in wet weather i dont have to give it much throttle to spin the tires. i guess i got more to do on this. as deisels go- i used to drive otr for a while my friends are truck drivers my wifes brother is a driver over 20 yrs they all have deisels in their personal vehicles and wouldnt have it any other way. with 8 mpg on the 488 and around 15-18 mpg on the cummins it looks like its still worth it to go diesel. mabey 2003 or newer seeing as the earlier engines had some lift pump issues not quit up on that tho. anyway thanks for the reply tom. tom before i would consider the addition of duals i would investigate the cause of your combos instability. a 2500 w/v-10 and tt pkg should tow your 27 tt quite nicely. is your tongue weight correct with respect to overall tt weight are you using a load equalizing hitch are you using some sort of sway damping device are your tire pressures correct is your tt loaded properly all these and more! will contribute to an unstable combo. with regard to the high price of diesel fuel it is a seasonal thing since diesel is now competing with home heating oil for refinery capacity. as soon as spring arrives i suspect you will see diesel prices drop significantly. hope this helps!! chryco service manager member sae ok here goes i want the dual wheels for pulling a 27 foot tt with slide to obtain more stability when towing which is about all i use the truck for. not worried about weight hauling as much as more stability. yes it is a v-10 and allready has a tow package. thought of trading it in on a diesel 3500 till i got a load of the price of diesel fuel now. what a rip. they see that ppl are going to diesel so they raise the price. i guess thats how it is when your low on the food chain. yeah i know that just happens to be a fluke and im nuts. anyway thats what i want to put on the dual wheels for stabillity. thanks for the replys tom i am interested in putting dual wheels on my 1999 2500 4x4 has anyone here done this are there kits available im shure you wouldnt be interested in why so ill leave that alone. i was told there were adtapters available at one time but i cant find anything on that as of yet. anyway any help is appericated thanks tom .
Replies:
From : jerry
eisboch wrote connecting end of the hose. keeping that pressure on the tank while allowing the pump to bleed air out of the rest of it. when changing the fuel filter i would fill the cavity up with fuel before installing the new filter not sure it would be required but thought all the air that can be displaced in the system would be the best. i have around 10000 miles on it now and am completely satisfied thankful that a duromax was not available and ford dealer was un corporative. -- bill p. hello bill i am in the process of deciding on both a fiver rv and a tow vechicle. i want diesel probably a 3500 dually. i am curious - what transmission did you get in your ram and have you had any issues with it to date eisboch i add my signature to answer what i have but the only draw back on the 48re transmission is there is no exhaust brake available for use with it. but i think the retard available in the ho engine while in tow/haul select on the transmission it will give adequate breaking for normal hill down grades. i hope on deciding between the 2500 & 3500 the 2500 is a pickup the 3500 is a truck. insurance premiums will better reflect that. but in addition the dings on the wide rear fenders on many dually s will also reflect a difference. both have the same engine and transmissions to select from the 3500 can carry more pin weight. but my 5er pin weight is 950# the 2500 payload is 2563# im already at an over-kill for a tow vehicle for the 5er i selected. my tow weight capacity is 13450 the gvwr on the 5er is 11070 the magic numbers are the gvwr 5er 11070# + ram 9000# = 20.070# ram gcwr is 20000#. the ram pay load of 2563# - pin weight 950# and hitch and tool box weight 500# = 1113# that could be added to pin weight but with a 6950 total dry weight of the 5er i would have to be transporting lead bars to reach maximum. bottom line if you can put up with the wide rear fenders and the reduced mpg of the 3500 that might be the way to go. just remember after you get where you are going with the rv in tow you un-hook and drive your truck 3500 or your pick-up 2500 around for general transportation. -- bill p. 2004 2500 slt quad cab dodge ram swb 2wd 5.9 ho turbo diesel 48re auto trans anti-spin 3.73 dif.rhino liner husky 16k. voyager controller 2005 27rl wildcat dt/pc wi-fi. just me and dog .
From : william boyd
i guess i shouldve mentioned that for most of the past 18 months as i was observing fuel prices i was in wa state where everything costs more - also i have no idea on how much tax the various states charge. and yes i do hope prices keep dropping its nice to seem them at regular unstead above premium prices. david although ive had my diesel truck for just a couple of months ive kept my eye on diesel fuel costs for the past year knowing i was in the market. generally diesel has been priced at or about the cost of premium. but here in kc ive noticed the price of diesel has been at $1.79 which is the cost of our regular leaded gas +/- .05. hopefully it stays that way... david .
From : jerry
the problem is the more the demand goes up the less the price will drop. yup look at all the diesel cars coming on the market only going to increase demand and besides why are all you yanks whining when your motto is what ever the market will bear .
From : tom debbie heintz
i have recently been advised that it is not a good idea to place a screen over the grille of my cummins diesel. i would appreciate hearing from the experts on this subject. .
From : nosey
tony if your fuel is of good quality and if your fuel provider is using winterized diesel and if there is little or no moisture in the fuel then you are probably ok. lotsa ifs there though! personally i use stanadyne performance formula fuel additive year round and never worry about gelling. its up to you but peace of mind has gotta be worth something. hope this helps! chryco service manager member sae i have an 04 ram 2500 cummins ho diesel. im in nyc so the winters are cold but below 15 degrees is a rarity. do i need any feul additives someone said a can of dry gas can never hurt now and then. i also saw a bottle of cetane in the auto store which said it would prevent geling and of course all the other product rhetoric about improved engine performance. i was more concerned about the geling. if anyone has an opinion please let e know. thanks tony .
From : nosey
nosey wrote jerry wrote nosey wrote are you sure it is gelled from the cold and not microbial contamination it doesnt happen often but when it does its a nasty clean up job. so you are saying those tiny little black stringy worm looking things in the fuel filter is a bad sign ;^ after nearly 20 years of looking at fuel samples i have never seen microbiological contamination. ive seen cloudy fuel and fuel with lots of free water in the bottom of the sample jar but never anything living. why didnt dodge put low point drains on our fuel tanks anyway they want the water drained from the fuel filter at every fuel stop but there is no provision to drain the water from the tank. i think your thinking about a algae contamination which is similar to a fungus contamination of diesel but which is more a white looking mucus that resembles gelled fuel instead of the green or brown/black algae. it kind of looks like a jelly fish that washed up on the beach. there are dozens of these kind of little bugs if you will and they live off the fuel while getting their oxygen from the water in the fuel. ive never seen it in a vehicle before mostly because truck/car fuel is pretty much kept water free. but i once had it happen to a ships cargo tank that held a little over 500000 gallons of jp5. i ended up stripping out about a 100000 gallons of fuel plus having to go through about a dozen sets of coalescer filter sets. most people have never heard of this stuff but you get a tank loaded with water and dont clean it out good you run the risk of this contamination. out of the hundreds of millions of gallons of dfm and jp5 that i loaded stowed cleaned and pumped in the 6 years as fuels cargo officer on two aors i ran into this problem only once. but like i said it was a nasty one....... jerry isnt algae microbial maybe i havent seen this contamination because you caught it before i got it. were you a grape grape must be some of that airdale slang. i was a cwo4 machinist........ ex machinist mate master chief. jerry .
From : jerry
here in metro ny/nj diesel was about 10 cents below reg. unleaded then in late sep. when home heating oil prices came out it spiked to 15 cents above premium. almost a 50 cent jump in less than two weeks with no change in the price of the other grades of gasoline. i too am hoping it goes back down once the home boilers are turned off. although ive had my diesel truck for just a couple of months ive kept my eye on diesel fuel costs for the past year knowing i was in the market. generally diesel has been priced at or about the cost of premium. but here in kc ive noticed the price of diesel has been at $1.79 which is the cost of our regular leaded gas +/- .05. hopefully it stays that way... david .
From : jerry
i was told that it caused too much air flow and the air conditioner would suffer because of overheating the compressor with causes excessive high pressures and leads to early burn out. hugh daykin wrote i have recently been advised that it is not a good idea to place a screen over the grille of my cummins diesel. i would appreciate hearing from the experts on this subject. im certainly no expert but why would it be a bad idea overheating are you trying to protect the grill or just the radiator if its for the radiator i would put the screen behind the grill and keep an eye on the temp gage for a while. .
From : jerry
most boosters have a check valve. many are external so you should beable to pinpoint the leak and replace the valve if that is the cause. bad check valves usually cause a hard pedal with the ssssss sound. good luck 96 dodge 2500 5.9l 5 speed when i press the brake pedal i hear a whooshing sound like a ballon being blown up. cant locate the place exactly but you can hear it in cab and under the hood. seems to be coming from the power booster area. anyone have experience with this tia .
From : michaelhorsman
the durango does not use plastic tracks they are sissor type regulator dodge uses a plastic track for the windows...yours sounds like it is shot. they are fairly inexpensive $50 iirc but they will charge you about 100 bills for labor. i did several on minivans etc. and they are fairly easy. takes about 1 to 1.5 hours. hello all. ive got a 99 durango and the front right window wont budge but im not sure of the problem i havent taken off the door panel just yet...figured id post the diagnosis here first. the window is in the up position good so this doesnt need to be a quick fix but something id like to get done and when i try to roll it down i can hear the motor start to move it but it doesnt move more than about 1/16. so it sounds to me like the motor isnt shot but that there might be something in the track or possibly something broke off inside it stopped working on a very cold day and i tried to roll it down and it got about 1/4 of the way down and i heard a snap. any ideas id like to fix it myself but havent had the time to remove the panel to investigate and see if it is something i can handle. thanks for any suggestions. .
From : tom debbie heintz
the dodge cummins combination is fabulous. i bought an 04 3500 dually. it has the full banks kit exhaust high ram six gun and speedloader complete with gauges. it goes like a freightliner on steroids and on my last tank got 18.1 mpg. this truck weighs 3480 kgs empty. it is quiet. it handles. no rattles. instantaneous throttle response. top of the line brakes. it is a super super truck. try one you wont believe how nice they are. steve i have been thinking of getting a 2500 ram diesel. some owners have told me about a lot of trouble with the fuel pump. has anyone else had any problems with the pump. also is there any other down side or other problems to the diesel besides been more expense to do oil changes. thanks .
From : jerry
jerry wrote nosey wrote are you sure it is gelled from the cold and not microbial contamination it doesnt happen often but when it does its a nasty clean up job. so you are saying those tiny little black stringy worm looking things in the fuel filter is a bad sign ;^ after nearly 20 years of looking at fuel samples i have never seen microbiological contamination. ive seen cloudy fuel and fuel with lots of free water in the bottom of the sample jar but never anything living. why didnt dodge put low point drains on our fuel tanks anyway they want the water drained from the fuel filter at every fuel stop but there is no provision to drain the water from the tank. i think your thinking about a algae contamination which is similar to a fungus contamination of diesel but which is more a white looking mucus that resembles gelled fuel instead of the green or brown/black algae. it kind of looks like a jelly fish that washed up on the beach. there are dozens of these kind of little bugs if you will and they live off the fuel while getting their oxygen from the water in the fuel. ive never seen it in a vehicle before mostly because truck/car fuel is pretty much kept water free. but i once had it happen to a ships cargo tank that held a little over 500000 gallons of jp5. i ended up stripping out about a 100000 gallons of fuel plus having to go through about a dozen sets of coalescer filter sets. most people have never heard of this stuff but you get a tank loaded with water and dont clean it out good you run the risk of this contamination. out of the hundreds of millions of gallons of dfm and jp5 that i loaded stowed cleaned and pumped in the 6 years as fuels cargo officer on two aors i ran into this problem only once. but like i said it was a nasty one....... jerry isnt algae microbial maybe i havent seen this contamination because you caught it before i got it. were you a grape .
From : nosey
although ive had my diesel truck for just a couple of months ive kept my eye on diesel fuel costs for the past year knowing i was in the market. generally diesel has been priced at or about the cost of premium. but here in kc ive noticed the price of diesel has been at $1.79 which is the cost of our regular leaded gas +/- .05. hopefully it stays that way... david i wish it was that way in oregon as it runs anywhere from 10-20 cents more than unleaded $2.03 cheapest to $2.19 on the same day at different stations. i cannot figure out why diesel costs more than unleaded when i hear it requires less refining. i did read that the rush on fuel oil may spike the price but it has been higher since august when i bought my first diesel truck. .