fatdaddy

I had my Hummer towed to the dealer believing it was gelled but turned out to be the PMD driver. My wife's 4 week old PSD X smokes big time at start for about 1 min. and then clears up. Based on what I've read here, it seems normal. Good, I was getting nervous.

h2owarrior

The smoke on a cold diesel is totally normal. It's a function of the combustion process at cold temperatures. It is typically white and is called.....white smoke....not to be confused with blue smoke from oil or black smoke from too much fuel. I always use winter blend fuel if I am going to be using the truck in the winter and have never had a problem. The blocking point is typically in the filter. The parafin in the fuel coagulates in colder temperatures and the molecules become to large to pass through the filter. That is why the trucks will run for a while before they stop....it can take a while for the filter to become clogged enough to stop the engine. You may notice it will idle but has no power.

Audacity.....it's interesting you work for Ford and would actually tell people who own them to take the filter out and crank the engine.......major league wrong thing to do. The injectors on those things are very sensitive to contamination and the potential of getting a 4 or 5 micron particle in them can cause serious....expensive.... repairs.

Not that I am an expert.....it's just my $0.02

gmhdfan

I have used Rottella oil for years but was talking to someone recently and was told to stay away since they have not changed their formular in years. Know anything about this? Temps got down in the low 30's this week and noticed that filling up at some stations took for ever to pump 50 gallons.

audacity

i SAID cycle the key...DO NOT CRANK...you are only checking for flow...the fuel will still be filtered when the filter is installed due to design.

idling with no power is due to strategy paramters.

excess smoke in cold weather (PSD) is due to injector timing.

i have no answer for you on rotella..sorry. right now i'm ice climbing in canada...-15 today

boot

Hi tripps ! My cat is just sittin with it's tail between it's legs ,shivering !!! Motors are out right now . They are new but one has a little low oil pressure and one had water in exhaust so I want to check things to be safe .. I hope to have them done so that I can WARE THEM OUT THIS YEAR !!!!!!

This will be my 3rd year with it and only about 3 hours running time .......... Hope to see you this year . JOE

BattleCry

As far as oil is concerned, I use Case IH Low Ash 15w40. Its farm tractor oil. I quit using Rotella. I have had good luck with this oil. Rotella was using a quart every 3,000miles and the Case IH doesn't use any.

fatdaddy

Well, I experienced the fuel gelling thing today. My 4 week old PSD X started losing power until it limped off the expressway but it never stalled. So, I let it run all day at work, poured in some dies3el conditioner and filled the tank and it drove home beautifully. I've been driving diesels since'98, this is my 1st gelling experience. It sure is cold.

boot

It seams more Excursions freeze then anything !

Whats up with that ?

My brothers truck just froze up again ! In the same place !

h2owarrior

boot......that is because most people who drive the big "x" don't have a clue about driving a diesel, keeping and eye on the temp, and keeping the proper fuel in the tank.

The latest cold snap caught a lot of over the road truckers off gaurd as well. What would you expect from someone who bought a diesel engine vehicle with no experience with cold weather operation from a dealership with an equal lack of experience.



caveat emptor

Intolerant1

Living in an urban area we must get better cold weather fuel. Mine has had no problems and started at -1 the other night after sitting all day. Sounded like crap, but started and ran fine.

The other thing some of you may consider is a remote start with a timed delay restart feature. I can program mine to start and run the vehicle every few hours (there are different options for time) and let it run for 20 minutes. Nice feature if it had to sit outside all the time but its usually in my heated garage.

Dont ask, cant remember what brand the remote start is?????