Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 23:29:35 -0500
Reply-To: Alan Pickersgill <pickersgill@HOME.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alan Pickersgill <pickersgill@HOME.COM>
Subject: Re: Heating up a motor
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
I don't know about in the U.S. but in Canada I've been told that about
November the diesel fuel delivered to stations starts to be "winterized".
Not sure exactly what this means in chemical terms but it is supposed to
mean that you no longer need to add a % age of gasoline to diesel fuel in
the winter as VW advised back when I owned my first 77 diesel rabbit. I
think they suggested 20%.
But in the U.S. they may not winterize.
I believe your problem is that the fuel is becoming jelly-like in the lines
or it is "waxing" in the filter. The wax in the fuel precipitates out of the
fuel and coats the filter element preventing fuel from moving through it
fast enough to keep the engine alive.
My Mitsubishi/Dodge D50 Turbodiesel (1983) had a heated fuel filter that
caused the fuel to be automatically heated whenever it was really cold. The
fuel passing through the heated filter and back to the tank kept the whole
system warm enough to avoid these waxing/solidifying problems in the
coldest kind of Canadian winters.
Characteristically the Mitsubishi technology was all Bosch stuff built under
licence (Diesel Kiki I believe was the name) but where the Bosch stuff was
not quite up to snuff the Japanese engineers simply went on to resolve the
problems. BTW Mitsubishi had glow plugs that were never slower than 10
seconds getting to temperature, and in the summer there was no delay at all.
This was years before VW dealt with these same diesel irritants.
Don't know why people think the German auto engineers are so great. They
have some innovative ideas, but they are totally incapable of admitting to
even their most glaring errors. Our Vanagon waterboxers which have been
perpetrated on the motoring public for almost 20 years are a perfect
example. The engine is a disgrace, when you consider what Subaru did to make
the same basic concept really work without the aggravation of major
rebuilds every 90,000 - 100,000 km. End of rant.
You may want to look for a way to keep the fuel filter warm, or even look fo
r a Mitsubishi unit and install it. Although it isn't really a good idea to
add gas to the fuel, this will work and probably won't cause that much wear
for the few weeks a year when its that cold in MA. Maybe there are people
really knowledgeable about diesel fuel on the list who can advise on less
harmful additives to prevent your problem.
Alan Pickersgill
'85 Transporter converted to Westfalia + 89 diesel Golf.
Ottawa Ontario
Canada
----- Original Message -----
From: <KENWILFY@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2000 10:41 PM
Subject: Re: Heating up a motor
> Probably one of the fuel lines from the rear of the car. With all of that
> cold air going under the car at 65mph might be closer to -20 degrees F on
a
> -4 degree day.
> The best way to combat this problem is to follow your manual's suggestions
> for adding kerosene (or even gasoline) to your diesel. There should be a
> chart giving you the proper mixture to avoid another possible break down.
>
>
> Happy driving!
> Ken Wilford
> http://www.vanagain.com
> John 3:16
> Office (856)-765-1583
> Shop (856)-327-0027
> Fax (856)-327-2242
