# Diesel Fuel Freezing Point



## spindrifter (Nov 14, 2006)

Hi All

Do I need to worry about diesel fuel freezing?

Am ski-ing in Austria this winter - so curious for answer.
Thanks

David


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi

The diesel at the pumps in winter has additives that will keep it flowing. In the UK these are added at around this time until mid March. I am guessing that in the colder parts of Europe they will have started adding the additives earlier

If you would like to check out some more detail on this subject do read through This old thread<<< where I posted details from a couple of fuel suppliers.

Mike


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

I think it was 1963 when I was working at Flowers Breweries, it got so cold the diesel in the lorries froze into a slurry.

Before a National State of Emergency could be declared, drastic action was taken. 8O 

The draymen just lit fires under the tanks for a while, then drove off, but those were the days before health and Safety. :roll:


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Zebedee said:


> The draymen just lit fires under the tanks for a while, then drove off, but those were the days before health and Safety. :roll:


Was that before or after they had consumed their beer allowance. 8O

Yes and it was before the days of flow additives and general diesel use...it was mostly just trucks that used diesel then. I am sure that some of the less adventurous truckers just added some petrol to the tank to thin the diesel.

Mike


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## spindrifter (Nov 14, 2006)

Thank you gentlemen

Now you mention it, I too recall our local haulage company having some sort of flame heater under their trucks during the winter. How times change!

Thans again

David


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## mickyc (Jan 20, 2006)

Oh happy days, in my earlier life as a diesel mechanic.

Laying under a lorry at the side of the motorway (whilst other passing trucks blasted slush all over me) freezing cold, armed with a blow torch.

You really had to be careful where you pointed the blowtorch once plastic pipes started to be introduced :?


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## blondy (Aug 23, 2007)

I too experienced 63 winter, we used to put around 25 per cent kerosene with the diesel , this was o/k.


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

Earnt a fortune that winter push starting cars on the way to school. Walked the full width of Croydon morning and afternoon. Happy days.
Gerry


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Dislocated one of my patellas trying to push-start my dads car!


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## Codfinger (Jan 11, 2008)

*diesel*

When I used to drive a truck on the continent I used to put 25ltrs of petrol to a tankfull of diesel to stop the fuel waxing up, (never broke down) and when it was really cold I used to leave the truck running all night long.........kept the cab nice and warm :lol:


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## hblewett (Jan 28, 2008)

I remember my father going out early mornings because of frozen diesel - probably '63 too. I used to think that being a mechanic would be great, but he told me about lying under lorries on a cold day being covered with slush and suggested I kept my head down at school and think of something else! 

Later in life I got very involved with winter maintenance - salting and snow clearing roads - and got into, amongst other things, the business of fuels. When I started talking to the 'do-ers' north of the border, they all told me the additives are ok in UK for about minus 15 centigrade - after that they put in some paraffin - same cure as, I remember my father saying they used in '63 to save him crawling underneath the lorries with a blow-torch. 

On the H&S front, I remember that as a young engineer, building bridges north of the border; we used to put half barrels with fires in them suspended in the scaffolding to keep the ice off the wooden formwork when we concreted the bridge decks in winter - it seemed OK at the time. 

(I think the only risk assessment was the advice to be careful walking on the steel when it is frozen, because if you fell you would go straight over the scaffolding, miss handrails and fall straight to the ground below!)


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## Carper (Aug 15, 2007)

spindrifter said:


> Hi All
> 
> Do I need to worry about diesel fuel freezing?
> 
> ...


Hi

About minus 40. Make sure that you drain any water from the separator, as this will obviously freeze.

I would suggest that you buy your diesel local to where you will be staying, as it should have all the neccesary additives to cope with local conditions

Doug


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## Wupert (Aug 6, 2007)

spindrifter said:


> Hi All
> 
> Do I need to worry about diesel fuel freezing?
> 
> ...


Try and have your tank on 1/4 or less before you get to Austria.

Then fill up locally.....all diesel will have been treated for temps down to - 25 or less/more


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Fill up your tank locally and the diesel will be the right blend.

For the arctic they use a blend of diesel and avaition fuel. (From Top Gear drive to the north pole in Toyota Hi-Lux's)

But they didn,t stop the engines either.

63 was fun on a BSA Bantam!.


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## 90725 (May 1, 2005)

It is amazing how stable diesel fuel is when cold. During the Falkland's War one of the frigates (Alacrity?) had a fire which punctured a diesel tank. The cold diesel extinguished the fire!


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## oldun (Nov 10, 2005)

Is the problem diesel freezing or is it because the viscosity of the fuel get too large at lower temperatures?

Usually the problem is quite local and not an overall problem.


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