Author Topic: Cold weather problems. (Read 4396 times)

beerboyone · « **on:** February 07, 2007, 07:45:31 am »

I've been having problems with my '81 rabbit in the past few days.

Day one 4 below zero - car would not crank fast enough to fire. I run heavy oil (20W-50) so I don't have to put more oil in every day. I put a magnet oil pan heater on.

Day two 2 below zero - car cranks easy, thanks to the pan heater. starts up and is running great. I start down the hill and lose all power. push the clutch in and it is not running. pull over and try to start it. it starts but has no power. I had this problem a couple weeks ago and figured there was a little gelling since I could see particles in the fuel line. last time I filled up I made sure to use some additive. when I looked at the fuel line this time it was the same case. there were solids in the fuel. it would idle rough and not rev. I towed it home and replace the fuel filter after the outside temp got up a little. started it up and drove it around. everything was fine.

Day three 2 below - car starts up great. revs up nice. i let it run a while and rev it up so I can be sure not to be stranded again. revs a couple times then loses power and won't rev any more. fuel line has no solids in it but there are air bubbles.

Where could the air be from? is it likely that I installed the filter incorrectly? Would the air be causeing this problem?

thanks

saurkraut · « **Reply #1 on:** February 07, 2007, 11:53:59 am »

First, change your oil to a 5W40 "C" rated synthetic. Dump that 20W50 and never run it again. Its probably not "C" rated. I havn't seen a 20W50 in the states that is "C" rated in many years. The current API rating for diesel oils is CI-4.

If you need an explination of the api ratings see the American Petroleum Institute paragraph on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil

You can get Moble 1 Truck & SUV 5W40 at Fleet Farm, and some Walmarts have Rotella 5W40 synthetic. You can probably call ahead and make sure its in stock.

Second, find fuel that is winterized, or go to www.performancefuels.com and see if you can get Koch Arctic fuel. Excellent stuff.

Ther are some junk anti jell products out there too. Years ago I put some various brands in the kitchen freezer to see what would happen. Some of them actually jelled. One of them was made by Winns. Can't remenber the other ones. Power service 911 (red Bottle), and Fuel Conditioner (White Bottle) seem to work well. They both contain alchohal, so I wouldn't run them on a regular basis as they might attract water to you fuel system. Power Service also made an anti-jell that had no alchy in it, but I havn't been able to find it lately. Maybe some one else can offer up a product that works. I've never jelled because I'm kind of a fuelaholic and watch what I put in, almost to a fault.

The bubles are kind of the nature of the beast. Some do it and some don't. Your filter seal might be a little screwy if there is some dirt or frost in there when you changed the filter.

beerboyone · « **Reply #2 on:** February 07, 2007, 12:20:58 pm »

Yeah, there is no Arctic Diesel any where near New York. The crappy thing is that the company I work for, Dresser-Rand, sells equipment to Flint Hills.

I am due for an oil change so I'll try 5w-40.

My buddy has a '99 TDI and he fills up at the same station as me and he hasn't had any fuel problems and he doesn't use additives. I'll try to find a better source for my diesel fuel.

thanks for the insite.

one other thing, the fuel I'm using is ultra pow sulfur. not sure if that would cause problems or not.

jtanguay · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2007, 04:19:22 pm »

has your injection pump been rebuilt lately??? theres a seal on the sprocket side that allows the pump to suck in air... which would make cold starting a potential nightmare (lots of cranking...)

beerboyone · « **Reply #4 on:** February 07, 2007, 04:53:23 pm »

Quote from: jtanguay

has your injection pump been rebuilt lately??? theres a seal on the sprocket side that allows the pump to suck in air... which would make cold starting a potential nightmare (lots of cranking...)

to my knowledge the pump has never been rebuilt and has 208,000 miles on it. cold starting isn't the problem really. The reason I had trouble starting it the first day was because of the thick cold oil. Since I put the pan heater on there is no problem getting it started. the problem is getting to run with any usable power.

jtanguay · « **Reply #5 on:** February 07, 2007, 05:45:03 pm »

Quote from: "beerboyone"

Quote from: "jtanguay"
has your injection pump been rebuilt lately??? theres a seal on the sprocket side that allows the pump to suck in air... which would make cold starting a potential nightmare (lots of cranking...)

to my knowledge the pump has never been rebuilt and has 208,000 miles on it. cold starting isn't the problem really. The reason I had trouble starting it the first day was because of the thick cold oil. Since I put the pan heater on there is no problem getting it started. the problem is getting to run with any usable power.

i think any old and tired motor won't have much useable power when cold... but i seriously suspect your pump as the culprit... that ulsd!!!

edit: ok an easy way to see if its your pump would be to check the clear fuel lines (bubbles kinda look white) run your car at different rpm's and go real high to see if you get lots of bubbles.

beerboyone · « **Reply #6 on:** February 08, 2007, 10:23:57 am »

When am I looking for bubbles? while it is revved or after i rev and drop it back to idle?

jtanguay · « **Reply #7 on:** February 08, 2007, 11:59:06 am »

Quote from: "beerboyone"

When am I looking for bubbles? while it is revved or after i rev and drop it back to idle?

try different rpm's... give it short bursts (it should have a few air bubbles when you 'burst' it) see if you can make it go bubbly. if its real easy then thats your problem.

i'm starting to think that looking at the lines might not give you a really good idea if its the pump seals or not... but more than likely it is the culprit.

beerboyone · « **Reply #8 on:** February 12, 2007, 06:47:19 am »

I started it up yesterday since it was warmer out, around 30. it ran great. there were no bubbles or solids in the line and when i reved up and down there were no bubbles. So it is a mistery. Maybe I'll rebuild the pump anyways.

saurkraut · « **Reply #9 on:** February 12, 2007, 09:32:04 am »

I have witnessed a jelling event on an Ecodiesel recently. When the anti-jell began to loosen up the fuel so the engine could be started, there were alot of bubbles in the line. It would idle fine, but start to miss fire when the throttle was advanced.

As it ran some more, about 15 min, the bubbles went down a little, and the engine would rev up under throttle. After the car was driven for a while, only a few occasional bubbles were going through the fule line.

That being said, you do have a couple miles on that pump. It would be wise to check the input shaft for play. Next time you have the timing belt cover off, try moving the pump sprocket back and forth. if it does move the bushing is worn. Eventually, the belt will start to walk twords the cover and rub on it.

You can wear out the bushing and not have the seal leak. I've worn out a few pumps on my personal vehicles and never had the pump leak. Some even to the point where the bushing wore through, gouged the pump body, didn't leak, but the belt still tracked true. I do put a splash of the PS in the silver grey bottle stuff (diesel+clean?) in every tank of fuel. Maybe its good for seals too. Go figure