Diesel questions

[sunnyj]

I took the plunge an bought a 07 Chev Crew whith the Duramax, it weighs around 11,000lbs For those who have a diesel how thick do you wait for the ice before driving out in yours?

Also what kind of problems have you encountered with the fuel jelling on the ice and whatnot?

[Kodiak]

NICE PURCHASE!!!

i got a 05 duramax crewcab black. you will love that new one!

as far as on the ice, just wait till the powerstrokes are out there running around on the metro lakes and then head out.

I drove mine out on millacs no problem, in the dead of winter.

[Sifty]

As alway please rember NO ICE IS COMPLETLY SAFE.

I have a 01 duramax. You will love the truck.

I'm of the mind set that if others are driving out I do the same.

Sifty

[MN Mike]

Never had a problem with gelling but I always carry a spare filter with, mine don't seem to last more than 15,000 miles.

Mike

[sunnyj]

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as far as on the ice, just wait till the powerstrokes are out there running around on the metro lakes and then head out.

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[sunnyj]

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Never had a problem with gelling but I always carry a spare filter with, mine don't seem to last more than 15,000 miles.

Mike

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I hear you. I've got around 9500 miles on it and down to about 35% left on the filter. I'll be swithching it out with the oil change next week.

[CraigM]

I have an 06 Powerstroke crew cab that also weighs about 11,000 lbs. I wait till there is 18" of good ice before I venture out with my drop down ice house that weighs around 5,000 lbs. Like even more, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Ended up stopping and dropping the house on a spot of 14" one year and it started gettin a little slushy around the area before I was able to get out of there.

[Blaze]

sunny - forgive my ignorance here, but how do you know you're at 35%? Is there a sensor somewhere or something?

[sunnyj]

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sunny - forgive my ignorance here, but how do you know you're at 35%? Is there a sensor somewhere or something?

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I've got a button on the stearingwheel where it will tell me oil life, fuel filter life, fuel used, MPG ect. I think its just a way to get you to spend more at their service dept

[MuleShack]

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I have an 06 Powerstroke crew cab that also weighs about 11,000 lbs.

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11K on a pick up?

I have a 450 Diesel with a 9' dump body and sander with a 9' Pro plow and only go 11K over the scale.

My guess is your closer to 7K empty.

but regardless, 14" should be safe enough.

[LMITOUT]

Yeah, unless you have a VERY large utility body of some sort that wasn't mentioned, the truck doesn't weigh 11,000 pounds. I have an extended cab/short box/Duramax and it's around 6900 lbs with me and a full tank plus the fiberglass topper. The crew cabs don't weigh too much more.

When the temps start getting down there you can run winter-blend fuel (which you will most likely find everywhere in the winter anyway) and shouldn't have an issue with the fuel gelling up. You can also run straight #1 or mix #1 and #2 if you can't find the arctic/winter blend. It was -20 degrees one morning after staying in the house overnight and the truck fired up. She complained a little but it turned over a few times and lit off.

[crappace]

My 05 f350 almost goes 8k#s and it might now with new bigger tires. Thats with a topper. Another thing to remember is that the 3/4 tons don't weigh much less than the 1 tons. On my truck the difference is about 300lbs at the most.

We were on Winny last year and it was 30 below with wind chills getting way down there and it fired up. I had cetane booster in the tank and it took two tries but it did go. About 30 seconds and it sounded almost normal.

[DinkADunk]

After spending $50K on a new GMC 2500HD CC Duramax I don't think I'll be driving on the metro ice this year. I'll probably take the wife's 2002 Cadillic instead.

[Powerstroke]

A new 3/4 ton or one ton (non-dually) coming off the showroom floor with a regular box and not a utility box will only weigh 7000-8000lbs. NOt any more. You may be looking at the GVWR which is what the maximum your vehicle is rated to. Dually might add 300-500lbs with extra axle weight, tires

and rims.

Only difference in a 3/4 ton and 1-ton non-dually is the rating of the springs, brakes and maybe some other minor details. As far as the base of the truck they are the same.

With my F250 diesel I was fine on 15+ inches of ice. I've seen people chance it with 12", but that is their choice.

Fuel filters should be changed every 15K miles anyway. Any major chain gas station will have winter diesel in their pumps anyway, but if you're not sure its always good to use some Diesel Service or similar cetane additive to prevent gelling. When I owned that truck I didn't have indoor parking and rarely got a parking spot in the lot near an outlet. It started cold at -10*F and the one time it gelled was a when we had one night of -28*F and I couldn't plug it in. I ran a 100ft cord to it and it started later that day.

Use the proper wait to start time on your motor. I'mnot sure what that is on the Duramax, but on the Powerstroke, one key turn was good for 2 minutes of glow plug warming. I would cycle the key 2-3 times and then start it. It would buck and smoke, but it fired right up. One thing to remember with any truck, but its a problem with the diesels is letting them warm too long. You are warming the motor, but not the tranny. Ford would recommend not more than a 2 minute warm up time otherwise you unleash (lol) the power of a warm motor on the cold tranny and its tough on them.

[MuleShack]

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One thing to remember with any truck, but its a problem with the diesels is letting them warm too long. You are warming the motor, but not the tranny. Ford would recommend not more than a 2 minute warm up time otherwise you unleash (lol) the power of a warm motor on the cold tranny and its tough on them.

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Doesn't leaving them in Neutral warm the tranny as opposed to park? I thought i heard this somewhere.

[Valv]

As others mentioned your truck does not weigh 11,000lbs, that's your max weight capacity, I believe you are around 7,000lbs if a 3/4 ton.

When extremely cold I carry a spare filter and add extra additives to the fuel.

Also if I know it's going to be extremely cold (like -30 or more) I add straight kerosene to the tankful.

Keep your batteries in good shape, plug the heater in at night, and be sure you know how to change a fuel filter in case of emergency.

Biggest problem though is the lines between tank and filter, they run underneath vehicle and they get very cold.

[LMITOUT]

With the high pressures of the fuel system on the Duramax, the fuel that returns to the tank is very warm and actually runs through a fuel cooler before going back into the tank. I don't know if the truck would gel up when you're traveling down the road due to this, but obviously if it were sitting overnight without the right fuel it would.

If the truck starts to gel and it's still running but only has enough power to idle, don't shut it off! The filter is done for regardless at that point because the pleats are plugged with the gelatin and only a new filter will fix the problem, but at least you'll still have cab heat if you're stuck on the side of the road.

[sunnyj]

Oppppppsssss, My error. My 11,000 lb weight is with the fishhouse in tow

But the quesiton remains. How much Ice would you feel I need to drive safely on. And no I dont fish metro lakes. More like Red and LOW.

I kown by late Jan. I'll have no problems. It's the New Years Eve fishing trip I'm wondering about

[Bandit]

I fish LOW all winter, I pull my 8X20 out with my superduty diesel when Nick or Richard say it is safe to do so. Point being is if you don't know for sure, ASK someone who does. Most lakes may have 2 ft of ice in one spot and half that a short distance away.