simply shut down

[twitchcvma]

last Sunday, 11/4, I replaced all the hoses leading to and from the fuel canister while I was replacing the small O rings at the bottom of the canister. The amount of crap in the bottom of the canister was concerning, but not as much as the little wire that had come off. It looks like it was soldered to the bottom at one time but it was off when I removed the canister to get the gunk out of it. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it. Just tried to put it back. I replaced a vacuum line that I had pulled off when I replaced the down pipe with a Diamond Eye a while back. Had not been cold until today (11/9) Got down to about 27. I waited for the "wait to start" light to go off. she sputtered but eventually caught and ran for about 10 minutes at idle while i was scraping snow and ice off the windshield. Got in the truck, put her in gear and started for home. She simply shut down. simply stopped. Alternator was fine. Starter was fine. She turned over like she always does. Only this time the "wait to start" light didn't come on. Called insurance for road side hazard and got a tow home.
1) Could the fuel have gelled? Put diesel kleen it her last fuel up, the winter blend. Ran it in her all last winter and not even a hiccup when cold.
2) The little wire that should be tacked on the bottom of the canister, could that be the problem?
3) when I got home I plugged her in. Will look closer at her tomorrow.
4) what happens when the fuel gels? And what is the remedy to get her started after the fuel gels? I hope this is the problem. Any assistance or advice is appreciated.

[Patrick Feeley]

The little wire on the plate is your fuel heater. It comes loose from the pads and shorts out. This will blow fuse #22 in the underhood fusebox causing a no run/no start condition (since the fuse also supplies power to the PCM). You should not really need the fuel heater unless it gets down sunstantially below sero. You need to unplug the fuel heater and replace the #22 fuse. To unplug the fuel heater, I like to unplug it from the small spade connector inside the filter bowl (in your case, drain the bowl and remove the filter and just unplug the small spade connector on the inside and just remove the heater wire). You can unplug it from the outside, but you risk damaging the feedthrough as the funky-looking spade connector can be troublesome to disconnect. Cheers!

[twitchcvma]

Thank you so much. I always keep Diesel Kleen, the winter blend, in the fuel. Anytime I fuel up I add some in. 1) as a lubricant for the ULSD, and 2) to keep the fuel from gelling. You said "substantially below zero". Sometimes it gets -22 here at night. Not often but sometimes. Will the Diesel Kleen with the anti gel keep the fuel from gelling with the fuel warmer disconnected?

[twitchcvma]

thanks, Patrick. Worked like a champ. Started right up.