2006 Hino

Moot · Feb 23, 2008

I'll vouch for it being cold up dare, ya! My alternator went out at 02:30 in the A.M. Wednesday. I made it to the truck stop in Pembina, ND just south of the border. -33 degrees. I swapped out the starter battery with one of my deep cycles to confirm it was the alternator and not a frozen battery. Not much fun working with those small bolts that come on side post terminal batteries. Had to take my gloves off to thread the bolts all while fighting stiff battery cables. Jack London would have been proud of me though. I didn't need to kill any dogs. Sat in back and warmed my hands over my Mr. Heater buddy dude.

There were frozen trucks all up and down I-29 and on 75 from the border to Winnipeg. Many were Canadian or Northern U.S. based. It wasn't just Hinos freezing. It was brutally cold!!!!

Always carry spare fuel filters. If you don't have a way to manually prime the filters before starting the engine then carry a gallon of fuel. Also have plenty of Power Service or other additive.

The wrecker driver (owner) topped off the tanks of his flatbed T-300, Cummins powered with #1 fuel. He estimated the fuel in the tanks to now be about 70/30. With the 70% being #1. Not great for fuel economy but it keeps the engine running.

Critter Truckin · Feb 23, 2008

x06col said:
Kat, many out there are extremely ill prepared to:
Git r done
Make it easy on themselves in extreme conditions
Or, for self preservation

Seems to be the nature of the beast. Wing it every day, then whine when it goes south.
Probably isn't a set of chains within a couple miles of that truck either. Probably the Hinos fault.

So, since you were there. I would have you know that we were very prepared. Didn't have the fuel filter, but we had the tools to fix the filter... and BTW, it worked. We don't wing it, when the time comes to take action, it's taken. End of story.

And FYI, there's a set of chains that we picked up in November in the tool box. Thanks for your concern.

Kat, we were prepared and did everything that the techs were saying that we should do. And, even after we did everything to prepare, it still went wrong. As the Colonel so eliquently said "whine when it goes south" couldn't be further from the truth. When we thawed out the fuel, the engine wouldn't prime, that's the original reason for going to the shop.

x06col · Feb 23, 2008

Moot said:
I'll vouch for it being cold up dare, ya! My alternator went out at 02:30 in the A.M. Wednesday. I made it to the truck stop in Pembina, ND just south of the border. -33 degrees. I swapped out the starter battery with one of my deep cycles to confirm it was the alternator and not a frozen battery. Not much fun working with those small bolts that come on side post terminal batteries. Had to take my gloves off to thread the bolts all while fighting stiff battery cables. Jack London would have been proud of me though. I didn't need to kill any dogs. Sat in back and warmed my hands over my Mr. Heater buddy dude.

There were frozen trucks all up and down I-29 and on 75 from the border to Winnipeg. Many were Canadian or Northern U.S. based. It wasn't just Hinos freezing. It was brutally cold!!!!

Always carry spare fuel filters. If you don't have a way to manually prime the filters before starting the engine then carry a gallon of fuel. Also have plenty of Power Service or other additive.

The wrecker driver (owner) topped off the tanks of his flatbed T-300, Cummins powered with #1 fuel. He estimated the fuel in the tanks to now be about 70/30. With the 70% being #1. Not great for fuel economy but it keeps the engine running.

Moot sez "then carry a gallon of fuel"
Critter, yer try'in too hard ot be offended. Mayb be a lesson here, yer worth it.

GoGrammaGo · Feb 23, 2008

With all due respect to those of you that have been at this business much longer than I (and maybe longer than I've been alive)....How does one get "prepared" for this situation? In a truck that has fuel lines that freeze in those kinds of temperatures, no matter what you do? And it doesn't matter whether you're running the truck, driving the truck, etc. And those words came from the Salesman and the Service Manager of the dealership!! And they also let us know that Hino has approved fuel heaters to put in the truck, because they now realize how necessary they are. We did everything we were told to do and knew to do, to no avail. I really don't see what else we could've done....except to have borrowed Moot's 'Mr. Heater Buddy thing' and hook it to the fuel lines. But then his fingers would be too frozen to type and we would have nothing to laugh at while we sit and wait for our truck to be thawed.

x06col · Feb 23, 2008

Gramma, those conditions are without a doubt challenging. I've even seen unleaded gel up. And no doubt there were a number of others on the side of the road. But, why be with them?? As the Moot mentioned, take on a little #1 if you know you are heading to extremes, and your equipment has shortcommings. (there has not always been fuel heaters)
After you have gone thru the cold finners and agrivation of removing the filter, thawing and cleaning it, you need to top it off with fuel(clear to the top) so when you crank the engine it will get fuel not air. Hope this helps.

Moot · Feb 23, 2008

You do what you can do to deal with the effects of extreme cold weather. But it never seems to be enough. I can't blame the cold on my alternator failure, but it may have been a contributing factor. At temperatures exceeding -25 degrees both man and machine have a high failure rate.

In your case filling up with straight #1 might have helped, but no guarantee. You should always carry extra fuel filter(s) and a gallon can of fuel. Especially if you have no way to manually prime the filters.

For me last Tuesday night was beautiful! Except for the alternator dieing. Cold, clear sky, one day away from a full moon and day old snow covering the ground. I drove for a few brief seconds with out headlights. The dark of the highway stretched out before me in stark contrast with the snow. "Embrace the mundane" is more than just a saying. I live it!