AK RAM

Need some info from those with experience. I am seriously considering the FASS or Air Dog (Preporator) as my lift pump replacement. My concern is reliable operation in an extreme cold weather environment, say minus 20*F. Both pumps remove the stock pump and filter, thus removing my fuel heater. The ads for the FASS say it comes with a fuel heater, but the install instructions show their idea of a fuel heater as a couple of ports to plumb into your radiator so coolant will circulate through the FASS system. No good for cold weather starts and running until the engine heats up. I haven't found anything that suggests a heater option on the Air Dog.

Anyone with experience running either of these up north in the winter? My '95 12V would not run in the winter at anything colder than +15*F without the fuel heater. I worry about the filter waxing up as well at those temperatures. How does the 3rd Gen cope without a fuel heater?

FreynPres

I don't have any experience with either pump system, but I have currently been researching both systems. I agree that the FASS heater system is really not that "hot" for severe cold weather usage. The Fuel Preparator System (AirDog) says that it has a built in fuel heater for cold weather. I have a call in to them for more information. I will post here when I get the scoop.

Bret

EDIT: I just got off the phone with Larry at Ekstam Worldwide and I was told that the AirDog does NOT have a built in heater. It also does not have the ports for the liquid transfer option either.

I do believe that there is an electric heater "probe" that may be able to be inserted into the water seperator though. I know there was an option on one of our Fleetguard seperators. I will check on this as an option.

AK RAM

Outstanding. Thanks. I got a hold of Ekstam Worldwide yesterday myself and was told the same thing. They said that only their Class 8 truck model, the 135A (big one), comes with a fuel heater and it is the same setup as the FASS, coolant based. In addition, you are on your own to plumb it into your coolant system. They don't provide any fittings or hose.

I did find out, according to the service manual, that the fuel heater is not needed for the truck to run per say. It's only purpose is to keep the fuel filter from waxing up. In the fuel heater section, they definitely make it sound as if waxing would be a severe problem without a heater at the fuel filter. This will probably be the one thing that keeps me from going with the FASS or Air Dog (was leaning towards the later).

Any other suggestions. Anyone?

FreynPres

It would appear that the only good option we would have is to run a electric fuel heater before the filter/pump. Racor and Stanadyne make these, but I can't find any prices or where to purchace them.

Bret

OT-OF-Here

I may be wrong on this,..but I could swear I've read posts on guys who have left the stock filter and pump in the loop when they installed the FASS. That way you'd have the stock heater.

AK RAM

Saw those as well. The Racor electric in-line heater looks like a really neat, easy to hook up unit. Looking at their spec sheet though, it doesn't look like it will heat very well at all at the volume the FASS or Air Dog would be pumping fuel through it. It says the fully automatic version is only good for up to 200hp and the manual in-cab on/off unit is good for 200 to 300hp. That is kind of hard to interpret. I wish they would have used a gallons per hour heating capacity. 15psi of fuel pressure on our trucks is around 120 to 140 gallons per hour pumping capacity. That’s a lot of fuel. I'm thinking the Racor may have a problem effectively heating that kind of volume at 20* below. Anyone know what the stock fuel heater is capable of keeping up with?

This heater issue, especially up here, is a pretty big hurdle to get over. I definitely can't go around it. I think I may ditch the FASS or Air Dog route and go with a replacement electric pump only, keeping the stock filter housing. I'm just not excited about the Carter and Holly pumps currently being used. Rod at Wildcat indicated they have been using various other pumps and some are working out real good. Supposedly, they will offer one as a kit with all mounting hardware to mount under the hood close to the stock pump location where it is protected. Don't know if his kits are available yet. I need to call and get more specifics. So far we have just been shooting a few e-mails back and forth as time permits. I wish we could find out who manufacturers the electric pump used on the FASS and Air Dog. That pump is rated for 400,000 to 600,000 miles before it needs it's first set of brushes changed.

AK RAM

Me to, and I would definitely do that. The problem is the FASS and Air Dog fuel filter, all by itself at the back of the truck, with no fuel heater, will wax up and stop the flow of fuel under the right conditions (really cold). Can't have that.

OT-OF-Here

I don't know what this RACOR unit runs (cost wise), but what about this,..... you could put one in the back of the truck as close to the tank as possible and then one mid line and then leave the stock one. Can't cost that much and I'd think that would cover you. Extreme conditions call for extreme action sometimes. Just a thought.

OT-OF-Here

I don't know what this RACOR unit runs (cost wise), but what about this,..... you could put one in the back of the truck as close to the tank as possible and then one mid line and then leave the stock one. Can't cost that much and I'd think that would cover you. Extreme conditions call for extreme action sometimes. Just a thought.

FreynPres

The diesel is going to "gel" in the water seperator or the filter. That is where those waxy little critters like to play! I doubt that we would have any problems with the Stanadyne or the Racor heater units due to heat/flow ratings. The heaters would handle anything we would do in the winter, in my opinion. We would not have our trucks at WOT long enough to see a heat loss. The FASS system is constant running, which would run the fuel through the heater and then dump the unused portion back into the tank. I have talked to a couple of guys that are running the Stanadyne heater, and they have had NO problems.

For the install, we could route a switch to the dash and use the heater ONLY when temps would call for it. That way we could have cool fuel through the Spring-Summer-Fall. If we used the coolant taps, we would have to install a valve in-line to keep from heating our fuel when we don't need to.

If anyone knows of a place to order the Stanadyne unit, please chime in!

Bret

FreynPres

Big problem with that install. The fuel is going to gel in the fuel filters. It wouldn't gel in the stock filter, but it would still gel back at the FASS unit. You have to heat the fuel BEFORE it enters a filter/seperator.

Bret

AK RAM

You're probably right. Either heater used is conjunction with a fuel additive that combats gelling (which I always run in the winter) would probably do the job just fine. I can't find anything on the Stanadyne heater. Do you have a web link for it?

Yukon Dodge

Hey, AK Ram, I live here in Whitehorse, and in October the bulk plants start blending "summer" diesel with "winter" (#1). By winter they are totally switched over. Never had a problem starting in all temps or with gelling.

Mike Holmen

I've run the Fass pump at temperature lower than -20deg F. It works well, way better than the stock pump did. I haven't even hooked up the coolant lines to the pump. The intitial start is the hardest on the pump at these cold temps. Once the truck warms up, the injection pump will put some heat into the fuel. The only issue that I've ever had was I had vapor lock once on a long 14hr drive on a hot day. You can't fill-up your truck while running. The bypass fuel is dumped into the 1/2in tank vent line. I have over 30000miles on mine and I still can't drop it below 15psi. Still on the original filters. I do to much off-hiway driving to have coolant lines hanging underneath my truck. Its an accident waiting to happen.

Tom488

As opposed to a couple of fuel filters full of diesel fuel hanging underneath, right?