Frozen Fuel Lines

[travis2822]

99 S-10 Blazer 4.3

I believe that I have a problem due to my stupidity. Last night after the super bowl I forgot to get gas. I ran it pretty low it is at about 1/8th of a tank. Last night here in Indianapolis it got down to about -2 F. The high today 12 F. This morning when I woke up the car wouldn't start. It turned over and no fire.

When I got home this afternoon I tried again and still not working. I put about 10 gallons of gas and 1 bottle of HEET. Will this help as I do not have access to a garage? If it will not work is there something other than higher temps that would help?

If the gas lines are frozen should I still hear the fuel pump. I currently cannot hear it.

Thank you

[blazes9395]

If it is infact frozen fuel lines, you have to find a heated garage, or a warm room, and get the truck in there overnight to thaw it out. That, or wait for spring...

[old_master]

Originally Posted by travis2822

...If the gas lines are frozen should I still hear the fuel pump. I currently cannot hear it.

Thank you

If only the lines are frozen, you should still hear the pump prime. Chances are if the lines are frozen, the pump is too, in which case you wouldn't hear it run. Don't rule out the possible coincidence that it just decided to quit. Maybe it couldn't handle the excitement of the Colts winning! Warm it up and see what happens.

[paxfam1]

I no how ya feel, my other 1/2ton froze today, but it was -27 in minnesota.

I threw 2 bottles of stp in it and let it sit in the shop with the heater blowing on it. It started after about 2 hours. I could still here the pump priming though...................I would suggest keeping more gas in it in the future and drop a bottle of heet in it every tank or so!

[travis2822]

I am yet to figure out what I am going to do. I do not have access to a garage. Hopefully in the next couple of days the temp will rise above freezing.

I normally do not allow my tank to run lower than 1/4 but this past weekend was a really busy one.

[ericn1300]

all the different brands of "fuel driers" are the same. just alcohol that binds with the water to carry it thru the combustion process. use the cheapest you can find, but none are going to unfreeze the gaslines. if you don't have a garage try tenting the vehicle with tarps and put a couple of 100 watt trouble lights underneath to warm it up.

[travis2822]

I finally got it to a garage. It has been 6 hours and I still cannot get it to start for more than 2 or 3 seconds. Pressure is good and spark is good. I am at a loss???????

[old_master]

Connect a fuel pressure guage. Turn the key to the RUN position, (do not start the engine). Fuel pressure must be a MINIMUM of 60psi while the pump is running. After approximately 2 to 3 seconds, the pump will shut off, fuel pressure must remain above 55psi for several minutes. Post your results back here.

[travis2822]

Tried it this morning and it started up fine. I had to go to work so I couldn't leave it running and I didn't trust taking it. I have a 100 mile round trip to work. Got home in the afternoon and started right up. I ran it for about 15 minutes and everything was good. I parked it and about 1 hour later went out to start it and I couldn't hear the pump priming and the truck didn't want to start. Could it have frozen again?

[DelCoch]

If you didn't add a can of heat to the gas tank or fill it up with gas - no doubt it probably froze again. In sub-zero weather you should keep at least a half tank of gas or add a can of heat with each fill up.

[travis2822]

I filled it up while it was frozen with 15 gallons and put 2 bottles of heet in it. This morning when I went to start it after sitting in the garage since 6:30pm last night it still wouldn't start. I could hear the clicking of the relay but I couldn't hear the pump priming. I am starting to believe that it may be an electrical issue. Not sure??????

[travis2822]

4:30pm my truck started with no problems. I am going to let it run for about and hour and then drive it a little and see where I stand in the morning. I will post results in the morning.

[travis2822]

I changed the fuel pump and all seems solved. They problem after installation was the gas gauge didn't work correctly. Does anyone have any ideas?

[old_master]

Did you replace only the fuel pump, or did you replace the entire module? If you replaced just the fuel pump, removing the module assembly may have disturbed a connection for the fuel level sensor. If you replaced the entire module, they're may be a poor connection on the top of the tank. The fuel pump and the fuel level sensor wiring are both in the same connector.

[travis2822]

I replaced just the pump. My haynes manuel said something about the module but I didn't see what it was describing. The fuel leve has recovered somewhat. It slowly moved to full as I drove around. It seems like it is working now but just quite abit slower.