Winter Overlanding Overnighter Disaster

All right, now for the bad stuff.

my Jeep has a full package of synthetic fluids (Mobil1 Delvac engine oil 0W40, Redline synthetic ATF for the power steering , auto tranny , Lucas Synthetic 85W140 front/rear differentials and transfer case . Lucas synthetic grease in the wheel bearings, u joints, driveshaft splines) . Plus 10% biodiesel / winter diesel blend, with Lucas fuel conditioner, and HotShot Secrets anti-gel / cetane boost additives in the triple filtered diesel . A massive commercial truck RACOR water / fuel separator filter system removes Any and All water from the fuel prior to hitting the Hi pressure fuel pump/ injectors

All that did not matter


Jeep had sat all evening, overnight, and the morning in - 35 C (with windchill).

there was hoar frost all over the Jeep body, inside the cab, and on the engine.

put the warm battery back in, tried to start it.

CLICK

added a lithium 1000 amp battery booster to the Jeep battery and tried again

CLICK

put buddies 1500 amp CCA battery in the Jeep, with the 1000 amp lithium battery booster , tried again.

CLICK

reattached the booster to the starter posts

CLICK

nothing.

everything so cold and frozen .

fuel was thick gel , engine oil was thick gel, only thing not frozen was the antifreeze fluid. the brakes wouldn’t even move


I’m beyond cold by this point.


Go back in , huddle by the roaring fire.

buddy asks a thousand questions, says he’s mechanically knowledgeable, let’s spray ether into the intake

NO - on a common rail diesel engine that’s an invitation to serious engine damage.


oh ok

well let’s bang on the starter with a big hammer

NO - that’s not the issue!

I was getting irritated big time at my buddies questions, and I could barely see or speak because I was frozen cold.

I just needed space at that point, to warm up and think.

After an hour by the hot stove , trying to get the blue outta my face and hands , I acted.

pulled the fuel filter off , brought it inside , warmed the water separator bowl up .

removed the bowl, drained out a cup of water / some diesel , dried the bowl, attached a brand new RACOR fuel filter. Filled it with HOT diesel fuel / anti gel mix

took my 100,000 BTU tiger torch, three sections of old chimney pipe, including a T pipe connector. Punched holes all over the old chimney pipes , assembled and placed under the tranny/t-case/ oil pan/Starter , and placed the tiger torch in the end. Fired it up.

Heat rapidly rose around the engine / transmission / tcase / starter


Tarped the engine bay with a canvas tarp to trap the heat

went back inside, was freezing cold / stiff/ numb/ couldn’t talk again.

another thousand questions from buddy, now he’s getting upset.

MORE

 

More below

 

You need a fattie battery pack and install an inline coolant heater. They heat the block up pretty well in a pickle and would help with partial issues you had to deal with. Cheap mod too

 

I cam only imagine the tension in that little cabin hahahahahahha

 

I'm sorry y'all had a rotten time but, come on man, don't leave us hanging. I've been checking for the next installment for two days now!

 

I'm thinking bushy and the kid ate buddy.

 

Four hours later…..

All fluids thawed , starter warmed up , battery nice and warm after being by the stove.

primed the fuel filter about 5 times, steel wooled the battery terminals, attached the cables tight. Attached the 1000 amp booster.

keyed the glow plugs on. Cycled them off , then on again .,

Turned the ignition on.

Engine roared to life . Just a tiny bit of white diesel smoke.

Took it for a gentle drive for 15 minutes then parked it running over the still running 100,000 BTU makeshift tiger torch heater system while we packed up .

noticed the battery date 2015 …. Yea no wonder

we swept the cabin clean , shuttered it and banked the coals in the stove. As is customary in old cabins, one leaves a healthy pinch of pipe tobacco on the still hot stove, to leave the cabin with an amazing aroma.

we headed out.




so some upgrade's are coming to the Jeep

- fuel tank warmer
- fuel filter warmer
- battery blanket
- dual 1500 CCA commercial truck batteries
- 0 gauge pure copper battery cables, alternator and starter cables
- hi output 300 amp alternator to charge the massive new batteries
- lIPO 250 AH deep cycle batteries , solar panel, plug in charger system , 3500 watt inverter and wiring to the block heater , tank / fuel heater, etc

already invested in 2 gallons of HotShot Secrets anti gel / cetane boost addtive - got enough for 3500 gallons of diesel fuel .

Also designed a custom metal warmer for the tiger torch . It will fit under the seat when not in use.
When in use it will allow hot air to heat under the engine bay without burning anything .

It was a great trip actually . Some hiccups, lots of tension between us at times, but definitely a great experience.

My biggest beef on the trip was not the Jeep non start due to -35 C issues. It was the fact I shopped for two weeks , bought hand butchered free range meats, handmade sausages, pasta, fancy Parmesan , and I spent everyday after work for an entire week, prepping ingredients for 6 meals , for two days, plus reserve meals. Dicing , cubing , seasoning, marinating, vac bag sealing, pre cooling mg Pelican cooler, filling all my spice jars in the Chuck box with fresh ground spices , gathering all the dry ingredients, hand shredding high end imported Parmesan reggiano cheese, portioning sausages and vac sealing etc etc etc

ended up taking home 98% of my food. I mean it got used at home, but the whole point of the weekend was to hang out in a hot cabin, cook amazing fresh ingredients meals , enjoy them, drink Reebs, etc.

I felt kinda pissed off I went to all that trouble on food shopping and prep and COST (I spent like $500 CAD, the Parmesan Regiano alone was $45 for the piece I bought)

I bought a 40 lb case of Roma tomatoes from the Sicilian lads here , slow cooked it with fresh herbs and garlic for 6 hours until it simmered down to 4 litres of sauce , then vac bagged it.

etc etc

starting to think next time I’ll just bring boxes of Mac and cheese

Never mind the mind numbing gear packing . Prep of the field kitchen. lot of weight in my Jeep. The Pelican cooler alone was 130 lbs loaded

like the kid barely ate anything . I used to clean my camp plate as a kid , and we’d get seconds and thirds of food , 3 times a day . We loved it.
I figure that kid ate about a soup bowls worth of food over two days. But had lots of chips.

dunno. I need to plan my menus a little better . Maybe trying to make three handmade meals using fresh ingredients is too much.

maybe I need to cater to a different crowd.

still had a lot of fun , despite major survival issues regarding the vehicle. Can’t imagine what we would have done if the Jeep didn’t start after all the emergency work we put into it. We only had another 3 hours of firewood left …….


Anyways. It ended very well - I adapted , improvised and overcame , and got home to the House Panthers in time .

As well, I acted like my Father, think first, troubleshoot, think more, picture different scenarios and outcomes, before acting on a plan .

wish he was still here with us , he would have loved this adventure and the problem solving I did .

 

I feel you on the food point. I think most people are just happy to have food, they really don't care if it's good, just something they're familiar with.

My Dad will pick a Wendy's hamburger over one of my methodically oak grilled ribeye steaks any day of the week. My middle daughter doesn't eat anything but Mac 'n' cheese or cold cereal.

 

Sorry Bushy, I'm with the kid. The only thing I would have ate is sausage and potatoes without the fancy part. I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

 

I refused to let our last Bush breakfast go to waste I packed that last plate up and drove home 5 hours and ate it for dinner . Your food is not to be wasted!!!!!!!!!!!

And what'd you expect . You guys probably didn't give the boy the wifi password

 

LOL!

I had eggs, bacon, ham, hash browns, ten different kinds of cheese, handmade pasta, tortellini, homemade pasta sauce, beef stew ingredients, 5 kinds of bread , biscuit mix, ground Chuck, veggies, etc lol

 

Let's not talk about beef stew . Still a hole in my heart from that one

 

You said you spent $500 cad which is something like $371 USD. That's probably about close to what we spend on food in a month.

 

I'd rather eat bushmans camp food and any restaurant

 

I can vouche for him. Bushy goes hard on the best stuff and in massive volume

 

Sounds like you wanted to seduce 'ol buddy.

 

Hopefully next trip out will go more according to plan.

But when things go to plan, it's hardly an adventure.