Diesel Vans don't like Vermont winters

[dvuono]

Hello Again,
I recently ran into some cold Vermont winter problems which I thought I'd share. I took my van to a Do-It-Yourself car wash to wash the salt and grime off the body and undercarriage to help keep the rust at bay. I've kept driving to a minimum this winter, however it's been difficult to eliminate it completely. The temperature was about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
After leaving the car wash, I drove to the climbing gym for a couple hours during which the water froze all the doors and handles shut(except for the Drivers side). This obviously wasn't a surprise. However, I was surprised when I started pulling out of the parking lot and the engine just stalled out and died. My first thought was that the small oil leak that I've been neglecting finally got the best of me and seized my engine... but that wasn't the case. I was about a quart low on oil, but not enough to seize the engine.
I then realized that I ran out of gas, despite having filled up the day before. I've never had a problem with this in the past because usually I'd be out to run a couple of errands and then I'd be back in my garage before any mishaps could occur. The engine would stay warm for at least a couple hours if I needed to park, which influenced my decision to not buy a block heater. But I think that when I sprayed the car with water, some of the water somehow got on a fuel line and froze. It must have gelled up the fuel in the line, causing the injection pump to use up the remaining fuel left after the blockage.
To fix this, I pulled it over to a heated garage and left it there overnight. I figured it would start right up in the morning. Not the case either. I didn't realize that the Injection Pump also pumps fuel from the fuel tank. Since there was no fuel in the pump, there was no suction either. Priming the pump solved the issue and my baby started right up.

What a pain in the Ass! Your probably saying "what a R-tard!" But I did learn several valuable lessons. Don't spray your car with water in below-freezing temps and don't let it sit outside for several hours afterwards. Also, buy a fricken block heater and use Power Service after every fill up(in the winter).

[myke_w]

I'd say the lesson learned is don't run low on fuel, and make sure your latches and handle interfaces are lubed properly. Also, wait until it's above freezing to wash it, it's a waste of time to even try when it's below freezing.