Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Cold start??????????

[KKunz]

I tried to start my truck this morning it was about 5 degrees out and the truck had sat all night it took me probably 8-10 cycles of the grids to get it to start and then I barley got it to start I have had trouble with this before and have put a test light on the grids and it lit up but I’m just not convinced that they are working Can the grids go bad or not work at full potential? What should I be checking to see if they are working correctly? At what temperatures have you guys started your truck with out being plug in and how many times did you have to cycle the grids?

 

[sstockton]

I've heard of these trucks firing up with no problems and not being plugged in, in sub zero temperatures. I believe dodge recommends plugging them in below +40*F which I think is over kill. What condition are your batteries in? Cold leads to harder starting conditions if your batteries are shot that could be part of your problem. Maybe a faulty IAT sensor, that will tell the grids when to come on and I believe how long to stay on. If you are getting voltage to the grids they probably aren't your problem. I have never heard of them wearing out, but I could be wrong.

Sean

 

[KKunz]

Brand new deka batteries 1100 cca each. My wait to start light came on and stayed on for probably 20-30 second each time I cycled the grids

 

[JFaughn]

Something that I do and have read that a lot of others do is , turn the key to ing. pos. , wait for lite to go out then back to off pos. again and rite back to ing. pos. again , what were looking for is to cycle the heater twice , if some warm air is good than more warm air is better .
That dosen't mean you do not have a problum , are you plugging it in at night
Not sure on the newer trucks , but sometimes just a little touch of the throdle when you go to the start pos. , I would think that the newer trucks the computor would do this for you .
Do you have any trouble codes ?
Has your millage gone down lately ?

 

[Dfuruness]

Well... I have started my beast at -30C! (-22F) without being plugged in. I was not able to plug in as I was in the middle of the bush. Truck sat in this temp for 3 days. I cycled the grid heaters three times, cranked her over and she fired up. Rough as hell but she leveled out after a min or so. The fuel did not gel as it was well mixed with anti-gel additive.



I don't like to torture the beast like that, but had no choice. I plug her in all the time now at home, even if it hits -5C!.



Tough engine and I love it!



Don

 

[mhenon]

I tried to start my truck this morning it was about 5 degrees out and the truck had sat all night it took me probably 8-10 cycles of the grids to get it to start and then I barley got it to start I have had trouble with this before and have put a test light on the grids and it lit up but I’m just not convinced that they are working Can the grids go bad or not work at full potential? What should I be checking to see if they are working correctly? At what temperatures have you guys started your truck with out being plug in and how many times did you have to cycle the grids?

Did you notice your volt meter fluctuating as the grid heaters cycled? They really draw from the batteries when working right.

I don't think you should have had that much trouble starting at 5 F. I've started mine at close to that temp with the grids un-plugged. The engine protested but fired up.

Mike

 

[JMachemer]

-20f

i started mine at -20F with only one cycle. I was in Vermont on a snowmobiling trip. It took a good five seconds to see an oil pressure reading on the gauge though. I have only plugged my truck in a few times and that was when i was at work when it was snowing or icing out. I makes less work to clean the truck to leave instead of wiping the snow off the hood. I work with fella who has a Powerstroke and he has to plug it in once it gets below 40F out. My last job had nothing but Powerstrokes ( 92s-1999s) and most of them had starting issues once it got colder out.

 

[strehl]

Knock on wood but mines started with 1 cycle at -20 F several times and will have to do it again this year. I hardly ever plug it in.

 

[KKunz]

I don’t notice a big draw on the volt meter I check it again this morning before I started it. I also held my hand around the grids to see if I could feel it getting warm but I noticed no heat change. Should I be able to feel it getting warm? If I put a multimeter on the grid terminals what values should I be seeing?

 

[mhenon]

I don’t notice a big draw on the volt meter I check it again this morning before I started it. I also held my hand around the grids to see if I could feel it getting warm but I noticed no heat change. Should I be able to feel it getting warm? If I put a multimeter on the grid terminals what values should I be seeing?

If you're not seeing a large drop in voltage then your grids aren't lighting up. Not sure what the reading would be at the grid but it probably draws the voltage down to 10 volts or so.

Check the relays if there's no voltage at the grid output.

Mike

 

[isb360]

See if you can hear the relays clicking (2 of them) when the intake grid engages or disengages. Also, if your voltmeter isn't getting dragged way down... one or both of the relays may not be kicking in. My sister's 12v truck had this happen and before I had time to change the relays, we were able to coax the truck to life by partially (say 1/5 to 1/4) depressing the throttle.



There are some good beefy aftermarket relays available from Stancor in any one of the commercial electronics catalogs. I got mine from Mouser. If you search the threads for heater grid relay or something to that effect, several good threads will pop up, including one with a bunch of photos indicating how you transplant the Stancor relays in place of the OEM unit. Ring terminals on OEM relays were rusted to hell, so I snipped them, stripped a bit of extra wire and crimped/soldered on new ring terminals. There wasn't much extra wiring to deal with, but enough for one go-around with new ring terminals.



Tim

 

[KKunz]

I will check it out in the morning thanks guys

 

[KKunz]

I think I got it fixed I was checking the relays to see if they were getting power and noticed that the nuts holding the wires from the battery were finger tight and the ones coming from the relays to the grids were backed off about a turn. I bet that’s my problem don’t you think?

 

[KKunz]

Yep got it fixed. I replaced the relays anyway the one was melted around the stud connection so I’m assuming it wasn’t working.