Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) cold will not start

[rbshowpig]

The truck started good at the first of the cold season i let it set for a little over a week has month and now and since then the truck will not start if left for 6 to 7 hour. IF left over night it will take i will half to roll it over 4 time to start. It is fine at my home because i plug it in but at work it will be hard to start. thanks

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

How cold are we talking, and does it just crank over and not light off? Does it make white smoke when cranking? Mine starts fine in the 20s without the grid heater, though it's a little cranky and a lot smokey.



Vaughn

 

[WyattEarp]

me being a new 12V owner, the truck came from an area that see's mostly mild temps during the winter, the occassional cold snap in the 20's and thats about it, brought her to the mountains and well she hasn't failed to start one time going on 3 weeks, has started at 15 degrees with no problem and wasn't plugged in, as far as smoke very little upon start up but it does idle rough for a few then it will high idle then idle back down, im guessing on this but its the nature of the 12 valve engine during cold weather. Can't wait to see single digits just to see what it will do, i need to know since when im at work i can't plug it in at all and she sits for 12hrs

 

[SRadke]

Hold about 1/2 throttle and crank. A few seconds of cranking (<10) is no big deal, just let off the throttle when she fires.



-Scott

 

[WyattEarp]

well when its in the teens and just butt cold i prefer to let her heat up on her own, but im guessing that suggestion there it sets the idle, i could be wrong as im still learning about the 12V

 

[rbshowpig]

The thing i can not figure out is why it did it when i let it sit for week. Hard to start any temp now, has not been higher than 50 and at that warm it will not start. I never had trouble with it till last month. JUst start doing after that week. I though it was fuel backing off but when i plug it in it start fine.

 

[Missouri Mule]

are your grid heaters working? Easy to tell just look at your voltemeter(drops to 8 or 10 depending if engine is running).

 

[TMitch]

FWIW, I finally got tired of the white smoke and chug-chug starts so I decided to fix my grid heaters. First thing that I found was one of the little push on wires that activate the relays was knocked off by a hose that runs nearby. I put the little wire back on and still no grid heaters. So I went down to the local big-rig store and bought 2 new relays and replaced the stock ones. I figured if I was going to take the old ones out to test them I should replace them. $28 CDN later it starts like a dream. Both of the original relays didn't work, I'm glad I bought 2.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

TMitch the fact your engine started at all is a testament to how well these Cummins start in the cold. Take a GM diesel or Powestroke and if the glow plug relay dies, there's little hope of getting it to light off on a cold day!

 

[crabman]

Could be the pita fuel lines sucking some air along with the cold temps. Or gird heaters not functioning properly as stated above. Combination of both?

Are you running any antigel in the fuel?

crabman

 

[J Shocik]

David, check the grid heater relays & fuseable links near driver side battery. Corrosion killed one end of the link & had to replace the relays. No problems since.



Wyatt, on single didgit cold start-ups, I cycle the grid heaters twice, I wait for the WTS light to go out, turn off the ignition & wait about 20 secs. , then turn on the ignition waiting for the WTS light to go out, then start the truck. I find this helps quite a bit.

 

[TMitch]

I knew my grid heaters weren't working... if I plugged the truck in it started like a dream. I still need to adjust my low idle, I just looked it up in the factory service manual for the manual transmission and it should be set at 780 rpm in neutral with the A/C on (at operating temperature).

 

[WyattEarp]

J Shocik, yeah i always even on the the 24V engine cycle the grid heaters 2 times when its below 20 degrees and 3 times if its 10 and below. this '92 starts everytime just idles rough at first then idles up and then back down, im guessing until the combustion temp gets to a certain level then it idles flawlessly with no stumbling at all. Could be the idle needs to be set again, but has not idled and then died... of course 0 degree weather hasn't hit yet so that will be a challenge, the reason i don't plug up here at home is due to being at work im unable to plug it up so i wan't to know if its going to start at those temps, i know if it starts here with no problems and not being plugged in that it should start at work under the same conditions.

 

[rbshowpig]

heater not working

My volts does not change when cycling. There are two hot wirer going to one relay that is hot all time and when i cycle it the other relay that goes to the heater does not have juice going to it. Is the wire hooked up right or am i just not get juice back to the other relay.

 

[J Shocik]

There should be 1 hot wire going to each relay from the battery. These are the fuseable links. Check the link ends at the relays. Mine were corroded off by the battery (1 of them). There should be power to this end of the relay all the time. If not, check the links. Check all the wires connecting to the relays to make sure they're connected. There have been some instances where a wire wasn't connected & that was the problem. If everything's connected, then have someone turn the ignition on so the WTS light is on. Then check the other end of the relays for power. If no power, then the relays need to be replaced. I got mine from Allied Electronics for 1/2 the cost of OEM's.

Hope this helps.