Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Effects of Increasing Timing Advance on Cold Starts

[Midnite]

I'm hoping that some of you who have Smartys and see really cold temps (-20 deg. F and colder) can help me out with this one.



My old 1992 truck was a bear to start at subzero temps, but became much easier to start after I bumped up the timing. In fact, once I bumped up the timing I never had it fail to start even once, even at temps as low as -30 F (although I plugged it in). My current 2000 truck however is a different story.



My Comp is giving me a some extra timing, but I'm wondering if those of you who have a Smarty and have run the economy software with the extra timing--have you noticed whether it's easier to start the truck in cold weather?



Thanks,

Mike

 

[AlaskanCummins]

Sorry Mike, mine is a garage queen. No cold starts here.

 

[Bob Wagner]

should not make a difference on cold starts

 

[DIESELWRKS]

what made a big diff for me in my temps not as low as yours when needed I do plug in but replacing my batteries with optima's. and I saw no diff with starting with smart or no smarty. I could see possible warming up the engine alittle sooner with higher timing but who knows.

 

[Midnite]

Darn, I was hoping it would act similar to my 1st gen.

I do have the Napa brand spiral cell AGMs and I agree they're great for starting in the cold weather. Normally I don't have too much problem because I can plug it in, and it does just fine then. It's even better now that I put a little pad heater on the bottom of the oil pan, so now when I plug in it's warming the oil as well. It's those times that I forget to plug in that I miss that old 1st gen for how reliably it started.

Oh well, thanks for the responses.
Mike

 

[Bob Wagner]

hope all is well Mike, good to see the ol timers around... . LOL seen Jr or Jack lately?

 

[Midnite]

Haven't seen Jack in quite awhile, but it looks like JR2 is still around. We haven't gotten together up here for a long time now so there's a lot of the local guys I haven't seen in a long time.

Bob, speaking of the Smarty economy software, when JR2 let me try out his Smarty, I drove about 50 miles on the economy setting along with my comp. I noticed slightly more "high timing" characteristics (slightly sharper engine knock, etc) but it drove nice and I got more a few more miles out of that tank than I normally would. This is more timing than I usually see recommended by anyone, so I was curious--have you heard of any head gasket problems from customers with setups like mine using the Smarty economy mode?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Bob Wagner]

no problems at all