Archived Gotta go to work now...going to 2 degrees....NOW WHAT ???

[Katmandu]

It's already 8 degrees, but I have the block heater plugged in, but I have to go to work now.

My truck had a rough time starting this AM (Sat) at work and it was "only" 15 degrees outside. It took a good minute or two before it would fire on ALL cylinders.

I filled up (2) days ago and added Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement in anticipation of this Cold. I followed the directions to put enough in to keep the fuel from gelling. (I HOPE!!)

Anyways, It's going down to 2 degrees here tonight and have nowhere to plug in my truck at work. It has to sit outside.

I'm REAL worried that I'm not going to be able to start it to come home tomorrow AM.

I'm planning on taking a bunch of breaks at work tonight and going outside just to fire up my truck. Hopefully, this will keep the fuel moving and maybe keep then engine warm some.

What do you'all suggest ??

 

[cojhl2]

While living in Iowa I had an Isuzu that I left idle during real cold weather.



Go out at noon and take it up to 2000 for a minit or so to keep the soot blowed out. .



My work partner had a Rabbit and he did the same thing.



Both these vehicles ended up with many 100 k miles on them with no probs.

 

[RAJohnson]

If you have treated the fuel like you said you did, it will not freeze up. It sounds as thou your batteries are weak thou. starteing it every couple of hours to keep the batteries charged could be good or not so good for them, as long as you let it charge back up for a while.

 

[WYoung]

It may be too late to post this to help you, but it might help others anyway. If you cycle the grid heater a couple of times, it should start up and run fairly smoothly. This is what I do when the temps are in the teens and below.

 

[OKish]

my 89 started up no problem this morning and it was not plugged in. it was 5 degrees and -20 windchill. it took about 10-15 seconds to get oil pressure though.

 

[Katmandu]

If you cycle the grid heater a couple of times, it should start up and run fairly smoothly.

I did that about (3-4) times yesterday AM and it bellowed smoke, misfired and polluted the environment like crazy! Didn't smooth out and quite smoking for about 4-5 minutes or so. And that was at 15 degrees ambient temperature!

I wonder if there maybe something not right with my truck. It was serviced about a month ago (new headgasket etc... . ). The dealer installed some new relays and some other parts (not sure what exactly) for the heater grid.

My truck has been sitting outside now for about (3) hours. I'm gonna take a break soon and go fire it up. I'm going to "try" and do this 3-4 more times before I leave work this AM at 0800hrs.

 

[Katmandu]

My truck has been sitting outside now for about (3) hours. I'm gonna take a break soon and go fire it up. I'm going to "try" and do this 3-4 more times before I leave work this AM at 0800hrs.

Just went outside (0330hrs and 6 degrees) and it fired right up. I took it for a short drive and let it runs for about 15 min. I let the water temp come up to operating range and then shut her down again. I'm going to do this again around 0530hrs or so.

 

[Schlickenmeyer]

The truck should not have problems at those temps.

I fired up last nite dead cold, 13 below zero, and and it was slow to crank, but ran fairly smooth. (no plug in). I do run a fuel additive, but last year it ran the same without any. The concern with running it for a short time, it seems the grid heater sucks down a lot of juice (manual says if you cycle it twice, you may need extended run time to recharge the batteries) so you may be better off not running it until you can drive it for a bit.

Also, wind chill does not change the temp it will get down to, just how fast it gets there. if it is 2 degrees out, wind does not make it colder. just sucks the heat off her faster. last nite I pulled off the highway at 13 below (high winds) and in less than 2 blocks the needle on the coolant temp dropped more than halfway. That's something to see.

Good Luck.

 

[GMcLeod]

-28F the other day, truck just went Gurrrrrrr! :{ The day before -8F truck fired up with a little cranking time and ran rough for 10 to 15 min. Your truck should start at those temps.

 

[EKlem]

I agree that the truck should be having not too much problem firing up at those temps. I cannot plug my truck in here at school and I start it below zero several times a winter. Matter of fact, I got a search and rescue call this morning and it fired up no problem and it was -6. If your truck really doesn't want to start at these temps, I would check into your batteries and maybe even consider switching to synthetic or a thinner oil. I hope that it starts for you tomorrow.

 

[2-ND TIME]

cold temps

Would a longer exstention cord work at all? A good #12 or #10 AWG perhaps? I have some that are 150 ft for some of those times. Or a small generator maybe 1000 watts. My 1400 tank is too small but it is perfect for such things. ( going to modify fuel tank soon) Do switch to a synthetic oil for engine and front & rear.

 

[kschaap]

Would a longer exstention cord work at all? A good #12 or #10 AWG perhaps? I have some that are 150 ft for some of those times. Or a small generator maybe 1000 watts. My 1400 tank is too small but it is perfect for such things. ( going to modify fuel tank soon) Do switch to a synthetic oil for engine and front & rear.

I have an '03 and live in Minnesota. The CD's start just fine at temps even well below zero. I am in fact surprised how well they start. "2-ND TIME" is right, if things do get real cold, say less than -15ºF or so, you should definitely go the synthetic oil route, at least for your crankcase. It is important also for protecting the moving components in your engine, as regular oils will fail to lubricate at startup below a certain temp (lubrication is my business).



Also starting it up every so often is not a good idea in my opinion. For one it takes a diesel a long time to build up heat in the first place, so you'd have to let it run for quite a while. Secondly, it does really drag your batteries down. And last but not least, the more frequently you start your engine when it's really cold out, the more wear and tear you will have.



If you have a higher mileage vehicle, or one that hasn't been maintained carefully and you experience problems starting at 0ºF or above, I believe you could have a problem with compression (assuming everything else is in good shape). That is a common problem for engines where oil wasn't changed frequently enough. Oil breaks down (oxidizes) over time. The speed of break down depends mostly on temperature and can be fairly rapid under high load conditions. The oil becomes black due to carbon formation upon oxidizing and also because of combustion by-products blowing by the piston rings. The resulting black soup is abrasive and actually wears down the components of your engine if you don't change your oil often enough.



By the way... sorry for sending that cold temperature your way (lol)



Karl

 

[kschaap]

It's already 8 degrees, but I have the block heater plugged in, but I have to go to work now.

My truck had a rough time starting this AM (Sat) at work and it was "only" 15 degrees outside. It took a good minute or two before it would fire on ALL cylinders.

I filled up (2) days ago and added Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement in anticipation of this Cold. I followed the directions to put enough in to keep the fuel from gelling. (I HOPE!!)

Anyways, It's going down to 2 degrees here tonight and have nowhere to plug in my truck at work. It has to sit outside.

I'm REAL worried that I'm not going to be able to start it to come home tomorrow AM.

I'm planning on taking a bunch of breaks at work tonight and going outside just to fire up my truck. Hopefully, this will keep the fuel moving and maybe keep then engine warm some.

What do you'all suggest ??

Hey Katmandu, check out my reply above. I accidentally posted it in reply to 2-ND TIME's message. Sorrry guys, I'm still a beginner at this web stuff.

 

[bmoeller]

As long as my batteries are up to it, I rarely have trouble starting my truck. The coldest I have been able to start without being plugged in, was around +7*F.



Depending on the temps, if you work a 10 hr day, I'd start it about halfway through your work day for about 15-20mins, so the engine won't be cold soaked. Now, if you are having trouble with your grids, that could be a problem.



kschaap- The newer diesels start MUCH better than the older ones, at really cold temps. Direct injected engines are much better than indirect injected engines as well. The electronic controls, higher injection pressures (creating better fuel atomization) are an improvement over the previous generations technology.

 

[PAbernathy]

Maybe your grid heaters are not working. I assume they are installed in the '98 model.



On my new-to-me 2001, last winter I had problems like that if I did not have it plugged in: hard to start, badly firing, rough running for a while when the outside temp was cold. Turned out that the grid heaters were disconnnected. After re-connecting, no issues starting even below zero degrees F.



Now, as an indication of the high current draw from the grid heaters, I can tell when the they cycle, because the heater fan slows down, and the headlights dim slightly. I could hear the relay clicking before, but there had been no effect on the fan or lights until the grid heaters were connected. They cycle on and off for about 2-3 minutes after starting.



Good luck.



Phil

 

[JCBerry]

Sounds like there is a problem with the heaters. Many times in northern New England while snowmobiling I had no place to plug in my truck (91 2500 CTD), once it sat over 15 hours and had no problem starting at 45 below, it wasn't happy but it started the other was 48 below and it had not gotten above 25 below all weekend or had been started, only 1 other vehicle in the lot started and it was another Dodge Both smoked out the entire area but they started. If the heaters are working you should see your interior lights dim until your heaters get hot enough to cycle off then the lights will come up (when relay clicks open).

Its a good idea to plug em in but sometimes we just cant

 

[kschaap]

As long as my batteries are up to it, I rarely have trouble starting my truck. The coldest I have been able to start without being plugged in, was around +7*F.



Depending on the temps, if you work a 10 hr day, I'd start it about halfway through your work day for about 15-20mins, so the engine won't be cold soaked. Now, if you are having trouble with your grids, that could be a problem.



kschaap- The newer diesels start MUCH better than the older ones, at really cold temps. Direct injected engines are much better than indirect injected engines as well. The electronic controls, higher injection pressures (creating better fuel atomization) are an improvement over the previous generations technology.

It's fun to learn so many things about my truck from you guys. I take it from what you're saying that the pre-3rd Gen trucks don't start as well as the '03 I have. I even had mine start without the block heater when it was -18ºF overnight; I had forgotten to turn it on (shame on me), but it did turn over and it started fine.

 

[SDrake]

For what to do long term to correct this I just have some observations to share. Perhaps you need better batteries or you have a weak starter but the fact that it took two minutes before it would run smooth indicates something else. If grid heaters are not working then of course you are lucky it started at all but I have seen these engines start with out the grid heater but I wouldn't expect it to at those temps, but if it did it would stumble as you described. The fact that your timing is at 16. 5 in a healthy engine should eliminate any stumbling at startup altogether. But if the timing is not actually 16. 5 but mistakenly set at 14 or 13 then most likely it will stumble. And one that stumbles for what ever reason at start up will most likely also be harder to start in cold temps. If timing is actually good then that leaves some kind of fuel problem or compression problem.



Bottom line to what I am saying is that if it stumbles and runs rough at start up fix that and you will have a good starting engine given also good batteries of course. .

 

[Katmandu]

Bottom line to what I am saying is that if it stumbles and runs rough at start up fix that and you will have a good starting engine given also good batteries of course. .

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

It did crank over just fine, but stumbled when it was running. So I believe that batteries are OK.

BTW, how does one troubleshoot the heater grid ??

 

[bmoeller]

If they are in the same place as mine, the relays that control the grids are on the drivers-side fender. Make sure they are getting power, and getting power on both sides of the relay when it is energized. They is one relay for each heater.