Archived Help Truck won't start

[DEickhoff]

My truck won't start!!!! It is currently 33 degrees out side. The truck is a used 98 2500 quad 4x4 12 valve cummins. The truck was plugged in (engine block heater) for about 1. 5 hours. I go outside, unplug the truck, cycle the "wait to start" 3 times and attempted to start it. The guage for the battery was at 8. The truck would not start just click click click. The batteries are stock maintenance free but I can not see if the indicator reads anything on the battery. The truck was hard to start yesterday and died on my 3 times just moving it so I could move trucks around my driveway. Could this be a battery problem? If so, what type of batteries do you recommend I purchase? Could the work done by the service department at the Dodge dealership have anything to do with it? I just got it back from the shop late Friday evening.



Help!!!!



Dawna

 

[Joe G.]

The first thing to do is get the batteries charged and tested. If the batteries are ok, then cycle the wait to start only once. When you start it press on the fuel pedal a little bit so it will start as soon as possible. That will put the least drain on your batteries. Your idle may be too low which is causing the stalling. Then the repeated starts may have just run the batteries down too much. After you get it running and warm, the idle should be at least 800.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Won't start

Sounds like the batteries, plug the block heater back in and if you have a charger, hook it up to the batteries for a ( at least two hours) and then try it again. I don't think 1 1/2 hrs is long enough for the block heater at that temp. bg

 

[DEickhoff]

replaced the batteries. The guage shows 12v (half way between 8 and 14) climbing up towards 14v before the first "wait to start" cycle. Cycled her twice, little diesel and she started right up. Took me 2 hours to change the batteries as I have only done this procedure once before on a Chevy S10.



Thanks for all of the replys



Dawna

 

[Joe G.]

At 33 degrees you really don't have to wait for the "wait to start". It will start right up without it. It will run a little rough for a while. I know this because I usually forget to wait when we are visiting our kids in Utah. Mine started right up at 18 degrees once when I forgot to wait. One cycle should be plenty unless it gets really cold. It will cycle a few more times after it starts. It seldom gets cold enough to worry about that where we live.

 

[fest3er]

Originally posted by DEickhoff
My truck won't start!!!! It is currently 33 degrees out side. The truck is a used 98 2500 quad 4x4 12 valve cummins. The truck was plugged in (engine block heater) for about 1. 5 hours. I go outside, unplug the truck, cycle the "wait to start" 3 times and attempted to start it. ... Dawna

Safe to say the batteries were tired.

My '98 12V will start right up on one heater cycle down to around 10F. DOwn to -5F I'll give it 2 heater cycles. Down to -15F, three cycles.

You really don't need the block heater until it reaches 0F or so, and the truck's been sitting overnight.

If it's -15 or so, and you've run the truck 'til it's fully warm (like driving to work), it'll still be warm enough 8 hours later (in a little sun) to start right up after a couple or three heater cycles. 900# of cast iron holds a *lot* of heat.

If you get copious amounts of white smoke when it's really cold, you'll want to ensure your fuel heater is functioning properly.

But, down to 10F, one heater cycle is almost always plenty.

If it's an auto, and under 10F, put it in neutral for half a minute or so after it starts to get the fluid flowing, then put it in gear and rev it up to about 1100 (with the brake on, of course!) This will put enough load on the engine to heat it up more quickly. Once the engine is running smoothly (and the worst of the white smoke is gone), drive away.

Lastly, be sure you use adequate amount of anti-gel in the fuel. I got bit by straight #2 once in No. IL, at -5F or so. Ran OK until I got on the highway. Then it would die. Dawn never broke over ol' Marblehead here - I had a jug of anti-gel next to me in the door pocket.

N