Odd cold start. How many times do you cycle the grid heater?

[JasonCzerak]

19 degrees all day long... parked for 8 hours. Rather windy, but blowing at the back of the truck.



Glow plugs cycled once. waited a second, crank the motor over. A little on the long side but fired on about 5 cylinders, and right to high idle of 1000rpms. Lots of white smoke for about 15 seconds.



The last time this happened was when she was parked in 5-0 degrees and wind right at the grill for 12 + hours. and I cycled the heater twice and took a good 2 minutes to calm down to a nice 1000rpm idle.



Guess I should of cycled things twice?



When the highs start to be at < 20 like this all day. I"m going to see about the block heater at work for about 2 hours prior to leaving...



--EDIT: My boss is awesome. Just had a quick chat about the block heater on days <20. . maybe more so <25. I have permission to setup a timer and some cords to run my block heater for a few hours prior to leaving work



Good, no more long warm ups and cold drives 1/2 home... . well alot less colder

 

[KCJackson]

The first morning after I took delivery of the 05, the overnight low had dropped to 12 degrees. Being used to the cranky cold starting of the 96 12-valve, I cycled the grid, then went for a second cycle... to my surprise, the wait light disappeared immediately on the second cycle. Engine fired right away, no smoke or stumble.



If you're getting white smoke, that's not much to worry about in those weather conditions. The block heater will definitely take care of that, and don't be afraid to cycle twice if you can't plug in.



PS... no glow plugs on a Cummins!

 

[Big P]

I don't even wait for the wait to start light to go out before I turn the key. :-laf

 

[jwduke]

If I haven't been pluged in for the day, I cycle mine twice. seems to help.

 

[rbattelle]

I'm not quite clear on the benefits of cycling the grids. I always just let them fire once, then start it up. Coldest temperature I've ever started in (so far) is around -5F.



Runs like a washing machine full of marbles and goes right to 1000RPM, but it smooths out after several minutes. Actually, I love the sound it makes!



-Ryan

 

[MLimpert]

I try to plug mine in at work when it gets like this. It was nasty with snow, high winds, and 20* temps today. It was plugged in all day, and the grids still cycled before startup. (They usually don't after an extended plug in) I only cycle once even during the worst conditions. The truck never has failed to start right up for me.

 

[Nate]

I don't cycle it more than once unless it's below zero and hasn't been plugged in. When it's like -25 or 30 I usually will cycle it 3 times. Normally when it's cold like that it won't run unless you stay on the gas pedal... about 1/2 throttle and let it up as the engine builds some RPMs. The 12v are worse for this.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Seems to me I remember something in the owners manual on one of my trucks saying not to cycle them more than twice in a short period of time - and if it won't start on 2 cycles, it probably never will anyway! :-laf :-laf

 

[GFritsch]

Have started the 04 a couple times in the low teens. I have never waited for the grid light to go off. Just depressed the pedal about 1/3rd and turned the key. The new truck just fires right up. My 94 did struggle a little when the temp dropped below about 25 degrees, and I found that cycling the grid heater twice helped it to get going.



BTW Jason there are no glow plugs on a Cummins. There is a heated grid on the intake. A nice feature as they seem to be more reliable than glow plugs.



Gotta love Cummins. My ford 7. 3 work truck runs like crap, and starts hard when cold. For a while I had been trying to convince the company to replace our troublesome turbo jokes with Dodge trucks, but I finally came to the realization that it would diminish the experience of driving my personal truck on the weekends. What a difference between that 02 furd and my beloved D/C.



Greg

 

[TowPro]

I agree, the grids heat the intake air as it passes over the grid. I don't see where its worth cycling them anymore then the light shows on the dash, besides, they are still operating even after you start the truck. Watch the volt meter, you can see when the grids are turned on.

 

[JasonCzerak]

PS... no glow plugs on a Cummins!

I know, I know. no glow plugs. . brain fart.

 

[EBraentner]

Grid temperature

At what temperature do the grids run while the truck is running?

 

[DaveK98]

Do all cummins have the block heater installed from the factory?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Do all cummins have the block heater installed from the factory?

I believe the block heating element was still installed from '03 on, but the power cord is an option that now must be bought if you want/need it...

 

[rbattelle]

At what temperature do the grids run while the truck is running?

There's no specific temp that they run to, they're either "ON" or "OFF". They do some pretty interesting things, though (I have LEDs connected to them so I can watch what they do).



The preheat cycle, which varies from 10 seconds to 30 seconds depending on ambient temperature, engages both heaters for the specified time.



The first part of the post-heat cycle engages both heaters for a certain time period (depending on ambient). Then they alternate with a duty cycle of 25/75. But if engine RPM is greater than 1000, then they alternate with a duty cycle of 50/50 (so one of them is always on).



It's a fascinating algorithm. The powertrain diagnostics manual has 2 large tables that describe exactly what the heaters do in all conditions as a function of temperature and engine RPM.



-Ryan

 

[WM-300]

Last winter I was up in Maine at a motel with no place to plug the block heater in. One cycle of the grids and she fired right up at 18 below.



WM-300

 

[nickleinonen]

mine get one complete cycle when it is cold outside... then fire it up. . coldest start for me was right about -30°c/-22°f. and that was for about a week straight every morning leaving work. i wish i could get a powercord for block heater out in the parking lot [i really need to get an espar/webasto preheater]

 

[KBennett]

My 04' has the starting directions on the driver's visor. I follow them and have never had any problems down to -10.

 

[nickleinonen]

My 04' has the starting directions on the driver's visor.

mine did too... that sticker was removed before i left the dealer lot... i hate afterthought stickers on stuff...