Diesel cold weather starting

[qualitylawnpro]

How many plug there diesels up in the cold weather. The older fords seem to be the worst about not starting.

[Petr51488]

I'm in northern jersey and have never plugged in nor have i had any problems. I could let the truck sit, unused for days when its below 20 at night and it will fire right up in the morning. The only thing is, it takes a while to warm up and get moving. The newer diesels are better at it then the older ones. The glow plugs warm up quick.

[davis45]

Its been around 15 degrees here at night and I don't plug my cummins in, starts just fine. I'm going to start pluggin it though, just because of the fact it is easier on the truck. It will warm up faster, etc.

[qualitylawnpro]

I had a 98 dodge a couple years ago would not start if it was below 30 .bought a 97 ford a few months ago its the same way. Plugged in they start fine.

[Green Pastures]

I have an 04' 6.0 PSD and I plug it in nighs if it's going to be near or below freezing just because it keeps her warm at night.

Makes for faster warm up in the AM, if I don't plug her in she takes a bit longer to show a temp on the gauge.

I don't move her summer or winter till she registers something on the temp gauge.

[Petr51488]

I got this neat option on my diesel. Its called a high idle. When its 32 or below, the idle goes from around 800 to around 1k or 1100 and warms the truck up in a minute or two. Its burns a little more diesel, but its all good.

[davis45]

I had a 98 dodge a couple years ago would not start if it was below 30 .bought a 97 ford a few months ago its the same way. Plugged in they start fine.

No sh@t? Mine is a 99 and I have no problems with it.

[TXNSLighting]

my 96 powerstroke starts fine in anything above 20 degrees. weird.

[Swampy]

Always plug in if you got the chance, here in WI its easy to get to single digit numbers. At the old job/part time we had two 7.3L, one new and one old. The newer, being a 2000 7.3 would start ehhhh decent I'd say it would fire fine but it would chug if you idled it out of the shop or if parked outside. The older 7.3L in a 1994 SuperDuty (Beefed up F350) you could crank and crank till the batteries died and it wouldn't start. We had to let "Wait to Start" light go off once, then turn it off and back on, wait till it went off to crank it over pump the pedal about 5 times and it start hard and blow the smoke screen enough to kill the rats in the shop.

[PLM-1]

It's been in the teens here a few nights and 24 as we speak. Until it gets REAL cold I don't usually even have to preheat or plug it in for that matter. However, I don't have heat until 10-15 minutes ... thank goodness for heated seats!

[Gravel Rat]

The block heater is there for a reason so use it. Less wear and tear on your starters and less wear on the engine. A engine stone cold with oil thick as mollasis is going to cause lots of wear. Hot engine warm oil its easy on the engine.

A engine can become a block heater pig so don't use it in the summer or warmer weather. Eventually a engine can get to where it won't start without a block heater ie any engine without glow plugs or grid heater.

I know of a old truck that spent many years on a block heater and when it was started without it was a cranky old SOB. The old 400 Cummins was plugged in when ever it sat overnight the engine never got stone cold only when the power went out.

[WH401]

I don't plug my 06' Cummins in only because I have 2 other diesel vehicles and not enough plugs, mine isn't top priority to be plugged in. Coldest it's ever been here for me is 0 and it starts fine. 92' Cummins and 01' 7.3 start fine at that same temp too. I have one of the cold weather grille covers on my 06' which makes it heat up alot faster than without it. I can close off all air completely and it works real nice on super cold mornings. Also I have the factory jake brake and with both that and high idle engaged for about a minute, the truck wouldn't know whether it had been plugged in or not.

But if I was able to plug mine up I would, it's alot easier on the engine. The 7.3 always gets plugged up as it only has a 4 mile commute to work, but it rides through a subdivision before it gets onto the main road so it gets fully warm before it gets shut off. If you don't plug your truck in, change to synthetic oil, it helps alot.

[ECS]

Better for the engine to plug it in as has already been mentioned. They are cheap to run also. Better to pay a few extra dollars per month for electric than to replace a $10k engine. Also when started in cold weather, it should be placed in N (automatic) to circulate the tranny fluid to warm that up as well.

[ProTouch Groundscapes]

I got this neat option on my diesel. Its called a high idle. When its 32 or below, the idle goes from around 800 to around 1k or 1100 and warms the truck up in a minute or two. Its burns a little more diesel, but its all good.

yep, the new 6.4L PSD has that too, its really nice.

the book says the heater is not really necessary till 10 below for our truck, but we may start using it as the temps start to drop even more.

and if the comp senses that it is too cold for the truck to be driven, even though it is running, it wont let you drive it anywhere until the countdown timer has reached zero and the temp is high enough. pretty neat.

[Gruneich Lawn Care, Inc.]

Ok, cold is not 20 degree's above zero. Cold is negatives, we where -8 last night, I did plug the truck in, but when its only 20's or 30's I dont even think about it. Most all diesels from at least 97 up have the high idle feature built in, at least all of mine do.

[PerfectEarth]

I have an 04' 6.0 PSD and I plug it in nighs if it's going to be near or below freezing just because it keeps her warm at night.

Makes for faster warm up in the AM, if I don't plug her in she takes a bit longer to show a temp on the gauge.

I don't move her summer or winter till she registers something on the temp gauge.

I have the same and do exactly the same thing. I probably plug in more than I should but you can tell the engine is hating life when you turn it (even with plugs a few times) that cold. I like keeping her warm!

[Grassmechanic]

Never plug it in. Always starts, even down to -20. '97 Cummins with Optima batteries.

[Petr51488]

Never plug it in. Always starts, even down to -20. '97 Cummins with Optima batteries.

Hah, what does -20 even feel like. Is this the actual temp? or windchill? if its the actual temp then thats pretty damn cold. I've never seen even 0 around here on my truck.

[Gruneich Lawn Care, Inc.]

We have seen -42 when we where driving on a snowmobile trip, its damn cold

[Grassmechanic]

Hah, what does -20 even feel like. Is this the actual temp? or windchill? if its the actual temp then thats pretty damn cold. I've never seen even 0 around here on my truck.

-20 actual temp. Windchill is even lower, but that doesn't affect inanimate objects. At -20, you can feel your lungs burn a bit when you breathe deeply.

[TREEGUARD]

I plug my '04 ford 350 in just to warm up faster in the morning. but if i forget to do it it still starts with no problem

[ovalracer44]

If above 0 you have to plug it in to start its time to check some glow plugs.

[IA_James]

Hah, what does -20 even feel like. Is this the actual temp? or windchill? if its the actual temp then thats pretty damn cold. I've never seen even 0 around here on my truck.

As far as what it actually feels like, it's kinda tough to describe. But around 0 the snot inside your nose freezes when you breathe, and the snow creaks as you walk on it. My Cummins cranks slow and blows white smoke for a minute or 3, I don't move it until the idle smoothes out. You get snotsicles if you have a beard. Lips become chapped so fast it's not even funny. Semi-auto guns won't work if they have much oil on 'em because the oil gets too thick. I won't get into how fast you can get frostbite and such, I don't remember the tables and I figure if you have to go out in it you know enough to dress for it.

[ProTouch Groundscapes]

^ i was still getting feeling back to my fingertips 24hrs later after working outside trying to wire up the new lightbar and reverse lights on the 350. It was only 18* and with windchill prolly around 10*. its not fun at 10, and its much worse at 0. we went out early sun morn and my eyes were stinging b/c they got so dried out from working outside on sat.

[12Valve]

My old 12v has never been plugged in while ive owned it in 3 years. However it seems like it is getting more cold natured have to let the wts light go off and then let it warm up again before cranking it if its real cold or it has set a few days. I think I may have a grid heater out.