-23 today.

The truck started easy this morning because it was plugged in all night. I took the truck to work, went to start it after work and it wouldn't start. It attempted to fire a few times but just wouldn't start. I stopped after 6-7 attempts due to I didn't want to drain the batteries.

I would like to know what you cold weather truck owners do to get your trucks to start when it gets super cold out. I don't have access to a plug.

Sunday looks like it is going to be in the upper 20's so hopefully I can get it going then.

 

What year and motor do you have? Wonder if your glow plugs are in working order?

 

Based off his intro post, it's an '04 6.0L.

Load test the batteries to make sure they're still in decent shape:

Voltage issues can cause problems even if the batteries can spin the engine over.

Test the FICM:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...procedure.html


What kind of oil, what weight, and how old is it?

The 6.0 won't fire the injectors if ICP is too low, so it could be different things based on if it's just turning over constantly, if it's trying to fire, or if it's stumbling so bad it's not catching. But it starting after it's plugged in and not catching at all when it's cold kind of sounds like the FICM.

 

even with new batteries...CCA capacity drops rapidly as the temp does...so IF you operate in very cold weather, additional batteries may be needed to increase the pool of available CCA's. You can mount additioanl battery racks of the main I-Beams.....there is plenty of room underneath the passenger side area.

 

Does the 04 have a glow plug relay? If so, could it be bad?

When I was in Canada once winter, I know on my old 96 7.3, i use to cycle the switch 2 to 6 times to make sure the glow plugs had warmed the cylinders as best they could before trying to actually start the truck. I later found out I had one positive terminal that was not tight. I am surprised it even started on basically one battery that winter.

 

thinking a little out of the box ....

put a small generator in the bed and use that to plug your truck in for 2-3 hours before you go home.

I'd rather do that than not have my truck start. (plus on a personal level, using a gasoline powered generator to get an oil-burner started is something that appeals to my righteous sensibilities)

one of the guys at work has an 04 diesel and his seems to be fine even with one bad glow plug. he has remote start and he says that sometimes it has to try a couple times before the truck will stay running (it will catch and stall once or twice), but it always gets him home (we have similar temps to what you describe). so with that in mind, surely the guys above are on to something.

i'd strongly consider a 5w40, or a diesel rated 5w30, or at a diesel rated 10w30 at a minimum if i had a diesel in the winter

 

I also use remote start and have never had my truck fail to start when cold. But when we get to this point. It was 0°F at noon. I start and run the truck for 20 min or so just to get some heat into it. It was well into the negative temps this am. Your glow plugs run for 2 min when cold so you can turn off your your heater blower and let them run then cycle again.
Yes I know I just jinksed myself!

 

Did you add any Anti Gel additive to the fuel recently?

Try adding some Power Service 9-1-1 to the tank to get it going.

 

Unless he pulls the filters and verifies that there is in fact fuel gelling, then there's absolutely no reason to use the emergency additive. If he verifies gelling as the issue, it's better to pull the filters, soak them in 911, and put either white bottle Power Service or a small part of the 911 into the tank. Just dumping the entire 911 bottle into the tank won't solve any issues between the tank and secondary fuel filter, which is where the lines will actually cause gelling issues. It has a ton of alcohol in it, which can get water past the membrane on the HFCM filter, and water at the injector tip is a very bad deal.

 

Pony motor...lol.

 

Texastech

Not disagreeing with you.. Just did not see any post about possible gelling fuel and was trying to throw that possibility into the mix, and give him a starting point to search for before he got into the mechanical end of things. Especially with the Sub Zero weather we have been having up here.

Paul

PS Thanks for the tip on proper way to clear gelled fuel.