The very fact that MOST Medium and Heavy duty trucks, marine and industrial applications use inline 6 diesels, rather than V8's suggests that the design is better suited for severe duty. While the trend to hop up the Cummins to huge numbers is sometimes kinda funny, the very fact that MORE people do these mods to the Cummins, compared to the Ford or Chevy diesel engines also suggests that they are better suited to surviving these big power upgrades.

Not exactly...I remember when we ordered several new rigs (fire)....a team was sent back to several mfg's to evaluate....long story short...

The 6's were darn near as fast as the V8's and got a little bit better mileage....
They went with the V8's in all the new rigs....the reason...standardization and the new aerial weighed in at 66,000 lbs...so the new engines 7 aerial all had the exact same drivetrain.

Good for you, I say. I am happy your trucks still works fine. But I will have to say that it is not the norm. I have had experience with too many IDI's and powerstrokes that were very moody when it was cold out so I found that very hard to believe. so sorry.

if they have good glow plugs and a properly working controller there is no reason for a stock engine not to start. our members in Canada and Alaska regularly start their truck in sub zero temps with no problems.

the problems start when people put the wrong glow plugs in, mess with the glow plug controllers, mess with the timing, mess with the compression ratios, ect.

+1.

-15F is -26C which being from Canada I have seen some diesels start....not "rite" up but it takes one hell of a good battery(s) and if you enjoy alot of smoke and knocking then go for it. Personally being able to start your diesel without being plugged in at these temperatures doesn't make a good motor.....i would question the owners logic....if the option of plugging in is available.

Liking the site more and more.... I've owned both but I always come back to ford.... the interior is much more user friendly, I'm getting 17mpg average, and as far as reliability.... I just hit 264,000 miles with very minor set backs. Still trying to figure out how to get a pic on here haha

As far as cold starts I'm currently in Wyoming where it was recently -30 for six straight days. Being that my PSD was purchased in Louisiana it wasn't equipped with a block heater plug, the truck started fine (I let the glow plugs cycle twice @ 120 secs). I installed a heater plug last week

the easiest way to post pictures is to post them to a web hosting site like photopucket: Photo and image hosting, free photo galleries, photo editing, then
copy the image code and paste it here.

when the option to plug in is not available, you do what you have to do, and that is keep batteries, cables, starter, glow plugs, injector pump, and injectors up to snuff. then starting in sub zero temps is not a problem.

Could someone explain to me where I can get this so called Cummings Turbo diesel? :-X04

There is no "G" in Cummins.

The only real good CTDs were the 1989-1998 12 valves. The first 24 valves with the VP44 pumps were junk pump wise with the crappy electronic lift pump. Best way I've seen a 24 valve from 98 1/5-02 was to ppump it. Solved those problems real quick.

actually the only real cummins diesels are over 10 liters is size.
all smaller ones are just toys.

seeen a idiot leaving the light with a cummins and black smoke blowing out.

Trying to match your existing vehicles is perfectly logical.........your drivers, engineers and mechanics are familiar with a particular engine, and thats a pretty good reason to stick with what your familiar with........the inline 6's still typically have better low end torque, have less moving parts, and are oftentimes easier in terms of maintenance, with numerous component parts accessible from one side of the block or the other, as opposed to a V engine, with parts on both sides, as well as up top of the block. In marine apps in particular, tight engine room spaces make V8's a real pain to service.

Most any diesel will start with enough ether.

I'll say this I own 2 diesel powered vehicles. (Neither have a computer thank god)
1 is a 89 ford F-SUPERDUTY 7.3 IDI tow truck.
It's in the back yard resting with about 400K on the clock. Its old and harder to start with my complete understanding. It is/was one of the best engines you can get when you compare the dollars spent per mile.
It was just a great tow truck Got 9 MPG no matter the speed of load it seemed

2 the other is a 94 F-700 with a 12V 5.9 Cummins. I installed a 24 foot Uhal box on it made a RV out of it. I swapped the 5.29 gears for 3.58s and shorter tires to get a better highway cruise speed and MPG. THe first year i drove it 3000 mile vacation at the stock 190 HP setting. THe next year I slide the fuel plate and turned the pre-boost screw slightly. (NO visable smoke)
It climbs the hills and mountains like nothing else.
What ended up with is a RV that weighs right at 14K and tows my jeep on its trailer for a total weight of 20K Get this it will get between 9.5 and 10.3MPG at 65 MPH.
(That pic is from 2011 it does look a bit better now)
http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/o...osttrip136.jpg[/URL]
http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/o...osttrip137.jpg
I prefer this old 12V Cummins over the newer diesels BY FAR.