Just wanted to get some second opinions on this quickly. Was below 0 here last night, figured itd be fine to plug my truck in an hour or two before i needed to leave. Went to start it this morning, wouldnt even turn over. It has been starting perfectly fine lately, without having to be plugged in, but the lowest its been lately has been in the low 20's...Had to go to class so I left it plugged in, hopefully all it is its too cold for the batteries to turn over....both batteries were replaced a little over a year ago, they are napa's and i believe they are 1000 CCA, but I'll have to check when i get home. Hopefully i'll be able to jump it and get it running, but we'll see. Havent had any problems with it lately, at all. Just looking for any opinions on what it could be, other than the obvious of it being too cold, or the batteries being weak.

 

You may have one weaker than the other and causing low volts.Are your cables clean and making good connections?

 

as far as I know they are...like I said its been starting up right away the last few days without having the block heater plugged in...the only thing i can think of that changed is I took it out yesterday and drove up some really bumpy roads in the snow...I'll know more when i get home, but I checked the cables the other day as my roommate was having issues with his dodge caused by corroded cables...cables are good. Dont understand how a battery would be weak when they are only a year old..is it possible to have these same problems because the block was too cold? i only cycled it through 2 times before i had to leave for class since I was walking...

Other thing i was thinking was possibly gelled fuel? there is not too much in the tank, and i wasnt able to get any diesel kleen in it before the temps dropped last night..BTW last time i drove it was last night at approx. 10:15 and it was running perfect

 

just something else i thought of...theres no way that a short in the block heater could effect the voltage or condition of the batteries is there? I remember last winter having issues with the block heater not working, or it taking multiple attempts to crank over...

 

got it running, ended up being the block heater was plugged into a outlet that was not working...that combined with trying to start it ice cold this morning brought my batteries down too low...went and got them tested, they checked out, had a loose ground connection though, so fixed that. Anyways all is good for now!

 

Glad you found your issue but to answer your question, your block heater isn't tied to the 12v system and batteries.

 

K thats what i thought....