First thing, the other day when trying to turn on my head lights I noticed that I didn't have any dash lights or parking lights (front or back). I fiddled with the **** a little and if I held it just right they came on.

This obviously sounds like a bad switch, or just some loose wires right?

How hard is it to replace the ****? I am hoping I don't need to remove the whole dash.

Second question, I am planning a roadtrip to Alaska from Oregon in January, so that means I might be faced with -30 or worse temperatures, along with just a lot of snow/salt beating up my front end.

Does anyone use a front end cover to keep the engine warm?

What brand is good?

Also, it would be nice if it covered the entire front end not just the grill.

Has anyone else faced temperatures like this, what else can I do prepare my truck for this trip?

I know it's a lot of questions, thank you for the answers!

 

Check the PARK - parking light - fuse. It's most likely NOT the switch. What you're doing by fiddling with it is sending power from the main headlight power lead into the parking light circuit. This happens when you have the switch half-way between click stops.

There are fancy and expensive cloth grillE covers; one of the companies that makes them has "Alaska" in the name, IIRC. Lund used to make a "Cold Front", a set of inserts made for each of the open segments of the grille. Hard to find anymore, and they're dead-seat on not making them again.

Make sure your block heater works, your glow plug system is in good shape, and your batteries and starter are strong. A pair of wrap-around battery warmers wouldn't be a bad idea either.

 

Awesome, thank you for the info. Although I am having a tough time finding the BRAKE fuse. I checked the fuse box inside the cab and under the hood... a little help

Thanks!

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me. The fuse you want to change is under the left side dash, at least it is on my 97, it's a 15 amp fuse in the upper left corner of the fuse panel. Number 14 I believe.

 

FWIW you might consider running the lights through relays instead of through the switch. I put in the LMC headlight harness and it was really simple. It won't solve your problem, but since we were discussing the headlight switch I thought I would throw it out there. The relays let you run directly off the battery and it takes the load off of the switch.

 

It's not the brake light fuse, it's the parking light fuse you're looking for.

 

Found it, number 4 but it is at the top left. Of course it's the one that I didn't check yesterday...

I will look into this, esp since I have a credit at LMC that I need to spend.

Yes I found it, I just mis-read the first post. That's what I get for reading it on my phone!

Thanks to all for helping me out. Any other advice on driving in extremely cold weather?

 

The LMC headlight harness will off-load the current from the switch, which is a good safety measure. But it will not (at least not noticeably) increase the voltage to the lights and brighten them. It's made with fairly cheap wiring, relays and terminals. I have one of similar quality made by Putco in my '85, and it's no brighter, just safer. You can get more actual light power along with off-loading the switch with a higher-end harness such as this one made by RJM - RJM Injection Tech — Headlight Harness - but there's no free lunch; the RJM harness costs about twice as much.

Weather/road trip prep - 5W40 Synthetic oil. Consider synthetic ATF in the t-case and synthetic lube in the diff(s). Battery warmers as said; gang together with the block heater using one of these: Three-Way Grounded Power Outlet . Double-check coolant concentration and anti-cav. Stancor glow plug relay. New batteries. If you find yourself in a place where you can't plug the truck in, just leave the key in RUN for an extra 20-30 seconds to extend the glow plug run time. GOOD new batteries will handle it easily and still start the truck.

Spare parts - belt, fuel filter, 1-2 of each bulb (including headlight), 1-2 of each rating of fuse (including maxifuses). Bottle of Diesel 911 or equivalent. Extra oil, coolant, brake fluid, tranny fluid. Set of tire chains. Blanket - in cab behind the seat. Cheap hi-viz vest - Reflective Safety Vest - X-Large - in case of on-road repairs at night / low light (stash under seat).

 

Awesome suggestions, thank you very much!

 

What madpogue said^^.

Also definitely check the entire glow plugs system out and make sure everything works. Its harder to notice a couple bad glow plugs in 20F-up weather but in sub-zero temps it will make all the difference in starting. The winters where I live are frequently 0F to -30F.

5W-40 Synthetic oils really help. Start it and let it warm up for at LEAST 15 min in cold temps then take it easy till it starts warming up. If you take off and start creating a lot of boost when the oil is super cold you can smoke your turbo from oil starvation.

I don't know where in Oregon you are but if they don't offer a blended diesel in the winter make sure you put in plenty of anti-gel and fill up with a blended diesel as soon as possible and keep using the recommended dose of anti-gel. Keep a few spare fuel filters. If the diesel gels up it clogs the fuel filter with wax. You can swap in a new filter and it can get you a little further down the road while the other warms up in the cab. You can swap them out as the other gets clogged. Sometimes it helps to keep a good sealed can of diesel in the cab that's kept warm and it can be added to the tank and fuel bowl if it gels up.

I haven't had much luck with the front grill covers. There is too much space between the grill and radiator and lets the same amount of air flow in at idle. I use a piece of cardboard I spray paint black that covers about 2/3 of the radiator. The AC condenser keeps it from going anywhere. I have towed heavy loads in the winter this way and it doesn't get hot but it sure warms up faster at idle.

Lots of info there, but I've been stranded a couple times and a few of these things had to be learned the hard way.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, good call on keeping some of things in the cab to keep them warm. In temps like that how warm does the heater get?

 

So need a little more help. Got the new LMC wiring harness, and everything is pretty straight forward, except where to plug in the new harness for power, and disconnect the old one? It appears to be a 3 prong plug and they don't give you a lot of slack either so I am guessing that it must be right next to one of the headlights. Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

 

Ok well I feel like an idiot... The instructions on the box are deceiving but after some digging I found that you just plug the "power" wire into one of the existing headlight plugs right. Is this correct? I am guessing that the other plug you just tape up and leave hanging?

 

^^^ Correct.

 

X2