So what is the procedure for starting in cold temps. I put deisel cleen in when I filled up yesterday,battery is good. What should I expect?

 

The glowplugs will say on for up to 2 minutes after the WTS light goes out. I usually key on for about 30 seconds before I crank mine. If you have the block heater plugged in you won't have to wait as long.

 

Well it's -5*F here this morning my procedure hit the button on the remote start wait ten minutes or so load the kids up and drive. At 17 I don't even bother to plug the heater in. A lot of guys on here will tell you to turn key on wait 1 or two min for the glow plugs then cycle them again and start it up. If your batteries and everything is in proper order you should have absolutely no problem starting the truck at 17*.

 

Thanks. Ill play it on the safe side. We have ice here so wont be driving much if any but dont want it to sit unstarted since it will be well below freezing for the next few days.

 

It probably will not hurt it to be unstarted, but for longer periods of time when you will not be using the truck I would put a trickle charger on the battery and you should be fine.

 

Good idea. Luckily this will be my daily driver. Never thought I'd get a diesel to commute in but will be saving half on fuel per month.

 

I don't use mine as a DD so I try to get a charger on it at least once a week. You will probably be fine if it sits for a day or two without starting. Mine has set for a week at a time and started fine.

 

Cool
That's what I was hoping

 

Yea if you have good batteries you have nothing to worry about it. As long as it dont sit for. Couple of weeks at a time I wouldnt worry about the trickle charger or nothing. Your fine.

 

It will be noisier than normal for the first couple of minutes.

It MAY miss "a little" until it warms up -- A little bit of a hiccup for 30-60 seconds, then runs fine.

This is normal for any diesel.

What will be your biggest, ugliest problem in MS is untreated fuel. Double-treat your tank the first time. Then single-treat until the overnight temps are in the 40's.

Untreated #2 ULSD can start gelling as low as 25 degrees, especially if the entrained water content is high. (the water freezes into ice crystals, which gives the paraffins something to harden onto.) With the tiny fuel filters in our trucks, one single episode of frozen/slushy fuel can mean replacing an entire set of injectors.

Treating every tank should probably become a habit; for instance, grey bottle PowerService (DieselKleen) when the temps are above 40, and white bottle below.

Why 40-ish? Because our tanks are large enough to make a week or two between fillups (even as a daily driver) and you never know when you'll have a below-freezing night "out of nowhere." (as has happened several times here in north Texas this bizarre winter.)

-blaine

 

Good stuff. Well I just ran it for a short run to check the roads in the neighborhood. We have a few slick places. I started right up and pretty much as described above. One thing I noticed was the Turbo whine at high idle--sounded cool. I did double treat yesterday with the white bottle--good to know on when to use the grey. One question at what eot/ect is it ready to go? With koeo both were 23. I didn't drive until both were over 110. It ran.great and temps came up as normal.

 

It's wasteful of fuel to idle any more than necessary. If you're looking for a toasty warm cabin (or to defrost the windows) , high-idle for 15 minutes or so to get the coolant temp up. On high-idle, it doesn't take long.

But it's OK to drive as soon as the idle settles down after starting. Just drive it gently. You'll be able to tell a difference in how the engine sounds once it "warms up" (and once you learn the truck). Mine tends to be noisy until it hits 120-130 or so.

-blaine

 

Cool--tks
Yes I don't to waste fuel.

 

I usually wait until the truck is about 120* or so before I pull out, but you should probably reach that in the 15 min or so, as described above.

 

Temps 0-40 I wait until the automatic high idle kicks in then take off.

Below zero depends if I plug in or not, sometimes I'll cycle the plugs twice.

Above about 50 I wait until the GP cycle off then Take off.

Josh