17° almost didn't start

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Jan 19, 2016 | 08:18 AM

#61

William Mark Brown

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From: Iowa

Some of my friends noticed the smoke and made a few comments. I blamed it being diesel but at the same time I was like, it started and you didn't have to give me a ride home lol

Jan 19, 2016 | 09:27 AM

#62

Walleye Hunter

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From: Douglassville, PA

Now this AM I had to go for a short ride with the truck at 7 AM and it was about 8* out. I plugged 'er in when I got up for my 3:30 pee run. At 7 AM there was no movement on the dash gauge but I didn't really expect any (it's windy to boot so any excess heat is being blown away). It started up good as summer time but I did notice that it turned over much faster than it did when it was not plugged in. Is this normal or an indication of weak batteries, starter or bad ground connections? I have faith in my connections at the batteries.

Jan 19, 2016 | 10:35 AM

#63

tom from mass

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I tried something new to me to start my '97 F-250 7.3L without plugging it in. It's 23* here on Cape Cod. This has never started when below freezing unless plugged in for 3 hours. The oil is dino 15W-40 Rotella. My batteries are Sears Die Hard 13 yrs. old! A woman I met also has a diesel truck and she says she has never plugged it in and that she uses a fuel additive to prevent gelling. So, I put 6 oz. in the front tank and 5 oz. in the back tank of Stanadyne diesel fuel additive. It started after cranking a bit longer than usual but I started it as soon as the glow plug light turned off. Next time I'll wait longer before turning the key to start. Can Rotella T-6 be used year round? If using that oil will make starting in cold temperatures much easier, I guess I'll be switching to that next oil change.

Jan 19, 2016 | 10:47 AM

#64

SteveH-CO

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Joined: Jul 2005

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From: Southern Colorado

Many folks run Rotella T6 5w-40 year round (I do), and it was easily the single biggest cold-start fix I made. Huge difference in ease of starting.

Jan 19, 2016 | 11:13 PM

#65

tom from mass

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Thanks SteveH-CO. Next oil change, T-6 it is! How many miles do you do before your oil change while using T-6?

Jan 20, 2016 | 08:27 AM

#66

William Mark Brown

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From: Iowa

I just switched to T6 myself and it has made a huge difference. Iowa tends to get really cold and I was able to start the truck Monday at 2 degrees and not plugged in.

Jan 20, 2016 | 11:10 AM

#67

HKusp

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From: Hampton, Maryland.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walleye Hunter

Are you using the 15W-40 or a synthetic weight 5w-40? If you are still using the 15W-40, it could be that the oil at the cold rating of 15 weight is too thick at that temp for your starter to get a good cranking speed. Changing to something diesel rated that will be a 5 weight when cold, could make a huge difference.

Jan 20, 2016 | 12:24 PM

#68

Walleye Hunter

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From: Douglassville, PA

Quote:

Originally Posted by HKusp

No, I just upgraded to T6, whatever use to be in there would give me a hard time starting under 30. And I didn't think that the block heater would make that big a difference in the cranking speed.

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Jan 20, 2016 | 02:58 PM

#69

HKusp

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From: Hampton, Maryland.

The oil is going to be thinner because you had the heater plugged in. It should spin faster in thinner oil.

Jan 21, 2016 | 09:13 AM

#70

tom from mass

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My "97 7.3L would never start without being plugged in for 2 or more hours. Last winter I forgot it was plugged in for a few weeks. My wife freaked at the higher than average electric bill since the utility company doubled the Kw/hr. rate. After hearing about another person using a diesel fuel additive and never plugging in , I opened the water drain, added 6 oz. conditioner to each tank, filled both tanks, waited 2 days not plugged in , waited an additional 60 seconds after WTS light turned off, turned the ignition key and Voila!!! started right up!
Next oil change, switching to 5W-40 T- 6 My batteries are Sears die hard 13 yrs. old

Jan 21, 2016 | 09:30 AM

#71

HKusp

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From: Hampton, Maryland.

If you ever have done an oil change with 15W-40 oil and left the bottles out in the cold before doing it, you would see that they pour like syrup. It is amazing that the crank can get through a couple of gallons of that crap when it's cold out.

Jan 21, 2016 | 01:51 PM

#72

Walleye Hunter

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From: Douglassville, PA

That is true and I am curious as to how much slower I should expect and if I should check things like my ground connections and/or starter. I guess the first step is to connect the AE and see what the RPM's are at the time.

Thanks for the help.
Mark