I've just moved to OR and it's getting cold, into the 30's at night. I'm having trouble starting in the morning without the block heater. Is this normal or should I be looking at my glow plug system for any problems?

Thanks!

 

cycle the glow plugs twice and see what happens, you should be good to at leat 20, but if the glow plugs don't warm it enough, it will start hard. Mine's a bit grumpy about it if I don't. I do that and it fires just fine.

 

I have an 89, 7.3 with the original glow plug controller working (that is rare I guess). Mine is good down to about 10 °F (-12°C) with only the glowplugs, but when it is that cold it can be a little grumpy, so I cycle twice before I try starting (I always wait for the afterglow to finish before I cycle again). It can start even at 0°F, but I cannot count on it, so I always have a can of ether in the car to use if I can not use the blockheater.

 

If I may recommend it, skip the ether, and keep a can of WD-40 around. Ether dries out the cylinders, and if to much is sprayed in, will lock up an engine until it evaporates, and leave absolutely no lubrication in the cylinder, thus wearing your engine out. WD-40 is a distilate of diesel, and has a higher flamability rate, while maintaining lubrication. Spray to your heart's content Cycling the glow plugs two or three times is a good idea, but I'd say power is cheap compared to needing a boost. I don't know about your power rates at your location, but on my end of things, a block heater will run me an extra 5 bucks a month at most plugged in 7 days a week over the hours I sleep or don't drive, and saves me a lot of fuel on warm up time, even though my cold blooded 351m starts fine without it in -20C weather. The shorter warm up period saves on fuel and engine wear and tear.....you decide which is cheaper in the long run. Even with plugging in, allow the glow plugs to cycle at least once. If you're really concerned about power consumption, add a timer that cycles on and off ever hour for 30 min on, 15 min off, and comes on and stays on 4 hrs prior to starting. This will keep the engine warm, but not drain your wallet, and your rig will start when you need it to. You could also look at an inline circulating pump style heater that actually pumps and heats coolant throughout your engine, rad and heater core, and only have it come on 4 hours prior to starting with the timer. This would be the cheapest, and most effective over-all.

 

I started to plug mine in because I had GP and controller problems. But even after I fixed the problems I still plug it in because it starts so easy. Less wear and tear on the starter etc. I think the timer is a good idea. I will look for one today.

 

now i think they changed the formula on wd40 so it is non flamable,i live in idaho its been 18 and 19,mine will start when its cold but it sounds so hard on it that i plug it in,its nice just to hit the key with no glow plug action,and its warm,don't have to wait around all morning on your truck to warm up.

 

I lived in Idaho for a lot of years and had the 7.3 in the mountains a few times with sub zero temperatures. If I ran it in the evening before the temperatures dropped it always started the next morning when I needed it to with just a couple cycles of the glow plugs. When at home with the same temperatures I set my timer for 2 hrs before I needed to start the engine. Starting was always easy with 2 hrs of heat. I usually didn't start pluging in untill temperatures hit the low 20's. I ran some of the old Slick 50 through the truck every now and then to ease cold starting wear.

Don

 

Using the wrong oil viscosity does not help starting either.......

7.3 Engine oil rerecommendations.

32F to 100F+........30wt recommended

0F to 100F+..........15W-40 recommended

32F to way below freezing (-30F)........10W-30 recommended