I don't understand what all this fuss is about or why its turned into a V10 bashing thread.
Anyway, I live in Saskatchewan and its just as cold here or colder than in Manitoba.
I always plug my trucks in at night, diesel or gas.
Who wants to crank a motor thats been sitting in -35 weather?
Thats abusive. I can feel and hear the thing grinding itself away at those temps.

 

This is a classic case of "Be careful what you ask for, You just might get it" The everyday public wants a diesel that behaves like a car. Get in it at -30 below, fire it up and go. You will NEVER be able to do that with a good quality diesel. Everyone has touched on using the right oil, and that is correct. But here is why Diesels have more of a problem than Gassers with thick oil. It is all about surface tension. The thicker the oil, the stronger the surface tension, the bigger the surface, the stronger the tension. When you start your engine in witches tit weather, There is oil sticking to the bearing surfaces(as it should), and of course to itself creating a greasy bond. Break this surface tension gradually, and no problem. Kind of like water, the harder you hit it, the harder it hits back. The larger the surface you hit, the harder. It is called surface tension. Now that we have a diesel that will actually fire almost instantly in super cold weather, there is no "cranking" time to break the surface tension of the "grease" in the engine. So why would the 6.4 throw bearings and the Stellar V10 not? Because the bearing suface size of the diesel is going to be roughly 50 to 100% more than that of the gasser to better support the super high internal loads of the engine and allow this pathetic (sarcasm) truck to make 650lb-ft for 400k miles, about twice that of the best gasser assuming it gets used. So guess what happens to the surface tension when you double the surface size???? And the truck starts instantly?

Now that all that is explained, I do agree that if I am in Canada and I go buy a truck from the local dealer, I expect it to be ready to drive, not have to immediately Change the oil, add a block warmer plug, and low gel point diesel.

And one last segment to my soapbox, as some have pointed out is education. Diesels have now become "cool" to have, whether you need it or not. And with all the newcomers to diesels, they don't realize there is a different operating and maintenance routine with a diesel.

 

Interesting, of course I wonder why if this is true and Ford and International know this is an issue, why they don't just program the computer to delay the engine starting for several seconds after cranking begins or till the engine cranking speed reaches a couple hundred rpm or so?

 

I have experience with a lot of diesel from F250 right up to heavy duty Detroit 60s in the 500HP area and I'd say that my gas truck fire up much quicker than all the diesels I've ever driven.

Seems like the diesels have to crank over at least twice to fire up. That's even being plugged in, inside a heated bay, and letting the glow plugs go.

Now without being plugged in, outside, in even 30 F weather, it takes even more cranking for startup.

Anyway bearings roll, not hit. If the tension breaks down, then you have metal on metal contact.

Now the higher viscosity might inhibit flow for a minute, but that's where lower viscosity oil would come into effect.

Mike

Edit: I'm not taking sides on the gas vs diesel thing either. I like them both. I'm just comparing.

 

According to info. Ford published more than several years ago on one of their diesels, the temperature in the combustion chamber has to reach approx. 750 degrees for the diesel fuel to ignite. Being able to achieve that at -20 degrees F. through the heat generated by compression assisted by glow plugs or an intake grid heater is quite a feat, a gasoline engine merely has to deliver a spark to the compressed fuel mixture in the cylinder.

 

Thats just stupid ..think I'll keep my old 7.3 ..cant & WONT carry a generator with me going up in the Rockies Elk hunting just so I can start my over priced Ford

Stupid Ford! .

 

With all the "discovered probelms" found by members of this and other internet sites, it is a wonder these things ever get down our driveways. What did we do before we had the internet to learn all these things? (yes this is a sarcastic post)

 

Just remember, common rail fuel injection is new to us, and I'm sure there will be some kind of solution to this issue that does not involve parking next to a locomotive and plugging in if you're in the remote northern wilderness. We have had some temperatures in the low -20s last week, and have had no issues with our stock vehicles, but we have also been changing them over to 0W30 as soon as they arrived on the lot.

 

CanadaGuy mentioned changing the oil in the 6.4's to 0-30 weight when they arrive in the dealers lot for the cold weather. My owner's manual state to use only CJ-4 oil to meet the new emmisions standard etc. There is only two Ford dealers in all of BC that had any CJ-4 oil. The nearest one had 500 bottles and I had to beg him to sell me one litre bottle of CJ-4 so that I would have a spare bottle for my Truck and 5th Trailer trip to CA next week. It is in 0W30 weight. This dealership now says to use 0W30 CJ-4 rather than 0W45 or 15W45 weight CJ-4 oil. Can anyone sort out which grade of oil CJ-4 or CJ-1 (2007 and before) and what weight of oil? The owners manual that I have states to use 0W45 or 15W45 if pulling trailers or heavy loads. I also have no idea what weight of oil came with my new F-350 although I assume it is the CJ-4 grade.

 

That is what I had to do with my 07. I bought it Nov. 30th and it came with 15w-40 in it. Don't work too good at -40. Dropped the oil out and changed it the morning after I bought it to 0w-30 synthetic. Sure hurt to dump out all that perfectly good oil.

 

Damn Ford, for selling a diesel truck that starts well enough at cold temperatures that one actually needs to use their head.

 

Ooh, I got it!! Just carry a portable carport with you in the bed. When you park it, setup the carpart, put a small diesel heater in the bed, and it will be a tropical paridise. Maybe some imitation palm trees, and coconuts. The oil will be thin, the seals will be flexible and won't leak, and Even the Interior will already be warm.

 

Sorry for not responding faster, yesturday I filled up my car and truck, 94.9Cents/Liter non-cardlock, diesil was 84.9Cents/Liter cardlock at a co-op

 

[QUOTE=FN74]Ooh, I got it!! Just carry a portable carport with you in the bed. When you park it, setup the carpart, put a small diesel heater in the bed...

Actually we did sort of use this on our, uh... (cummins). Okay, don't throw any rocks yet! Seriously on a diesel that is used in the cold, and away from electric power, why not throw a pro-heater on it? We used it for years on that damn Dodge. Mounts under the hood, plumbs into your diesel line, wires up to the batteries, computer in the cab, draws bugger all for power and uses next to no fuel that we ever noticed. Long night, cold? No prob. Set the computer to turn on a few hours before you want to start the truck, wake up, turn the key and you're ready. Because it heats the heater core as well, the truck even starts to blow warm air fairly quickly. In town, cold night, out for dinner, don't leave the truck running, just hit the manual button. These are the same units the BIG diesel guys are using, just scaled down for our size trucks. I'm from Manitoba, and we like to think it's cold here but I worked in the Territories. THAT'S cold. In Yellowknife, I don't think the truck would have ever started without that pro-heater. I will never own a diesel truck without this installed. For the price it's a no-brainer, saves your engine and keeps you warmer.

 

[QUOTE=WinterRoad]We've been testing those in the city service trucks with the 6.0liter. Only thing is the city got cheap and got the ones with an on/off switch. get in in the morning, battery is dead, replaced the batteries, next morning the battery is dead again. The city then scrapped the idea............like realy what would you expect leaving it on for 10-12 hours.