Let me start out by saying I'm sorry. The scenario is this SE Wisconsin was somewhere around 0* this morning. I heard anywhere from -9 to 2 above. I have been suspect of hard starts since late last winter when it would start well somedays and aweful others. I plugged it in at 11ish last night till 7ish this morning. Light up cord, getting juice fine. Hop in the truck and here the wrrrt noise as the gp's kick in. Hit key and wa, wa, wa, wa for what seemed like an eternity (about 20 sec). Waited about that long and double cycled the plugs again. Same thing, never even popped. I went under the truck and felt by the orange cord. It didnt feel any warmer than the rest of the motor.

Next step, walk to garage and grab screwdriver and throw it on the solenoid. Crank and about 15 turns and a little pop then more turns. Go and get test light. Find the rubber covered is the in and the other is out w the firewall side small wire as control wire. The light goes on when touched to the out side of solenoid.

It FINALLY started on the fourth or fifth try of cranking it more than I would EVER want to crank it.

Next step, after work pull into the shop and start checking. Right bank had the second from the front gp test at 5.XX with the rest between the .8-1.2ish. The driver side bank all seemed a bit low to me, but my bud said he thought they were alright. The all seemed about .2 lower than the other side. IDK if I was just looking for this to be a problem though. When reading all of them the meter would start out at about .5 and then crawl up to .8, .9 or 1.0. (Any thoughts on that?)

Next step, unplug orange cord. It was getting 120v. Put meter on heater and no resistance! I forgot to do it when we got the good digital meter there, only with the junk analog w an iffy probe. But, I did try it about a dozen times and never saw any resistance. This tells me that the heater is junk.


THE MAJOR QUESTION, shouldn't it hit a bit better than that on 7 gp's?

Sorry for the LENGTHY post, but I want to provide all the info I can. BTW I am running NAPA 15-40 synthetic that is midway between oil changes. My uncle has an 01 too with a few more mile and when we were deer hunting and would start our trucks after sitting for about 4 or 5 hours mine would romp romp and his would smooth right off. He said, "I told you to run synthetic!!!" and I said, "I DO!!!" This is also leading me to believe I have a problem. He NEVER plugs his truck in unless it is low teens and it starts fine. Mine would be sounding pretty snotty when you got it started. Sorry again for the long post.

Now I just want to do this...for when I get my DP at 10% off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'll let everyone know if I find the cause in mine. I do not think GPs are causing mine. Mine tested fine. You should get that heater fixed though, as you know. Hate to see it burn up.

 

your plug on your truck could be bad mine was! cut the 3 prong plug off and replace it! try that ! good glow plugs should measure between .8-1.5 ohms!

 

Double check that oil. I can't recall a NAPA 15-40 synthetic that is rated for these trucks. I've been wrong (mabye twice today). But let me/us know. What Synthetic is in the other truck that is mocking you?

If you are running a non-rated oil and or a regular dino at 0, I would consider SOME romps normal.

Heck I've heard of some trucks romping in the high 30's

 

Same EXACT oil (well rating, brand, etc not the same oil )
IDK on the specs, my uncle, who works at NAPA and drives the same truck as me in a four door insted of ext cab said it was the way to go. Edit (Insert one trip outside) Oops, I lied. It is 15w-50. It is pn 75-510. Is says it meets or exceeds API Service SM/SL and all preceding API Gasoline Catagories. Is that a bad thing!?!?! Now you have me freakin out!

Hey, just bc I get three romps on start up at mid 30's doesnt make me a bad person!!!

 

I say that oil isn't rated for your PSD. Drain it, change the filter and pick a good rated brand.

 

That ain't helpin the romp. I bet that would even romp around say 39* or so.

 

Is that the same oil you are running?

 

How should I go about looking up the specs/what is required in my truck? I can't even find freakin oil on the NAPA website. That thing is a PIA!

Edit - I forgot to say how the NAPA guy hates it when I call up and give him a PN Then he says, "Somebodys been playin on the computer again." (I am going to put a block heater in it due to the meter reading no resistance)

The real edit is - I just got off the phone with Valvoline, they make NAPA oil. He said I am a dumb___. He said I would have to run the Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme that they do not make a syn that is diesel rated in a NAPA brand. Now I need to research what oil to run!!! I doubt Valvoline is the best oil for my money.

 

Pick up some Rotella 5w-40 synthetic at Walmart and be done with it. I started mine today after a -18 overnight, block heater ran from midnight to 5 am, started the truck at 9:10 and it didn't romp at all. I haven't had a romp since switching to synthetic.

 

I use Kendall Super D3A syn blend... Rotella 5w40 is the best synthetic oil, IMO even though Valvoline is rated one API grade higher...

then why do I use the Kendall? Because I sell it at work and it's approved for the new Blue-Tec Cummins.

 

That is the plan, I will get whatever syn is cheapest at NAPA (I get the family discount) and go with a 5w-40.
But you cant tell me that a 15w oil that isnt rated for a diesel is going to make the truck not start. The cold viscosity is the same be it diesel oil or gas oil, it is still a 15w. After all my uncle has just about everything but miles the EXACT same and his starts PERFECT.

 

All I am going to say is that oil is what fires the injectors, and at very high PSIs. That is why the grade is critical for antifoaming properties. Foamy oil means air in oil. Air compresses. No good in our fuel system. Run whatever you like though.

 

You gotta be picky with your oil on these trucks. Think about how much it does...
In addition to the standard cool, cushion, protect, it also runs the injection system. Whats that mean? I don't remember the exact specs but basically it means your oil has to perform at 2000-3000 psi. What do you think happens when your try to run dino oil below 0 at 2000 psi? Not pretty.

Food for thought, the numbers are probably wrong but the concept is solid. Think about it.