soo today is the first night wiht my new truck and its suppose to hit 0 with - 15 wind chills sence i cant find the stupid plug on the truck yet i cant plugg it in.... it doesnt hurt the truck to start does it?? i know there not happy my idi started awesome in teh cold never a problem usally with a tap of the key i just hoppe it starts toamrwo morning.. on oil changes what kinda oil do you guys all use i used rotella 15 40 in my ohter truck i heard thats the only oil your suppose to use? i dont know .......

 

What is the new truck? That would really help.

 

Since you're posting in the 7.3 board, I'm assuming that's the engine your new truck has.

If so, your block heater plug is located just above the driver's side tow hook. If it's never been used, it may be tie wrapped up to the wiring harness and you may need to reach behind the bumper/grill and release the tie wrap. Then pull the plug out of the hole in the bumper around the tow hook.

Wind chill has no effect on your truck. The actual ambient temperature is the coldest your truck will get. You should be able to start okay at 0. You may need to cycle your glow plugs a couple of times if it doesn't fire right off after 1 cycle.

I run Rotella 15-40 in mine year round. However, we're in Kentucky and our winters are usually moderate (although we're getting down to 7 tonight). I plugged mine in tonight so my heater will start working sooner on the way to church in the morning!

 

yeah sorry about not sayin what i bought its a 02 f250 crew cab 4x4 with 83000 miles 7.3 ofcourse

 

look up MT Washington in the white mountains..it is the coldest wind chills ever recorded.and when we get that cold..its for weeks at a time never comming up above 0....I live 8 miles from the base..I have all my life...wind chill will make a diff on your truck..with wind blowing under the hood..its like turning on the a/c and cooling things down....every one that lives here and parks there car out side..they covers the grill and wheel wells with a blanket to keep the wind out..I have had many cars not start at 25 below with the wind...cover the grill and wheel wells..the car will start every time....also water lines for your house will freeze much faster with wind blowing on them to..cover them up..it takes longer to freeze.....my garage is is not insulated and is only heated when I am working out there..when its 20 below on the temps and 25 below with the wind..my garage is 0 inside...wind chills do make a diff.... next tim it gets that cold where you are..and the winds drop another 10..take 2 bottles of water out side...put one down..cover the other with a towl..tell me witch one started to freeze first..

 

Of course it makes a difference -- just like air blowing on a heat sink makes it cool faster. It won't get *colder* than the ambient temps, it just gets cold *faster*...

EDIT: It also won't get as warm if you're trying to heat it -- which is why Ron covers his grill & wheel wells. If there's zero wind, both bottles should freeze about the same time, as long as the ground is also below freezing.

I'm sitting here freezing to death just thinking about it. If you ever want to know the weather in North Texas, go here:
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KTXLEWIS8

My personal weather station uploading to WeatherUnderground every 5 mins... Right now, it's about 35 degrees colder than I like it to be.

 

Here's a pic of my truck plugged in. Look there. The end of the cord should have a cap on it so you will not be able to see the three prongs.

 

You'll be fine starting as long as your glow plugs are in good shape. Just cycle them a couple times, let them do their job a bit longer then you normally would. As far as the oil goes.....that is sort of a debated item on here, but I can tell you first hand. I ran rotella 15w-40 for a long time....and just recently I made the change over to Rotella 5w-40 synthetic and it starts muuuuch easier now! It made the engine a little bit quieter and smoother also. It's quite a bit more expensive, but it's worth it to me! Lots of guys on here just run the synthetic in the winter. It doesn't have to be Rotella, just make sure it is rated for the Diesels! Let us know how well it starts.....