My story starts last winter when my truck started giving me troubles when the old mercury dropped below freezing. If I didn't plug the truck in she wouldn't start. I really wasn't to concerned since diesel prices where going up and I was only using the truck for plowing and dump runs.
My son just got his license so he will be driving the truck to school and work so I figured it was time to do some long over due maintenance, I rebuilt the front axle, and started to address why the truck had a hard time starting when the temps went south of 40. I did the usual troubleshooting to the glow plugs, checked the batteries and everything was fine. Looking at the starter I could see the connection was really crapy looking so I figured I would install a high torque starter and repair the battery cable to the starter.
Well Saturday morning I go out to fire up the truck after putting the new starter in on Friday to start plowing and no joy. So I plug it in and throw throw the charger on the batteries, and after an hour I get it started. After talking to a buddy of mine about using 5w-40 I figure what can it hurt. So I did an oil change Sunday just as the snow started flying again. All I can say I should have done this a long time ago. This morning I went out to plow and the truck started right up even with temps in the single digits without plugging it in and the truck actually seems quieter.
So in closing I would just like to say thank you to all the other people that have had trouble with cold weather starting issues and posting about them and the different methods used in troubleshooting and their resolution.
Ray

 

So the big difference was 5-40 vs 15-40.

 

I think the 5-40 made the biggest difference in starting in the cold.

 

Kwik, AMEN to your sig line! Merry Christmas!

 

Jesus is the reason for the season.