Diesel Cold Weather Starting?
 

Looking at buying a diesel Ex. It would be the wife's daily driver. We live in Saskatchewan were is gets cold and I mean cold in the winter. Where she works there is no place to plug in, so my question is how cold can it get before it would need to be plugged in? Thought about a remote starter and have her start is every couple of hours when its really cold. But how much fuel is that going to use?:-huh
It would be in a heated garage when parked at home.

thanks

Go into the 6.0 forum and ask there. Probably get quicker response.

If you go with remote start you will want to go high idle mod or have issues with turbo soot build up. Probably about -10 C and you want to be plugged in.

How far of a commute to work?

There are diesels all over in the north cold winters, so nothing new there, and even with gas engines if there are no plugs at work it is a good idea to run engine every few hours. I'm in the Yukon, so we know what winter is, but I have plugs at work.

I have a 7.3, just moved to Norcal after owning my 7.3 X in Boulder, CO for 5 years.

Diesels like to be warm.

They operate the best at the top of their temp range. I like to plug in whenever it drops below freezing, it makes starts easier and the truck warms up much faster. The faster everything comes to temp the better the performance, less wear on parts. There simply is no reason not to plug in overnight if you have the ability. You can purchase one of these:


for when it's hovering around freezing. Use it. You and the wife will be happier. Use the heaviest gauge extension cord you can find for it.

I would also get a 203F thermostat for it: http://www.dieselsite.com/dieselsite203thermostat.aspx if it's a 7.3

Probably about a 20-25min commute. Some stop and go, and freeway.

97anny, before you do that, tell us which diesel engine you plan on getting.

Stewart

I'd say you'd be better off with a gasser. But if you're set on a diesel definitely plug it in, it will just be getting up to temp when it's time to park.

You missed this part.

Stewart

Once the truck has warmed up, it should be ok for several hours how many hours will it be parked before starting it again? That said a properly maintained glow plug system will start a truck in -19f - I did it for years. Your mileage will be shyte and it'll chug a bit till it warms up.

It would be parked outside for 8hrs
The ones I have been looking at are the 6.0l.
Found a 05 with only 98000km or 61000miles
Fully loaded with dvd and 2nd row captain chairs. They want $17000

In that case, it's off to the 6.0L PSD forum!

The guys there can get you dialed in on what to expect with the 6.0 and very cold weather.

Stewart

If you pony up for the 0W-40 synthetic oil and new batteries you should be fine. It gets cold in rural Nova Scotia, down to -20C I never plug in during the day and starts are fine. In fact I rarely plug it in at all. But - motels up north around Edmunston have plug-ins at all the parking spots, just noticed that last year.

Brian

According to Ford, the 6.0l is designed to start down to -10*F without being plugged in. I would suspect that with the correct oil, good batteries and glow plug system, that it should start below that if only sitting for 8 hours or so during the day.

I'd get a remote start for sure. I'll never own another diesel without one. If you have the latest flash, it cycles the turbo to help.

5W40 or even better 0W40 is no issue at all, no need to plug in.

Josh

Nah, mine is warned up when I get to work. My drive is 5 miles and 10 minutes.

These are the humble words of MisterCMK sent on the go...