Coldest no-block heater start

[Andrew M. Frankli]

My truck stayed out overnight outside in an open parking lot in Chicago last night. I was fully expecting to put the block heater on it today and let it fry for several hours before taking it home tonight. But just for fun, I tried cranking it up at 5:00 am at a temp of minus 7 degrees. On one gp cycle, it popped a little. So I tried it again and on the third gp cycle, it fired up! Previous coldest no gp start for me was plus 15 degrees.
What's the coldest no-block heater start you have experienced?

 

[RedTruck]

My brother-in-law started his up early one morning after it sat on Lake Of The Woods for the night in -30 straight temp.

Paul

 

[joe_diesel]

-10 F (not wind chill). Was on vacation in PHX for 2 weeks, returned to IND on a red eye and arrived at 5am local to -10 F. Took two attempts but, started. Lots of blue smoke!

 

[dakotajeep]

-2F for me but that was only because I forgot to plug it in....

 

[f-two-fiddy]

-35* F for Me.
The power went out over night for a couple of hours, so My timer was off by 2 hrs.

I went out, and fired it up. It didn't sound very good. But it fired, and ran just fine that day. That was My 300K mile '85

 

[sootman73]

ya i've been to scared of it not starting since my heater doesn't work or at least not very good. if its gonna be in the low single digits or negative i let it idle all night. no one around to help me in the morning and with it the only vehicl ei have to get to school with... doesn't use much in 7 hours of idling...

but coldest i think was around -1 or -2 but it sat for a week at school without starting.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Any time I can, I plug my truck in at anytime it is below about 35*, but that is not always possible; these things are mobile, plug-ins usually are not.



Actually, it is probably less damaging and costs less in the long run to let the engine idle all night, rather than cranking it in frigid cold-start conditions.

If long periods of idling are expected, one should invest in a locking throttle-cable and set the idle up to about 11-1200-RPM.

This higher engine speed keeps the oil-pressure up and maintains more moisture-evaporating block heat, thus "cylinder wash" is less likely.

Here is the throttle-cable I have in my personal truck :

http://www.awdirect.com/exterior-throttle-cable-15-foot-control-cable-vcgtx15/throttle/


I got mine from E-Bay for about half that price.

You don't have to go quite so fancy, but first-class didn't cost much more.


Another option, if one is close enough and work-situations allow, is to crank it up and let it run for about fifteen minutes every two hours; this keeps heat in the iron and the electrolytes in the battery more active.




All these goody-goodies with their silly "no idle" regulations are probably causing more actual environmental damage than if we just were allowed to do things the way we always used to.

 

[funnyman06]

You let the truck idle all night? Really?? being in the city that sounds crazy, how much fuel does it use idling for 7 hours??

 

[hesutton]

Not too cold compaired to some........but it was 1 or 2 degrees when I lived in Toledo. It was a real PITA to start at that temp with the DPS injectors peeing into the precup instead of atomizing the fuel.............Oh well.......I'll get some Moose nozzles next time.

Heath

 

[F350farmboy]

This is nothing, but its <10* out here now and it started w/in 5 turns of the crank after 1 10 sec GP cycle.

 

[f350flatbed]

I've been wondering about the idle fuel consumption as well....

Paul B

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Long Idling is far from optimum. Considering the diesel cylinder wash. It might be a lot more damaging than cold starting it.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Long Idling is far from optimum. Considering the diesel cylinder wash. It might be a lot more damaging than cold starting it.

 

[funnyman06]

what is diesel cylinder wash?

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Diesels need heat to ignite the fuel. So if You idle for long periods of time they cool down. Then they stop getting a complete burn of the fuel. The unburned fuel smears along the sides of the cylinders and washes the lubricating oil off.

So You get premature ring, and cylinder wear.