Keeping it warm overnight

[fury9]

synthetic oil will help with cold starts,It makes a big difference

yeah but if the truck eats it ... there's gotta be SOMEway else, I live in the far northwest of Chicago,, where are you located at 94 FORD?? Also if you don't mind me asking what do you do for a living?

 

[smokin69]

I've seen the generators before in trucks. Works good, if u get a smaller one it should do just fine, you can find em for about 100 bucks around here for a little two stroke one. I'd say maybe start it on your lunch period or a break if u have one, no need to run it the whole time, thats a waste of fuel.

 

[paulzx]

i've put an espar into my ole girl, but that is way way to much money i think.. then somebody told me that he has a little propane tank that hooks up in his cab (coleman propane tank 1 lbs) and turns the vavle on lites his pilot lite under his hood and the unit warms up his coolant... I've never saw it and don't quite follow how it works exactly, but if somebody has an idea or pics, that would be the way to goo... really cheap to run and easy to plumb in.

 

[ocnorb]

My dad told me about a guy that lit off some briquettes (like for a barbecue) in a metal garbage can lid every night when it was cold... after the fired burned out and it turned to coals he would slide it under the front of his truck to keep the engine warm.

Of course, your employer may frown on this depending on where you work.

I thought it was an innovative solution I'd share... note: Do not try this in your garage!!!

 

[dave186]

just for kicks I left my truck unplugged last night and it started this morning at 4 degrees without much trouble, just cranked a little longer than normal. im confident it would start at -10 without any assistance. I had a little bit of WMO in the tank as well.

 

[sassyrel]

i've put an espar into my ole girl, but that is way way to much money i think.. then somebody told me that he has a little propane tank that hooks up in his cab (coleman propane tank 1 lbs) and turns the vavle on lites his pilot lite under his hood and the unit warms up his coolant... I've never saw it and don't quite follow how it works exactly, but if somebody has an idea or pics, that would be the way to goo... really cheap to run and easy to plumb in.

try and find out about this--sounds interesting

 

[1994IDI]

A lot of good ideas. Many of them are not necessarily practical for my particular situation. The espar, by far the most desirable idea to me, is to expensive, as are synthetics as my truck is not exactly leak proof at the moment (another thread coming soon). My employer does indeed frown upon camp fires and burning coals under vehicles (got me laughing my ass off though!)
DAVE186: Similarly, my truck started at about 7 degrees the other night with no assistance, so I was pleased as well. But it was a rough, smoky idle and surely not great on the engine to do it time and again.
I like the propane idea. Anyone know anything about this? Same on the generator. Can anyone recommend a small generator less than $100?
FURY9: I am located about 30 miles east of st. louis, originally from indiana, and I am active duty military.

 

[mankypro]

My 7.3l and my 6.9 start easily in sub-zero with one hour on the block heater, buy a $100.00 gas genny at Checker (it'll last one or two seasons tops) and plug 'er in an hour before you need to leave. I always stay at Best Westerns because they have 110v outlets all over their parking areas in WY, MT and ID.

 

[motox tech]

I have the same problem at work, so Ive got into the habit of starting my truck at least 3 times throughout the day. I leave it running for about 15 min a time.

 

[RLDSL]

If you can read German or use a translator program, you can get those Espar things on Ebay germany a whole lot cheaper than they go for here even after shipping. Not to many sellers wil ship over here and some that do won't take paypal, only bank transfer, which is dirt cheap in Europe, but will cost a fortune from here, so it narrows the field, but that's where I get most of the things i fool with and parts for them, THat and Ebay UK has a major seller who does ship to the us who is a dealer and prices are about a third of what the stuff goes for here

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

You can learn alot about batterys and stuff when you start messing with RVs without the benefit of a plug in....
JwS

I've learned so much, since I started RV'ing... It's amazing how technical these things can get!

Here's a site, that explains state of charge in batteries. I had no idea about this kind f stuff, before I started the whole RV adventure.

You must be registered for see images attach

There is a lot more to see.... And learn.

 

[NJKen]

Another option not mentioned yet:
A good remote start can work well with diesels. A good one will have a programable delay for glow plug systems. It will also be programed not to overcrank the engine and retry on a no start. Now the best part... They have a keep warm function that will start the engine for 15 minutes every 2 hours or so. One of my ex's had one like this on a jeep. Worked darn nice in norther vermont Ill try to figure out who made it. I just remember it was some company in alaska (they should know)
Ken

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

The temperature triggered autostarts are all over Alaska, especially when you get up to Fairbanks or anywhere towards the North Slope. I have seen lots of them, even on gassers, as they are even difficult to start at -40 F.

Personally, I like the small generator in the bed of the truck as it's simple and removable when it finally heats up outside.

 

[needboost2live]

my solution for night time was to set 2 different alarm clocks and each time one went off i went outside and started my idi and let it run for 15 min and then went back to bed. I got the timing down to only having to start it once throughout the night so it would be warm enough to start in the morning. Now I have a 500 dollar saturn that i drive. I NEED NEW GLOW PLUGS. i'm sure i'll need my truck once the snow starts flying.

 

[sassyrel]

If you can read German or use a translator program, you can get those Espar things on Ebay germany a whole lot cheaper than they go for here even after shipping. Not to many sellers wil ship over here and some that do won't take paypal, only bank transfer, which is dirt cheap in Europe, but will cost a fortune from here, so it narrows the field, but that's where I get most of the things i fool with and parts for them, THat and Ebay UK has a major seller who does ship to the us who is a dealer and prices are about a third of what the stuff goes for here

might you expound on this a bit more----please--names and such--know the espar units are good