Reliable start-ups also below -15F?

[Boston]

so would a smaller one of these kats heaters work as a recirculating fuel heater

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I keep little "float" battery-chargers connected to the trucks and they do very well at keeping the battery juices alive and well.

I have never used a battery heat-pad or heat-blanket, but I am certain they would be a big benefit in such cold temperatures.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

so would a smaller one of these kats heaters work as a recirculating fuel heater

It would probably also become a fuel igniter.

 

[Boston]

ya thats kinda a problem
I was thinking of pulling a line off the oil cooling unit and using it to heat the WMO/WVO tank but that Kats thing sounded like it might do a bit of preheating assuming it could be set low enough it didn't flash the fuel

oh well

 

[82F100SWB]

Get that 15W40 out of there, thats probably your problem. Personally I go straight to 0W40, and have never, ever had an issue starting my 6.9 if it was plugged in, even at -40, and I have not ever ran 2 batteries in that truck.
At the minimum, I'd got to a 5W30 non synthetic diesel rated oil, but personal preference leans heavily toward the lighter graded synthetics.
I have never had an issue putting a good synthetic in an engine that has mostly lived with regular oil, in fact, oil consumption on my 6.9 is 1/4 what it is with Dino in it.

 

[bucholzi]

Actually have 10 liters of 5W-40 fully synthetic oil which was intended for my toyota DD. Maybe I should give that a try for the winter months. It's rated API CF, that should be sufficient for an engine subjected to light duty work?

5w-30 oil.
The fact is that a 5w30 motor oil is thicker in cold temperatures than in warm temperatures. However,
a 5w30 motor oil will be thinner than a 10w30 motor oil when subjected to the same low temperature
conditions - because the "W" number is lower. This is an indication of better cold weather performance.
In other words, a 5w30 flows better in cold weather than a 10w30 motor oil will. Think of the "W" as a
"winter" classification instead of a "weight" classification.
Results from the Cold Crank Simulator (CCS) and Mini-Rotary Viscometer (MRV) tests are used to
determine the oil's "W" grade. The better the engine "startability" of the oil at low temperature, the lower
the W classification. Each W grade must meet certain "startability" requirements at a specified
temperature.
For instance, a 0W grade oil must have a maximum CCS centipoise (cP) value of 3250 @ -30 degrees
C as well as a maximum MRV cP of 60,000 @ -40 degrees C. A 5W grade oil must have a maximum
CCS cP value of 3500 @ -25 degree C and a maximum MRV cP of 60,000 @ -30 degrees C. The
lower the cP value for both specifications, the better.
Notice that the 0W grade oil is tested at a lower temperature on both tests AND must still have a lower
CCS cP value than a 5W oil which is tested at a higher temperature. As a result, a 0w30 will allow your
vehicle to start easier on a cold morning than a 5w30 will. Likewise, a 5w30 oil will pump easier in cold
temperatures than a 10w30 oil will.
Nevertheless, at 100 degrees C, they all fall within the same kinematic viscosity range. Therefore, they
are all classified as SAE 30 weight oils at 100 degrees C. In other words, after your engine has warmed
up, a 0w30 and 10w30 motor oil are basically the same thickness (within a certain SAE specified
range

 

[oldmisterbill]

In my opinion (many may disagree) I wouldn't ever change to synthetic in an older engine (I had a bad experience once). My 84 6.9 sat a lot in the winter waiting for snow storms. It started almost every time ,even though it wasn't near an electrical plug. Good healthy strong batteries,a good gear drive starter,a good fuel anti gel w/ maybe a dash of Kerosene to keep it thin are a must. I prefer a manual glow plug switch so i don't have to recycle and burn out gloplugs. By all means plug it in when you can -it improves cold lubrication when it does start - fighting premature wear. I like the circulating water hose heaters many will disagree but thats just me any heater will help. I feel the radiator hose heaters spread the heat to both sides of the engine better.
These trucks will amaze you in how they start in severe cold. I am not advocating not plugging it in, it was just the situation I was in.Plug it in when ever possible. When I was on the road it never got plugged in ,I was in Minnesota & Maine a lot,it never failed to start for me - I think running it daily for some reason helps too. My 2 bits

 

[Diesel JD]

I also would be careful about switching an older engine to synthetic. I used some stuff, can't remember the name of it right at the moment but it was a gentle ester engine cleaner that went in 2 changes of standard mineral oil plus two rinse cycles before I switched. For now I'd just look for anything lighter than that 15W-40 that is diesel rated and not fully synthetic. I bet if you look on a flow chart, 15W-40 is not recommended for temps below about 15*F. We had one member in Canada on the other forum that used 10W-30 conventional Shell Rotella. That is the only reason I mentioned that particular oil.

 

[Full Monte]

My guess is kinda like others here but... If you are still using the old direct drive starters I feel they just can't spin the engine fast enough to create heat in the cylinders for combustion. So if you install a quality gear reduction starter you wil make more heat in the cylinders for an easier cold start... Remember, air thats being compressed will make lots of heat. If you compress it slowly it wont make as much heat. Diesel requires 942 degrees of heat to ignite.... The -15 degrees is really cold too. We have had some trucks start at -40 degrees up in Canada too... Are you running a full synthetic oil....

Huh? I thought a gear reduction starter turns an engine over more slowly than a direct drive starter...isn't that why they call it a gear reduction starter?

 

[82F100SWB]

CF actually exceeds the spec that IDI's call for, I just checked the tag on our 88 F350 de-icing truck(which has 4600 miles... ,) it calls for CD, CF will work just fine.
I have switched back and forth between dino 15W40 and full synth 0W40 summer and winter on my diesels(Both Esso XD3 products,) but a couple years back I just decided to stay with the 0W40 year round, as I had less oil consumption with it, with my old PSD, my 6.9 and my Cummins, friends with IDI's have also noticed similar trends. Mind you this is only with one brand of oil, YMMV with different brands.
Switching back and forth is standard practice in big rigs here, when it takes 32-40L on an oil change and you do more 2-3 in the summer and at least 2 in the winter, the price difference is more than noticeable.
Personally I'd rather deal with some oil useage and a guranteed start than a no start situation, but, a good dino 5W30 diesel rated oil should keep it reasonably happy.

The gear reduction starters have a much higher cranking speed, the gear reduction is to give the motor even more mechanical advantage, the starter motor spins faster than a direct drive unit would.

 

[FordGuy100]

Huh? I thought a gear reduction starter turns an engine over more slowly than a direct drive starter...isn't that why they call it a gear reduction starter?

With such high compression, the gear reduction starter puts less strain on the motor itself (as its geared down), therefore the motor can spin faster (as it has less strain), therefore turning the engine over faster. And when I say motor, I mean the starter motor itself.

Kinda like driving in 4th, and 5th gear. If you are traveling at 60mph in each gear, and then stand on it WOT, which one will accelerate faster? 4th gear, as the engine has more mechanical advantage to turn the wheels.

 

[bucholzi]

Found this when searching for info on switching from mineral to synthetic:

Snipped from "the engine oil bible" http://www.carbibles.com/engineoil_bible.html

Mixing Mineral and Synthetic oils - the old and busted concepts
For the longest time, I had this to say about mixing mineral and synthetic oils:

If you've been driving around with mineral oil in your engine for years, don't switch to synthetic oil without preparation. Synthetic oils have been known to dislodge the baked-on deposits from mineral oils and leave them floating around your engine - not good. I learned this lesson the hard way! It's wise to use a flushing oil first.
If you do decide to change, only go up the scale. If you've been running around on synthetic, don't change down to a mineral-based oil - your engine might not be able to cope with the degradation in lubrication. Consequently, if you've been using mineral oil, try a semi or a full synthetic oil. By degradation, I'm speaking of the wear tolerances that an engine develops based on the oil that it's using. Thicker mineral oils mean thicker layers of oil coating the moving parts (by microns though). Switching to a thinner synthetic oil can cause piston rings to leak and in some very rare cases, piston slap or crank vibration.
Gaskets and seals! With the makeup of synthetic oils being different from mineral oils, mineral-oil-soaked gaskets and seals have been known to leak when exposed to synthetic oils. Perhaps not that common an occurrence, but worth bearing in mind nevertheless.

Mixing Mineral and Synthetic oils - the new hotness
That's the thing with progress - stuff becomes out-of-date. Fortunately for you, dear reader, the web is a great place to keep things up-to-date, so here's the current thinking on the subject of mixing mineral and synthetic oils. This information is based on the answer to a technical question posed on the Shell Oil website.
There is no scientific data to support the idea that mixing mineral and synthetic oils will damage your engine. When switching from a mineral oil to a synthetic, or vice versa, you will potentially leave a small amount of residual oil in the engine. That's perfectly okay because synthetic oil and mineral-based motor oil are, for the most part, compatible with each other. (The exception is pure synetics. Polyglycols don't mix with normal mineral oils.)
There is also no problem with switching back and forth between synthetic and mineral based oils. In fact, people who are "in the know" and who operate engines in areas where temperature fluctuations can be especially extreme, switch from mineral oil to synthetic oil for the colder months. They then switch back to mineral oil during the warmer months.
There was a time, years ago, when switching between synthetic oils and mineral oils was not recommended if you had used one product or the other for a long period of time. People experienced problems with seals leaking and high oil consumption but changes in additive chemistry and seal material have taken care of those issues. And that's an important caveat. New seal technology is great, but if you're still driving around in a car from the 80's with its original seals, then this argument becomes a bit of a moot point - your seals are still going to be subject to the old leakage problems no matter what newfangled additives the oil companies are putting in their products.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Huh? I thought a gear reduction starter turns an engine over more slowly than a direct drive starter...isn't that why they call it a gear reduction starter?

I am glad you asked, as I was a fixin' to.

 

[Black dawg]

the old delco starter has a huge motor and is direct drive.

the gear reduction starters have little motors with big gears.

all of the delco equipped idis that ive been around (6.2-6.5 and 6.9-7.3) crank faster than the gear starter. but they do draw a **** load of amperage.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

the old delco starter has a huge motor and is direct drive.

the gear reduction starters have little motors with big gears.

all of the delco equipped idis that ive been around (6.2-6.5 and 6.9-7.3) crank faster than the gear starter. but they do draw a **** load of amperage.

I have no idea what kind the starter is that is on my old 6.9; it is whatever came new on it in 1985.

In half-a-million miles, I never had reason to know; it just worked and kept on working.