Author Topic: cold temps & morning starts (Read 5305 times)

BellCityDubber · « **on:** February 05, 2007, 11:41:52 pm »

hey everyone.

I just have a few questions and looking for a few hints.

up in the great white north, recently everything got real cold over the last few weeks. During the first cold snap I left my diesel away from my house unplugged.

That morning was -13c and it was VERY VERY difficult to start. it needed to be plugged in AND have a boost.

I've been thinking about putting together a few different items on one plug

specifically a small trickle charger for the battery, a battery warmer and the block heater all on one plug.

Anyone have any ideas or input on cold morning starts?

thanks guys.

LeeG · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2007, 11:53:30 pm »

Good compression,
Thin oil
Working Glow plugs
Good Injector spray pattern
Good battery
good battery connections
Fuel that hasnt gelled overnight
Timing set to spec

With all that it should fire right up. Lacking on some of those, a way to keep the motor warm would be good.

Where is Bell City? :oops:

jtanguay · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2007, 01:19:20 am »

set your timing to about 1.05. i did that with mine and it starts up pretty nice.

corroded wires are probably one main cause of bad cold starts in any car due to lack of cold starting juice...

hehe there seems to be many 'cold start issue' threads popping up lately... should probably read the other threads and sum it all up.

BellCityDubber · « **Reply #3 on:** February 06, 2007, 07:44:01 am »

Thanks guys. I know I really REALLY should have searched before posting... but I thought I'd let people in on my little contraption of the battery heater, triclke charger and block heater all on one plug.

Quote from: "LeeG"

Good compression,
Thin oil
Working Glow plugs
Good Injector spray pattern
Good battery
good battery connections
Fuel that hasnt gelled overnight
Timing set to spec

With all that it should fire right up. Lacking on some of those, a way to keep the motor warm would be good.

Where is Bell City? :oops:

as for the following

I haven't tested my compression, so I have no idea where it's at, but I would assume it's good..
it was my grandparents old car, I don't think they'd be able to kill it even if they tried.

I'm still running rotella T (15w40 not such a good choice in the winter, I know)

I JUST replaced my glowplugs in november, so they should be good.

Injector spray pattern - not a friggin clue.. maybe bad... injectors havent been serviced since day one since my grandparents bought it.

Battery and battery connections should be in top shape, the battery shows 12.3v after a night of sitting and there's no corrosion on the terminals.

The fuel... I don't know but I would tend to doubt that it's gelled.

Timing... not a friggin clue.. I can do it on a gasser, but I dont wanna mess about with my diesel too much.

oh yea..
and bell city..
it's Brantford, Ontario - Home of Wayne Gretzky

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2007, 08:15:51 am »

Greetings from the even colder Great White North... Edmonton !

I agree with the previous posters: good battery, good wires, good grounds, good compression, good timing, and a good thin oil will mean your diesel will start under just about any condition Ontario can throw at it.

Batterys are more about cranking amps than voltage... a battery shop will quickly be able to analyse your entire charging system and tell you the cold cranking amps of your battery (it decreases with age).

15W whatever is probably quite a bit too thick for cold weather... which means your entire engine is glued together when it's cold. I run Castrol Synthentic 5W-50 which is turbo-diesel rated and has a very nice range for us Canucks for all year use... even a 10W something would be noticably different than the 15W you currently have.

I havaen't done it in my diesel, but I did run a block heater / battery warmer / trickle charger on one plug in my gasser... turns out that batteries warm up quite a bit when trickle charged so the battery blanket was redundant in the end.

And, like I said, if all your systems are in good shape you shouldn't need any extra do-dads... although I like using a block heater for an hour or so when its -25 or worse just to take the strain of the engine and get the heater going faster.

Vince

dieselsnowmobile · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2007, 09:25:22 am »

I run Rotella 5w40 Synthetic. Make sure your oil is for diesel engines with the "C" for compression ignition. There are lots of threads with information on what oil to run. You will be amazed at the difference in changing to a thinner Sythetic oil in your cold starting woes.

Typrus · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2007, 10:57:32 am »

Schaeffer's Supreme 7000 15W-40. No problems starting in the cold we've gotten recently (-17F a few nights) even when we forget the block heater. The TDI I mean. The 7.3L Powerstroke lugs a little bit but fires up, and considering its injectors are fired by the lubrication oil, I'd say it must be thin enough. The Toyota Tercel gasser I have also runs half Supreme 7000 and Half Mobil 1 Full Syn 15w-40. She lugs slightly but starts. Mostly I blame my crappy carburetor in the Terc.
The gear lube will almost kill it on some mornings when I let it out in neutral. Lol.

I don't think its a bad idea. I've considered a trickle-charger (a slight input charge will warm the battery SLIGHTLY) an oil-pan type heater, just attached to the tranny, and a good block heater.
Make sure you keep under 15amps though. Thats not too tough. Our 1000watt block heater in the TDI is 8.3 amps or so. Add a .25 amp trickle charger and a 1 amp blanket-heater, no biggie.

I actually know 2 people who have a block heater, oilpan heater, and battery blanket all tied into one 3-plug Y-adapter hidden cleverly behind the grille.

To be quite honest, a block heater, at least, is a good thing to have year-round. Less fuel wasted heating the block on startup, oil gets to where it needs to go faster, and the biggest plus? Near instant heat in the mornings. Year-round a block-heater is a good idea. If you leave at a consistent time every morning, I'd get a heavy-duty outdoor timer and set it for the time leading up to your normal departure. Maybe 1 hour on in the summer and 2-3 hours in the winters.

jtanguay · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2007, 11:22:19 am »

i'd say just buy a big 1500 watt coolant heater. 1 hour on that thing and your motor will be right up to running temp :wink:

bert · « **Reply #8 on:** February 06, 2007, 12:02:05 pm »

No,guys stop worrying,our main man tony blair is on about global warming,so in a few years you wont need block heaters and stuff,they will start easier :wink:
Bert

jtanguay · « **Reply #9 on:** February 07, 2007, 05:14:25 am »

stupid global warming... people actually think that its our greenhouse gases... man its all the volcano's fault. they put out wayyyy more greenhouse gases than all the cars in the world put together

BLAME volcano's!!! :lol: oh and those forest fires started by lightning... yep nature destroys itself :lol:

its still really cold here in Canada!!! i'm still waiting on this so called 'global warming'... can't wait until California is underwater! poor Arnold!

BellCityDubber · « **Reply #10 on:** February 07, 2007, 08:00:59 pm »

uhmm....

thanks for the input guys. I think I might want to take my diesel to get compression checked, my spare set of injectors cleaned and installed.. and maybe do a timing belt and get timing done.....

but I gotta get my brakes done first

saurkraut · « **Reply #11 on:** February 08, 2007, 06:06:11 am »

15W40 IS TOO THICK FOR WINTER USE! Its not just a little thing. Its the root cause of your problem.

Befor you spend money looking every where else. Change your oil to a Synthetic diesel oil with a viscosity of 5W40.

Read every other post thats says "my diesel won't start" if you need clearfication.

myke_w · « **Reply #12 on:** February 08, 2007, 07:09:46 am »

I second the 15w40 being too thick.. There's a lot of debate on the topic of oil, so I'm probably opening a can of worms..

For your climate I'd suggest running a 0w-40 like this VollSynthese Energy 0W-40 HD, a 5w30 Syn, or a syn 5w40.
The last couple mornings at below 0 F - my Vanagon was complaining a bit about turning over even with 5w40 in it, I know it wouldn't have started with a 15w without a block heater.
Personally, I run 5w40 year round in all my diesel vehicles with no issues, It's thin enough to start in the dead cold and thick enough to make good oil pressure (9 psi at idle and 30- 50 lb at speed) even when the oil temp is over 135C.
If I would've known it was going to be this cold here, I might have picked up some 0w-40 just to see if it would help get her going faster.. less wear etc...

akrallysport · « **Reply #13 on:** February 09, 2007, 12:59:23 pm »

Switch to a 5W__ synthetic, now.

Two weeks ago, on the coldest morning I ran out of power to crank it since I was still running 10w40 even leaving the block heater plugged in for a good 2 hours. By the end of the week I had installed a new battery and changed to 5W30. I don't even need to plug it in at -15°C, although it takes longer to warm up.

Stanadyne, good glow plugs (4 months old), good batt, good starter. Although I am now considering a battery warmer.

BellCityDubber · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2007, 10:24:54 am »

Quote from: "akrallysport"

Switch to a 5W__ synthetic, now.

I love it.. everyone telling me to switch "NOW"

the brakes need work. aside from starting it this afternoon (which has been pretty warm for February) it hasn't got more than 2k rpm a maybe a whole 15 minutes run time since I made the original post

lol

Thanks for all the posts on the oil info guys. I've been working on another winter beater at the moment. so I wont need to know about cold starts