Hard starting on this cold 60 deg day

[RaggedyMan]

Rhetorical rant
Thought I would drive "Jules" (When I was thinking of a name for my truck a friend said "that is such a bad mother *****r", think Pulp Fiction)..... but I digress, thought I would drive Jules to the big box hardware store. When I went to warm him up I didn't think it was going to start, never had any indication of hard starting. So now I'm thinking I'll just have to park it for the winter.
Just kidding......I think, I know one hard start doesn't necessarily mean anything but that's how my mind works, besides it gives me something to worry about.

 

[JDToumanian]

Unless your engine is really clapped out, I would blame something other than the weather... My deuce starts the same - that is, instantly - right down to freezing. I've started it on a 25 degree morning covered with snow and it only cranked maybe 1 second. If it's not clapped out, I'd check any rubber fuel lines and o-rings, and make sure your in-tank pump is running. Maybe the cooler weather caused some tiny crack or hole to let a little bit of air into the system.

Jon

 

[OilfieldRoughneck]

Could it be old or crappy fuel? I had that once

 

[Rmtaunton]

That and adjust valves,

Very easy to do and mine started soo much quicker in winter with more pep,,, it should be done anyway

 

[Akicita]

If it started fine before, I'd start with checking the tank, fuel filters and lines. I replaced my original fuel filters from last century with spin-on filters and haven't had a problem since. Even on cold days when ice and snow are on the ground and the cold wind is a-blowing, the Deuce is the one vehicle that starts right up outside my house.

 

[rustystud]

I agree with all the previous posts here. You probably have a fuel problem and the weather was nice enough to show you ! Now you can fix it before it becomes a major problem. Are you still running the original fuel lines ? Remember rubber hose has a fixed life expectancy and will start to deteriorate. Sometimes from the inside out.

 

[Tracer]

Agreed, I had a similar problem when the temp got down to around 40 degrees. So I started by changing the primary filter, and when I drained it I noticed moisture in the fuel. Changed out the secondary filters as well, and treated the fuel with a popular diesel additive (white or silver bottle can't remember the name) that removes moisture from the system, and that seemed to solve the problem.

 

[RaggedyMan]

Was out of town for the weekend so I thought I'd give it a try a little while ago and it's even cooler today. Decided I would let the tank pump run a little bit longer (something I failed to do last time) but when I turned the switch, nothing.....I had one dead battery (but that's a different post). So, reading through the responses; Checking the rubber fuel lines is certainly a good idea, the fuel has been in the tank 2-3 weeks, it's almost full and has maybe 10 gals of 5 micron filtered wmo in it and additive. Adjusting the valves; something I've never done but I'm sure the TM's spell it out. I installed spin on filters about 50 miles ago but I will check the primary for trash/water. I'll advise as this progresses.

Thank you guys for the responses. Naturally I'll have to get the battery situation thing worked out first but if you have any other ideas I'm all ears

 

[MWMULES]

WMO is good in summer, not so good in cold.

 

[RaggedyMan]

WMO is good in summer, not so good in cold.

I thought about that too but hoping I was mistaken.

 

[RaggedyMan]

Yeah, so I charged the battery overnight and when I went to start it this morning it took a while but finally started. I let the in-tank pump run a bit hoping that would do it but no luck. After work I guess I'll start checking for water or trash in the system.

 

[RaggedyMan]

I put two new 31 series batteries in (31p30 I think) and no more problems, ordered them on line to pick up at AA. With discount code trt30 I saved about $84 (had to order each one separately in order to save the most)

Conclusion; get rid of those "Barbie" batteries and install the proper batteries. I did have to modify my plastic battery box to hold them but it was a simple "reverse the bolts holding the battery box handles".

 

[BnaditCorps]

bad batteries. Well that is better than some other thing that could have gone wrong