Midwest winter vs. M1009: the cold won

[HardCorps79]

So the subzero midwestern temps finally bested my big steel beast. Glow plugs seem to be working, as the truck started all day yesterday and the day before with temps around 10*F. Admittedly it would take 2-4 tries of letting them cycle, cranking for 10 seconds and then letting the starter cool for 1 minute between tries. But it was starting.

Unfortunately, apparently all that cranking over the last three days left my batteries in the toilet. (My drive is only about 1.5 miles- not enough to recharge them). Today with temps right around 0*F and windchill well below that, the truck just couldn't get its game on.

Tried jumping it from the wife's mini-van, but the tiny civi battery just couldn't support the draw of the truck. Got desperate and gave it a tiny shot of starting fluid (I know, I know) but to no avail.

Guess I'm buying a battery charger on my lunch break (Father-in-law finally took his back.) Hopefully that will do the trick. Otherwise, it may be time for new plugs.

And here I had been bragging that my truck had no problems starting in sub-zero temps...

 

[Scarecrow1]

Now you really didn't think it would stick you on a nice day did you It never fails BAD weather =========== Dead batteries ...........

 

[1stDeuce]

So you're starting a diesel at very low temps, and then driving it 1.5 miles and shutting it off?? Good luck keeping that one together. That's hard on a normal engine, but really hard on a diesel, particularly a hard starting one... You might want to consider getting some sort of $500 POS car for that commute. Or at least change the 6.2 to synthetic oil and get a couple of magnet heaters on a timer to warm it for a few hours before you fire it up. I'd say if you're not running it for at least 15 minutes, you're really not even getting it warm, let alone charging the batts, as you now noticed...

I let mine run intil the high idle kicks down before I flog it down the road... Not a bad plan just to get the oil warmed up some. Also, all that hard starting will build up a lot of excess diesel in the oil from the difficult starts. As you can imagine, diesel is not so good as a bearing lube in the engine, and you can eventually do damage that way too.
Best of luck!
C

 

[HardCorps79]

I do let it run for more than just the commute- I normally fire it up around 0700 and do let it run until the idle kicks down and warm it up for a good 15 minutes. Then when I get to work I keep it running in the parking lot for a good 5-10 minutes (enough time to smoke my once daily cigarette [old habit].) So it usually runs for 15-30 minutes each day, but probably less in the evenings. I normally just run it until the idle kicks down and then drive it home. Thanks for the info wrt the diesel buildup in the engine oil.

Incidentally, I was thinking of looking into a plug-in type block heater (we used to have them all over the place when I was growing up in Minnesota). Anyone have experience installing one on the 6.2 or recommendations of where to get one?

 

[jmmay82]

You could just get the kind of heater that goes in the lower radiator hose its pretty simple install and works almost as good as the one the goes in a freeze plug

 

[gasman]

Hard Corp just read the PM just sent to you. Magnetic block heaters from NAPA and 24 volt 5 amp chargers from NAPA

 

[jsrovers]

It got me too! It started great in the morning. I drove about 40 miles to Fleet Farm, parked it, went into the store for about 1.5 hrs. Came out and all it did was crank, and crank, and crank. Gelled up on me. Dumped in a bottle of diesel 911 and had it towed back to the house. Plugged it into the block heater for 30 min and she fired up no problem. It is -3 right now. With the wind chill probably around -20 F. I will let you know how she starts in this. Maybe have to make a you tube vid.
I am going to be installing a tach and a temp guage next week. Want to put on a winter front (cardboard) and need the temp guage to make sure she isnt overheating.

 

[HardCorps79]

Okay- so it warmed up to 19*F now, on my lunch break. Got in, and let it cranked for 10 seconds . It was struggling, but wouldn't quite catch, but it was SO close. Waited 1 min. Tried again. She coughed, sputtered some nasty gray smoke, huge billows of white, and roared into glorious diesel burning life. Have had her running out in the drive for the past 20 minutes. Hopefully the batteries are charged enough for one last round trip to work (I REALLY hate having to ride shotgun in the wife's minivan )

Guess I'll pick up a charger and slow-charge the batts this evening and add a magnetic heater. (I really don't want to mess with a freeze plug when it's gonna be 10* tonight- ^no garage^ )