Jimminyc

With no block heater????

So, me and a few buddies went snow camping last night. Got back to my truck and my dodge turned over fast, but wouldnt catch. I finally got a jump from a friend, put a tarp around the engine compartment, started my camp stove under my rig and it finally started up.
I have brand new batteries, new starter and its all tuned up. I was holding the throttle at 1/4 like they reccomend.
I was happy with how long it accualy turned over. Just wondering if theres anything i can do to help things along next time??
Is starting fluid ever an option? Would it help if i unpluggled the intake heater and sprayed some in?
other options.
It was dang cold, and i didnt want to screw with my rig. Fun though.

dieselman2300

It should start no problem. It was -2 in Chicago this morning and my 97 fired right up.
Are both of your grid heaters working? You cant go by the volt gauge in the truck. The easiest way to check them is to have the truck cold, get a multimeter and put one lead on the neg. side of the battery, and the other lead on the grid heater lug on the air horn, then have someone turn the key to on.
You have to check both lugs. It should read somewhere around 10 volts or higher.then have someone turn the key to on.
If only none or only one of them read you need new relays. They are mounted on the drivers side fender under the battery.

You also need to check to see if you have no fuel leaks. Easiest way is to pressurize the system with 10 psi or less of regulated shop air. Just wrap the air hose nozzle with a rag and stick it in the fuel filler. Have someone look for drips.

If your truck doesnt stay primed with fuel (air leaks) it is very hard to start when cold and will smoke ALOT.

chariotdriver

If you use starting fluid, make sure you disconnect the grid heaters. If you don't, there is a better than average chance you will remove them from the engine with a big bang! I've used wd-40 and spray it in the port where my boost gauge hooks up. My grid heaters have been gone for 5 years and I carry wd-40 and use it below about 10*F. Works like a champ. Hope this helps. cd

Dartmouth 12V

dieselman2300 hit the two most probable causes. I would look into the gridheaters and fuel leaks. The other way to tell whether you have an air leak is if the truck fires up when it has been recently shut down but requires a lot of cranking if it has been off for a while.

There are two other possible but less likely causes. Depending on your fuel and how cold it was, you may have been gelled up but I doubt it. If the truck had power after it started, this is unlikely. Also, your shutdown solenoid may not have been pulling up but it is rare for it then to go and work.

As far as starting fluid goes, it is a bad idea with these engines. The grid heaters can ignite it in the intake and cause an explosion. While it is possible to disconnect the grid heaters and start the truck with ether, there are many of us who have started trucks at -30 unplugged so you should never have to do this. Also, many people that engines can become addicted to ether if you use it a lot.

Jimminyc

Well, it was deffinetly getting fuel. It was smoking like a pig. It would sort of catch now and then, but it took a long time to go...then it barely idled for about a minute burning a ton of fuel, and all at once, it smoothed out.
Ill check the heaters. I didnt know there were two.
So just check voltage at both of those connections on top of the grid heater?
If they are getting volts, does that mean they are working?

dieselman2300

White smoke and stumbling is also a sign of air in the fuel system.

Yes, check the voltage at both of the lugs on the air horn/air intake. If they are getting voltage, then yes they are working.

I just had one of my relays go out about 2-3 weeks ago. The truck would start, but not easily.

One other thing to check is where the relays are on the fender (under the battery) there are 4 big wires and 4 little wires with rubber 90* boots on them. They have a tendency to fall off.
Also, make sure you have 12 volys to the relays to. If you look at the driver side battery, there are 2 bigger sized wires that run to the relays, you should have 12 volts to the side the wires hook to on the relay. If you dont have 12 volts the fusible link is burned up.

Diesel-nut

My 94 started right up and it was -2 at the time earlier today. Just bought the truck this morning. 188,700 miles on it.

thewished

Anything under 20* and it takes a little throttle to start it up. But if I have my cold fronts in it starts way easier but it doesn't like the real cold without being plugged in.

marv h.

jimminyc, Where were you, and how cold was it?

dieselman2300

Just wanted to post this.
Last night in Chicago the windchills were -30*. I didnt plug the truck in last night because I installed an AIRDOG system yesterday and I wanted to see how easy it would start up in the cold.
Well, I cycled the grid heaters twice and it fired right up in 2-3 seconds.
This was at 6:00am.
This is on my 97 12 valve.

95dodgectd

and even easier way to see if your grid heaters are working is waiting untill you truck is cold and go out and start it like after its been sitting for 4-5hrs depending on how cold it is outside and then start it and watch the voltmeter, if it moves up and down its working, i know mine doesn't work cause its pain to start if i don't plug it in when its below 40 out, and when i start my truck the voltmeter goes right up to around 14 and stays there.

Dartmouth 12V

The trouble with this method is that there are two grid heaters and it only verifies that at least one of them is working. You really need to check both which means using a voltmeter at the grids.

Jimminyc

Ok, just checked the voltage. 12V to one, and zero to the other. Must be a Relay issue.

dieselman2300

And the thing is, they only come in a pair.

People used to say it was a dealer only item, but I found them at rockauto.com under multi-purpose relay.

I then called NAPA and had the cross reference the part# and they had it at the warehouse, got it in about ann hour. There wasnt ANY dealers in Illinois that had the part in stock. It was a 3-6 day order time.

Here are the part #s from rockauto.com
STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS Part # RY441


Also check all of the wires at the relays under the driver battery. And also check the 12v feed lines to the relays, they have fusible links in them.


Dealer part # 56026842

HOHN

Ditto here. My 24V started in the Chicago cold without being plugged in AND without a second grid heater cycle. They stayed on the full 30sec, though!


How cold was it?

Well, I drove my truck 5 miles North to fill up at the Citgo in Northbrook, and I let it idle while I pumped. After I stuck the nozzle into the filler, I noticed that engine was idling up a bit. I thought, cool-- it's working as it's supposed to (see my APPS thread).

Then the 3cyl-idle kicked in!!! After driving for 5 miles! That's cold!

These are the days where the full synthetic oil sure is nice to have.

I had a bottle of Rotella 10w-30 in the bed of my truck, and I cracked it open for giggles. That oil is rated to a -40 pour point, and it was already the consistency of really thick syrup-- almost like honey!

Dino oil would HAVE to have the engine plugged in at these temps, imo.

JMO