Over the weekend, we picked up a 2006. Over the many years of being here on DTR, I've learned some good tips on cold starting/warming/driving my 1995.
So, I'm curious to know what tips and tricks you guys employee on starting/cold-driving your 3rd Gen's - things that are not in the manual.

Example:
On my 1995 I follow the following:

1) Once started, I shift to Neutral as I've been told the Dodge transmission does not circulate fluid while in park.

2) I use a PVC pipe to hold the RPM's around 1100 to help give the alternator a little help when the grid heater cycles.

3) Once the grid heater is no longer cycling, I keep the RPM's below 1800 until the water temp reaches 140. (This one is complements of Jack Thorpe. He figured that this helps reduce the stress on cold head-gaskets).

So, with the new(er) 2006, I was just curious what steps you guys take to start/warm-up/cold-drive the newer generation trucks - steps that are not outlined in the manual.

Just curious.
Thanks.

 

All the above sounds good...except on an '06 you should have the high idle feature using the cruise control buttons...the buttons let you idle up to 1500 rpm's.

 

I am absolutely the wrong person to answer this one.

I turn key, start, once oil pressure is up, go.

I have no heater grid to worry about (deleted)
I have smarty to provide high idle.
Head freeze plugs are screwed in so no worries on popping one of those cold.
ARP625's torqued to 160ftlbs takes care of the headgasket.
My Goerend transmission does circulate fluid in park....

Sorry, I am no help at all.

Cheers.

 

Whaaaaat?
I must've missed that one.
I read through the manual and did not see this feature.
Was this available right from the factory or does it require an additional TSB?

 

Go out to your truck and try it...put it in park, set the parking brake. Press the top button on the left side to turn on the cruise....then press the bottom button on the left to start the high idle...it should ramp up to 1100RPM's...raise or lower the RPM's by using the right side buttons.

If for some reason it doesnt work, then the feature needs to be activated by a dealer flash,,they flashed mine for free...works great to warm up the truck!

let us know how it goes.

 

Cool, thanks.

Guess thats better than my current PVC pipe.

 

You don't have to set the parking brake. Just crank truck, leave it in park, Turn on the cruise, and hit set. It should idle up to 1000rpms. Mash the brake pedal or hit cancel and it will idle back down to normal. If it is real cold outside it will do this automatically if it is below a certain temp for a certain amount of time.

 

My truck doesn't get much use in the winter anymore but for cold Canada, it's best to plug in the block heater below -10C/+15F.

Cycle the grid heaters several times. Turn key on, wait until the grid heater light goes out. Turn key off and repeat.

15W-40 Dino engine oil is very thick in cold weather. 10W-30 dino oil is much better for cold starts or synthetic 10W-40 or something similar.

The cruise control high idle is fantastic in cold weather.

In very cold weather, with cold wind chill, my truck would cool off on the highway when empty. I had to use some cardboard to partially block off the radiator.

 

I keep mine pulled in starting in mid oct not only dose it keep the colant around 130 it also keeps the windshield frost free.

 

Kick the tires and light the fires! I am horrible at warm up / cool down......

 

Thanks guys.
So, last night, with the truck fairly warm after a recent drive, I attempted to force the high idle using the cruise control - nothing.

Truck was in park, parking brake was set, started up, set cruise control (Light on dash came on), nothing changed on the RPM's.
Used the Accel/Decel buttons - nothing.
Tried several combination of cruise buttons - nothing.
Pretty safe bet that this truck does not have the TSB that enables the cruise control to manipulate high idle.

As for standard high idle when cold, we have not seen it exhibit this behavior yet either.
Its been cold enough for the WTS light to come on, but it has never ran high idle yet.

 

Yeah, the parking brake doesn't need to be on...just kind of a disclaimer.

You probably already tried this, but turn on the cruise (green light on dash comes on) with the left upper button..then "set" the cruise with the lower left button..that should ramp it up to 1100 RPM's. If not, then just get it enabled at the dealer.

 

Thanks MTC,
Tried that, nothing happened.
There is also a steering link recall that needs to be done. So, when its back at the shop, I'll ask them to enable the high idle as well.

Thanks guys.

 

You can do that or you can have a local friend with a Smarty program a tune in it then back it back out to stock. It will be enabled then.

 

Another alternative is a PacBrake, which will activate at low coolant temps, to help warm the engine faster.
It engages when the truck is stationary, and the company says it reduces warm-up time by half.