Hello everyone...

A cold start is any start where the temp is below freezing...I have posted this before, A good rule of thumb is the truck should be plugged in 1 hour for every 10 degrees below freezing. Starting the truck cold down to around 20 below has about the same wear as a 1000 miles of hard running, any cold starting below those temps can cause extreme wear in the cylinders, Now I know your oil says a pour point to -50, how many of you have set a quart of oil out over night at that temp and tried to pour it, well I have and it pours like thick molasses that's been in the refrigerator. When you start the truck it will suck a hole out of the center leaving the rest of the oil in the pan until it warms it enough to flow. I am waiting for all supporting data from a friend of mine that works for a cold weather testing lab that does testing for all sorts of companies up here.

 

so what are you sayin? I have a magnetic heater in the shop. Should i be stickin that on the pan for an hour or so before i start the truck or is the factory block heater good enuf?

 

You could, or you can do what we do, and buy oil pan heaters and glue them on and run that up to a five way plug (two 3 ways plugged together) and then run a cord out to the front. Read my sig. I have my oil/ tranny pad heaters and block heater using 3 of the 5 and my 2 battery heaters plugged into the other two. The cord that sticks out the front runs to a thermostat that is mounted on my heater hose and monitors the water temp, then a cord runs to my 5 way.

You can then unplug/plug in what you need according to what the temps will be...

 

Paul that is interesting info. Where I am we certainly don't get alot of freezing weather, but it will dip into the teens on occasion. 20s more often. Do you have any info on plugging in the truck if it is around 40-50? Is a 45 degree start up harder on the engine than say a 75 degree start up? Any thoughts on the high idle for warm up before starting off?

Typically I plug in (if im at home) when it gets down around 35-40 degrees. But when im at work, I can't plug in. If it is 20 degrees I just have to crank and let the high idle (from the cruise control) do it's thing for 15 minutes or so. Thoughts?

 

You won't have any problems with the oil at those temps but around 20 below and colder test have shown that the oil pump can create a vacume after it sucks the line clear. I would plug in anytime you can. I am waiting on some data but talking to him 20 above should be OK considering your not doing that every day like we are. Anyone living in areas where temps drop below zero should have a pan heaters also.

 

The only problem with your old school arguement is that we now have synthetic oils that have no issues up to -40f.

 

You can believe that if you want, but synthetic oil is pretty thick at 20 below.

 

I am from the southwest mountains of VA, and I don't remember the last time that I saw -20, but 0 and -5 blows through a few times during the winter season and my father has gotten away with 8 years of winter cold starts with 467K on his 99' CTD with only plugging in the engine heater. When he starts it, he throws it in neutral and sets the parking brake and lets it idle for anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes before he takes off when it's that cold...if a cold start has the effects of 1000 HARD driven miles, then my father's truck more than likely is sitting closer to 600K.

Derek

 

Ive got to agree with you there derek. If all that extra stuff was needed (battery warmer, oil pan heater, transmission heater, etc.) I would think they would be factory options for those of us who live in areas that get below zero temps all year round.

 

That IS interesting info. Seeing as how in Canada where we actually get COLD, you see many Cummins trucks with upwards of 500 000 KM's on them. Do you have hard proof that a cold start at -20 causes equal wear to 1000 miles of hard running?

 

In addition, I did my own test with Esso XD3 0W40-widely known in Canada where it gets cold (did I mention that?) at -32 degrees celsius. This is COLD. The stuff poured like it was a warm spring day. Group III 5w40 did not do so well. I won't even mention regular 15w40. There are oils out there that do perform in these temps.

 

Man, and I thought my 36 degrees start today was a cold start. It seems pretty warm seeing those temps up north

 

THAT'S WHAT I'M SCREAMIN', if it's below 40*, I run to the truck in my undies and let 'er warm up for 20-30mins.

 

I dont live in Alaska or Canada, but I have started my truck plenty of times in 30 degree weather. It always starts right up after I let the grid heater run 5-10 seconds and I usually let it warm up for 10-15 minutes before I drive it. Then once I drive it, I go easy and try to stay below 2000 RPMs. They say cold weather is the worst thing an engine endures. I respect it for what it is and try to let the truck get to 190-200 before I accelerate too hard. Never plugged my truck in though, probably never will.

 

I'm sure glad I have Delvac 1 in the motor. We had clouds today!