I tried starting this morning, 16 F, and without being plugged in, still no go. If it was plugged in I am sure it would start. The fuel heater does not seem to get warm, but it is hard to tell how much heat one should be able to feel on the outside. Inconclusive.
The fuel heater is a long way away from the injectors, it is difficult to imagine that would cause a no start. I can see how it might make it run rough, but it does not even try to fire, it just turns over.

 

If you were to plug it in, you would feel the heat on the canister... I don't think it gets hot enough from a cold start to feel. I could be wrong tho. I'm in the same boat at the moment. Our situations sound similar, except I have a few injector codes. I'm taking mine in on friday...

 

You need to plug in the engine block heater for a few hours and get it started. After that, you need to add anti-gel to the fuel. My truck was flawless for cold starting until this year at about 12F. It took me a little to get it started. I ended up filling the tank since it was 1/2 full and adding a whole bottle of PowerService and driving it around until it was up to full operating temp. It was about 5F and no problem unplugged this morning.

 

Are you talking about the fuel filter? I did not realize that teh fuel filter/canister had a heating element in it.

 

Yes, the fuel filter canister has a heating element in it.

 

I don't what to say. I have added fuel treatment, drove it up snowmobiling. It started fine after sitting for 4 hours in 13 F temp. But then when it cools down completely it won't fire. I guess I can either plug it in all the time, like I did with my old Ford, or I can take it to the shop and we can try to figure this out with a little professional help and a scanner.

 

Do you get the voltage drop when you turn the key to on?

 

Yes, the meter drops and the dome lights dim slightly.

 

I just got a call from the authorized Cummins shop that has my 03 Dodge. The high pressure pump is bad. It causes the hard starts. They said it was hardly putting anything out.
Cause: high miles is certainly a contributing factor, but mainly it is the new fuel that is hard on the pump. When they took the sulfur out, it removed all the lubrication. I was not running an additive and the so the pump failed.

Moral of the story - we must now run a lubrication additive in the fuel.

Thanks for all the help.

 

If your truck has less than 100k miles, it's covered under warranty.

 

No such luck, 127,000 miles. But the price they gave me seemed very reasonable, about 1500 installed. If that fixes it for another 127,000 I would be happy with that.