I moved out to an area in the vicinity of Kansas City, MO and heard about the harsh winters out there. I bought my first diesel truck in Cali and never had to worry about cold weather since the temperature doesn't dip below 55ish.

My drive to work is really short (appx 2 miles from my home driveway to my work parking lot). The temperature reading barely gets to normal before I shut the truck down. I'm thinking of driving around before I actually get to work so that I can make sure the fluids get to normal operating temperature before I shut down.

I read a few threads that had some pointers about taking care of the truck during the winter and I heard of initiating high ide and covering the grille. Another thing I heard about was using a block heater, but I don't have access to an electrical outlet. What are other things I can do to "winterize" the truck? When I get an oil change from the local Dodge dealership prior to winter, what should I ask for that they can do? Should I even be worried about the cold weather?

Any help or comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

WB

 

I don't know how cold it get there, But I live in northern alberta Canada I've started mine at -22F without being plugged in and had no problems, I don't use a winter front and don't do anything to winterize it, just change the fuel filter before winter starts. Check to see if your truck actually has a block heater cord I've heard that some trucks don't have one.

 

Thanks Caper. I just got back from the Dodge Dealership and he pretty much told me the same thing. It doesn't get cold enough here to go through all the motions. It does snow, which means I'll probably end up changing the fuel filter and get the oil changed and get some more aggressive tires before mid-october.