Mutt68

It has been below zero the last 3-4 mornings and not above 14 during the day around here. She has not been started in over a week. She was not plugged in at all. Went out this morning ...13 below and she fired up. This truck is amazing. My Ford (2000 Super Duty) would have NEVER done that without being plugged in....and even then it was questionable.

Matt

patdaly

Welcome to the world of Cummins........ Just don't tell your Ford friends, they won't believe you anyway.

But that's pretty normal, it is better if you plug her in though, less wear and tear.

nsxt

Until it gets warmed up, mine sounds like a powerstroke at that temperature. Helluva racket.

jughead

aint never been in those temps. a few years back on a bet which i won it was 17 above and a couple of my rowdy friends bet my 90 would not start without help. no pre-heat it started on the first revolution. they just stood there with their mouths open.

klx650a2

I've fired mine up at -26F with a 20 mph wind blowing right at the front end all night and not plugged in (tripped the gfi breaker). It was not happy and it almost died a few times when it hit the 3 cylinder high idle, but it went. Yea, the power stroke guys just look when its so cold and the old girl turns over twice and fires right up...

welder 59

No way near this cold here in NC. What temp do you usually plug in? It's supposed to get to 16 tonight. My 01 made one heck of a racket this moning till it warmed.

klx650a2

For me, anything colder than -5 Celsius (23 F) and its plugged in for at least 4 hours. Anything colder than -20 F, 6 hours. That block weighs 1050 some odd pounds, with 10 quarts of oil and 6 gallons of antifreeze. Doing the math, a 750 watt heater needs time to warm it up. I would put a oil pan heater on too. Once the oil is warm, it then warms up the crank, rods and bottom of the block itself. Electricity is cheap compared to buying a new truck and since the 5.9 is not made anymore...

welder 59

Thanks. It's getting plugged in tonight.

HOBrian

Want to have some fun? Go to ford dealer this weekend and try to test drive a diesel. I went last year with a friend and the told me they miss placed the keys and said to test drive a gasser instead.

BMH95

Mine started ok last night, at -8F. It did some odd things though. Really slow crank (100K on factory batteries), and very erratic idle until I got it levelled out at 1100.

It had been outside at the airport since 4am. It started to gell the fuel filter on the way home when the temp got to -18F. I got it to a fuel station before it froze solid and dumped a healthy dose of diesel power into it. After a few minutes I could maintain highway speeds again. It caught me off guard, and I initially thought the downshift / power loss was the trans going. Then I figured out it was falling on it's face when I gave her some go pedal. It steadily was dropping speed from about 70 down to not being able to get her over 50mph when I got off the highway. The station was only two minutes past the exit, and I closed off the nose flaps to keep as much heat in the engine compartment as possible. I made it and she responded to the PS. She's pugged in again right now, and it's still -12F. I can't remember this area of IL ever being this cold before. I didn't get here until the late 70's though.

Mutt68

Normally I do plug her in when it is below zero. But I was up at the cabin and the electrical in that old shack is not up to the draw of my block heater (trips the GFI). So she sat 6 days in the cold. I was impressed. I had already called a friend to be on stand by to come and tow her to a heated polebarn. But she fired up with no help. Got to love it.

BMH95

I think if I had to start it without electricity to warm it up, I would definitely be switching to 5W40 engine oil. I run 15W40 all year, but that is because I RARELY have to start it cold.

klx650a2

I run 0w40 synthetic in the winter and 15w40 in the summer. Once I get my vacuum pump leak fixed, it will be 0w40 synthetic all year long.