I discovered this morning the breaker had tripped for the plug in two of were using to plug in our vehicles at work. We had no power to the block heaters all night long. This morning at -30C the truck actually started very well. I have 5w30 synthetic oil in it and that probably helped some, but the truck turned over a couple times and fired on all six. It really didn't make a lot more noise than plugged in starts. I was quite impressed.

My co-workers truck is a ford 6.0 diesel. It also started but noticeably more smoke and racket. It was interesting to see these things will start OK in the cold.

Brian

 

Mine has started four times at -13F/-25C, only once was it plugged in. It fired right up. The first time I started it at that temp I recycled it but the light went right out the second time so I never bothered again.

 

I wish I could say the same thing......not enough battery pwer to fire....so I guess I'll be getting a couple of new ones....

 

When I fired mine at -14F it ran on 4 cylinders for a few seconds and I had to crank it up twice (sputtered and died the first time). It had a good cold soak since it dropped to -19F and wasn't driven since the morning before. It smoothed out pretty fast and ran great other than a nice plume of smoke (or a ton of steam)
I was amazed at how quiet this truck was at those temps, my 2001 sounded terrible when it wasn't near that cold.

I have Amsoil 15W40 in mine, glad I got switched over!

Vaughn

 

Was in Cleveland Ohio last week and it was a few degrees below zero, and lord only knows what the windchill was. Truck sat for 2 days and not plugged in. Fired right up.

 

It was -31C here last night. Truck turned over a bit slower than normal in the morning but started and idled smoothly. I think it would still start at -35C, but I wouldn't want to try it unless I had another vehicle to use if I am wrong.

I'm sure plugging in is easier on the engine, but I am a bit curious to know the limit in case I have to leave it out in colder weather at some point without a plug in available.

 

-40 for 12 hrs with a bad cord and no power. A couple of tries and it was running smoothly with no extra noise or smoke. I'm impressed but it still is extremely hard on the motors.

 

That's impressive. It's good to know that in a pinch, with a fully charged battery, there is a good chance the truck will start.