i had my 1st gen sit for two weeks so i thought id make a cold start vid with a valve cover off to show how slow oil comes to the top when its cold out. it was -9 out here in toronto when i made the vid. oil psi does come up after bout 40 sec when its cold but for oil to come to top of motor long time just watch. so when its -10 out or lower let all diesels run for a few mins to let oil flow everywhere befor running the skinny pedal to the floor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qqCfrbq2uc

 

What weight oil? Why all the leaves?

 

truck sat for while under a few trees

15/40 diesel oil

 

its a beautiful thing watching them in harmony

 

All the more reason to run synthetic. Good video to show what is actually happening on a cold start..

 

Why do the valves look like they don't run smooth? In the first min of video one valve is just a bobbin away the other isn't moving at all?

 

Remember back when The Dukes of Hazzard was on TV? They'd spin the tires but the back wheels on the General Lee looked like they were standing still or turning backwards - same thing here. The valve motion happened to line up with the frame rate.

 

Ah ha. Makes sense!

 

15w40 in winter? Yikes. I saw a video of a small little 4 banger car in school that showed what different weights of oil flow like in cold weather, -30*c in their tests. They pulled the valve cover off and the engine was filled with 0w30. Start the car up and oil flows quick and gets to the valvetrain almost instantly. 5w30 the oil took a little longer to get flowing. They ended the video with the car running 10w30 and it took about 30 secs before oil started to flow onto the valvetrain. Thats a lot of idling with no lubrication. It really made me realize the importance of running a lighter oil in the winter. Mobil 0w40 full synthetic for my rigs. It sure helps them crank over easier too when its cold out.

 

when it's that cold you don't plug it in? Seems kind of crazy that if you live North of where I am this would be a no brainer as it would be roughly 100* upon start up.

 

Anyone know the official temp range of 15/40?

 

its not a dailey driver it just sits on the driveway there for i dont bother to plug it in. i just start it every week or 2