Now we are getting to where common sense prevails. There are definatly times and or places that have extreem weather and in those times it makes sense to plug in. At temps of-15 deg. and lower all vehicals have trouble starting. Including gas engines. Now in places like Ak they are prepared for it and provide plug ins for employees and such. If I lived where I could plug in any time my truck would be parked for more than 3-4 hrs. I would plug in too. That is not the case with most people. If you are in that position, good for you. I will conceed that if available and the temps were going to be -15 or below I would plug in. There, I said it..... God forgive me.

 

One of the reasons I bought the Dodge was because plugging in was not needed , the Fords and Chevy diesels both need to be plugged to start when the temps drop below 0 , at least mine did . I have farm tractors that I wouldn't even think of trying without preheating and others I do not . Our trucks do not need it , it will not hurt it , I have not plugged one in since my first one in 91. Plugging will cause more condensation in a engine which will burn off if the oil reaches operation temp for a period of time but if not will cause problems . The best would be a heated garage and I very seldom ever ether any diesel , not a good thing , and never and engine with grid heater or glow plugs , very dangerous .There is a right way and a wrong way to ether if you do not know how do not do it ! Rotella is in all my diesels , the extra cost for synthetic is a waist of money , I have seen strong engines with 16000 hours and others with over a million miles on them using only it . A very few of our trucks may hold together that long not many . If you want it to last that long leaving it stock would be way better for it then plugging it in .

 

Mine got it's first tase of below 0 temps over Thanksgiving ( -5 ) not plugged it - and she started just fine - although I wish it didn't go strait to high idle when it's that cold, I'd prefer the oil got circulated around a bit first.

 

Yes mine started fine also... just sounded really harsh.

 

My Dad taught me years ago if I was plugging in a vehicle to wrap the extension cord over the driver's side mirror. That way you won't forget to unplug it.

I plug my truck in if temps get to +30*F. Truck will run fine at that temperature, but the driver is not happy sitting in a cold truck.

 

I was responding to the last post on the 1st page. I guess I didn't see the pages after it or something.

 

Cold starts are much easier with 5-40 vs. 15-40 and my truck runs alot smoother while warming up. It is a very noticable difference. I have never plugged-in my truck but it has not gotten colder than +4F in Delaware for many years. I usually have heat in 5-6 miles if I let the truck run on high-idle for 5 minutes before I leave the house.

 

the newer trucks must heat up slower than my 93,I start geting heat in less than three miles,and by the time I drive seven miles to work,I'm reaching for the lever to adjust the heat down.

 

My truck lives in a heated garage - never sees below 50 degrees while at home.

 

i have started mine at -18*F and it took at least 20 seconds to get oil preasure. and my fuel was also geled up. i drove for about 20 minutes before i had more than 0 psi of fuel preasure. it would not idle for about the first 5 minutes without my foot on the gas pedal. i also had to tap my gas pedal just a bit to get it to fire. it was also so cold that my juice display was blank for about the first 10 minutes. The coolist part was the white smoke that just poored out of my stacks all the way to work i planed on taking my car to work but it would not start so i had to take my truck that was not pluged in because i planed on taking the car. now i know that in an emergancy situation it will start if need but i will never do that again to my baby. i allways try to plug it in if i know i will be using it during the winter months. i am also going to try a slightly thiner oil too.

 

Seems easier to plug it in than to do all that ****.
Only sissies plug their trucks in.

That being said, mines plugged right now.

 

Flytrip; Your right Next time Ill pull the plug in out of my pocket and plug it in.... Oh wait I need electricity available. hmmm ...well I just wont drive it anywhere there is not electricity within 50ft of my truck.....Hmmmm I better sell it.

 

It does.. anybody that says differently must not realize that the oil gets warmer because the block radiates heat into it.

They used to all come with block heater cords but DC made them optional trying to save a buck

Some people think that it does no good to plug one in when it is cold, the facts are that it is MUCH easier on the engine in below freezing temps if it is.

You don't have to plug it in if you don't want to, chances are it will start just fine without it. However park two of them next to each other at -20 and then go start them both in the morning. That will quickly convince you that being too cheap to plug one in can indeed have consequences later on down the road.

 

i plug mine in because i like to have heat sooner than later!. i also plug in my oil pan heater too!- just so there is less strain,wear and tear,stress,etc,etc on the engine when it is 2 degrees outside. to each their own!

 

My truck gets parked inside my nice big garage and still gets plugged in from the time I get home till the next time I leave, regardless of when that might be.

I do this all winter long and I don't carry either or jumper cables or have AAA, hahahahaha, now this is fun.