I have only had my truck for about 10,000 miles and have had very little trouble with it. I'm visiting Minnesota right now and suddenly it won't start sometimes. Turn the key in the ignition, and nothing- no click, no crank. Wait a little, try a few more times, and it'll start, though a little sluggish. This has only happened when it has been 15 degrees or colder, and has been harder to start if we didn't plug in the block heater fro 1-2 hours first (45 minutes doesn't seem to be enough time). It is 44 degrees now, and started beautifully a minute ago.


I don't know anything about trucks, but I want to take good care of this truck. Hoping it's not a problem with the starter. Can anyone help? Is this normal- is this just what is called cycling the grid heater?

 

Sounds more like weak batteies or bad connections.
You could replace the starter contacts just in case, it's easy.
Buy them and instructions here http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge/default.htm

 

as mentioned... sounds a little like weak batteries

i know others will disagree, but I always plug mine in when I can if I know the low is going to be below 32F... just makes it easier to crank

 

hi
first thing you need to do in that cold climate is switch to synthetic oil .
i like the rotella 5 w 40 as i can get it at the local wall mart reasonable .
this will make it much easier for the starter to spin it over .
i start mine easily after sitting several days at 20 deg without any pluging it in , just use the wait to start light 2 times <2 cycles > first .
the wait to start is waiting for the grid heaters to warm intake air = cycling the grid heaters .
they also cycle automaticaly for the first fe min of engine operation .
i only plug it in if temp drops to 10 or lower .

go to autozone and hav them load test your batteries seperatly , remove both grounds befor test to get accurate test of each battery .

dont buy new batteries at autozone , they are more prone to failure !
if you need battires go to walmart better battires at a better price !
also you may need to replace the starter contacts they are cheep ,i would disassemble it and clean check brushes also .