Keeping Diesel Engine Warm
My dodge dually Cummins engine is very hard to start when cold. At home or camping with hookups I can plug in the block heater but what can be done when boondocking.
Forum Discussion
How cold is cold? As others have mentioned.....is your intake grid heater working at all or properly? We can and have “many” times started ours at -20 F. Until you get it checked-out....you may try “cycling” the grid-heater twice and then attempt a start.
As mentioned you may have a bad heater. One of the things that can/will shorten the grid-heater life expectancy, is to bring the engine rpms up (in excess of 1100 or 1200) until you see the amp/volt meter quit cycling. The drawing of excess “cold” air across the hot grid-heater, is pretty hard on it. The Dodge/Cummins manual used to warn about this!
As mentioned you may have a bad heater. One of the things that can/will shorten the grid-heater life expectancy, is to bring the engine rpms up (in excess of 1100 or 1200) until you see the amp/volt meter quit cycling. The drawing of excess “cold” air across the hot grid-heater, is pretty hard on it. The Dodge/Cummins manual used to warn about this!
