Keeping Diesel Engine Warm

[Picinisco]

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.

[rhagfo]

Picinisco wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
Last time I replaceed my batteries cost was less than $200 OEM MOPAR, this was in 2012 still cranking hard.

Each?

Interstate have 750cca for $170, each

No that was out the door for a pair. The were $99 ea and the dealership had a 10% off coupon, $189!

[Picinisco]

Super_Dave wrote:
Are those AGM? Standard acid battery is much cheaper than that.

Tell me where

[Super_Dave]

Picinisco wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
Last time I replaceed my batteries cost was less than $200 OEM MOPAR, this was in 2012 still cranking hard.

Each?

Interstate have 750cca for $170, each

Are those AGM? Standard acid battery is much cheaper than that.

[Picinisco]

rhagfo wrote:
Last time I replaceed my batteries cost was less than $200 OEM MOPAR, this was in 2012 still cranking hard.

Each?

Interstate have 750cca for $170, each

[rhagfo]

Picinisco wrote:

zcookiemonstar wrote:
Do you only have this problem when boondocking? Are you disconnecting your camper from the truck? If not this could just be a case of you draining your truck batteries with the campers power usage. Does your truck start fine at home without plugging in the heater?

No
Yes
No

I have thrown away the K&N filter and gone back to a paper filter. I have pullet out the intake heater to clean it but it is spotless.

The person i bought the truck from last february had just replaced both batteries, both marked 11/17 so i did not suspect them however on further examiation i find that they are 650cca batteries so suspect that they are a little weak, when cold, at getting the engine spinning to 200rpm, so when i get the $350 plus to replace them I will.

Last time I replaceed my batteries cost was less than $200 OEM MOPAR, this was in 2012 still cranking hard.

[Picinisco]

zcookiemonstar wrote:
Do you only have this problem when boondocking? Are you disconnecting your camper from the truck? If not this could just be a case of you draining your truck batteries with the campers power usage. Does your truck start fine at home without plugging in the heater?

No
Yes
No

I have thrown away the K&N filter and gone back to a paper filter. I have pullet out the intake heater to clean it but it is spotless.

The person i bought the truck from last february had just replaced both batteries, both marked 11/17 so i did not suspect them however on further examiation i find that they are 650cca batteries so suspect that they are a little weak, when cold, at getting the engine spinning to 200rpm, so when i get the $350 plus to replace them I will.

[zcookiemonstar]

Do you only have this problem when boondocking? Are you disconnecting your camper from the truck? If not this could just be a case of you draining your truck batteries with the campers power usage. Does your truck start fine at home without plugging in the heater?

[Bob_E_]

My dad was having similar problems with his '03 Ram/Cummins with only about 120,000 miles on it. It just would not start whether he plugged it in or not. In fact, it didn't even need to be all that cold out. Just a cold engine from not running over night would do it unless it was like 80-90 degrees outside and even then it was maybe 50-50 whether it would start. He was having to use starting fluid more and more often, which can be dangerous. First, he changed the batteries. No luck. Then he changed the grid heater. No Luck. Then he changed the lift pump. Still no luck. I think he even changed the block heater element and still didn't fix it. So he replaced the injectors and that fixed it.

[valhalla360]

It was a Ford 7.3 but we had an issue with cold when the starter was going bad.

It still turned over and sounded fine while cranking. In warm weather it started no problem but it started to struggle in cold weather.

At first I argued with the mechanic but he finally convinced me to change the starter. Sure enough with a new starter, she started right up the following winter without being plugged in down to -10F.

While it sounded fine to my ear, it has to crank fast enough that the heat generated during compression isn't absorbed by the block faster than it can reach ignition temps.

[Grit_dog]

^ True. Minimum cranking rpms and minimum rail pressure numbers must both be met for ecm to fire the injectors.

OPs issue that goes away when warm is more likely injectors, possibly fca, or more remotely , the prv.

[ppine]

Cold starts below about +10 or zero when we are talking diesels. Snythetic oil remains viscous at low temps. Number one diesel helps a lot with higher cetane numbers and less gelling.

[ScottG]

rhagfo wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Thats crazy! Throwing parts at a problem without doing any troubleshooting. Check batteries first. Check air filter remove and carefully clean grid heater.
BTW your not using one of those cruddy oiled filters are you?

Agree, even at 40 should not need the grid heater. Check batteries first as slow crank will not create enough compression heat to fire. If only one is bad replace BOTH!

Also, ECM needs to see a minimum of soemthing like 200 cranking RPM's or it wont even fire injectors.

[rhagfo]

donn0128 wrote:
Thats crazy! Throwing parts at a problem without doing any troubleshooting. Check batteries first. Check air filter remove and carefully clean grid heater.
BTW your not using one of those cruddy oiled filters are you?

Agree, even at 40 should not need the grid heater. Check batteries first as slow crank will not create enough compression heat to fire. If only one is bad replace BOTH!

[ScottG]

It's not your grid heaters - guaranteed.

The K&N issue is not even debateable. It's a documented problem that Dodge and Cummins have written TSB's for. And yes, many have indeed had a "problem" with excessive blow-by and warranty's were cancelled when the intakes were found to be dirty form K&N or other washable filters. (The TSB specifically mentions K&N).

In my own case, I used one for a short time until I read about "dusting". Sure enough, when I wiped the intake tube with a white paper towel there was dirt.
If you want a better breathing filter for that era of truck, use the 3" Fleetguard replacement for the 6.7 (AF27684). It breaths BETTER than the K&N and stops more dirt.

BTW, it was in the 20's here this AM when I started my truck. I intentionally hit the starter before the grids and it fired after the third cylinder came up.
Until you get well into the negative temps, the grids are mostly for emmissions.

[transamz9]

donn0128 wrote:

Picinisco wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
Thats crazy! Throwing parts at a problem without doing any troubleshooting. Check batteries first. Check air filter remove and carefully clean grid heater.
BTW your not using one of those cruddy oiled filters are you?

Its got a K&N filter on it.

Thanks on the grid heater clean

And there is your problem. K&N is the absolute worst air filter there is. Even lightly over oiling it will kill your grid heater in a hurry. Not to mention loss of fuel economy and allowing more dirt into the motor. Your just asking for problems. Take it out, go buy a quality paper filter, clean the grid heater and see what happens.

I've had a crummy K&N in mine since new 2005. Never a problem. Started no problem a couple years ago at -20 after sitting outside for a week not plugged up. He's got fuel problems.