7.3 winter start

[daveb]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

You can always cycle the glow plugs more than once.


Herb

Never thought of that. Does it help much?

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by daveb

Never thought of that. Does it help much?

Good question. It's something I've heard for many years, but I don't have hard evidence to support it. Our cold spell around here was a week or two in the low 40's. As I understand it, glow plugs pre-heat the air prior to initial combustion, so heating the air up a little more should only help. Extra drain on the batteries however.


Herb

[catmandu]

I am no expert but have a 99 F 250. If I understand it correctly the glow plugs will cycle for two minutes. You can then turn the key off and then back on and they will cycle for another two minutes. This will help tremendously if you forget to plug in and it gets into the teens. Every engine is a bit different with respect to cold sensitivity but I have had mine refuse to start in the UP of Michigan a couple of times. Lucky I had an outlet and an extension cord to plug in my block heater. At home if I forget to plug in, I usually can start but have to idle down the street so I don't smoke out my neighbors!

[jage]

I cycle the glow plugs. Of note, the glow plug light does not match the cycle. If it's really cold I'll wait between using the glow plugs- let the heat spread out a bit. This is 3 glow plug cycles in 10º (cycles are edited out):

[youtube:hue6ngcn]

[shenrie]

what oil weight are you using in that vid jage? im due for an oil change. wondering if it would be a good idea to use a 0w/5w-40 instead of the 15w-40. its been abnormally chilly here latley.

when we got back from the holiday break our van had sat for 12-13 days. it was pretty cold the entire time (teens/20's), and was 13-14 degrees when i tried starting it cold. it would not fire up. cranked it till i noticed the battery starting to slow down. it tried to kick over a few times, but wasnt near enough to start. plugged it in for an hour and it sounded very similar to your video when it started.

my buddy with the 97 carries a can of starting fluid for when his wont start (he mentioned he thinks 6 of the 8 glow plugs are dead, lol). he cautioned me about how to use that method. im hesitant to try it without him around though.

we actually did some camping on a mtn pass one winter to do some riding and the weather shifted from cold, to bitter ass cold. next morning we could not get the truck started. we flagged down someone to see if they had any starting fluid. they didnt, but found some wd-40 next closest town and picked us up some. i was suprised, but we actually got the rig going with it.

[jage]

Originally Posted by shenrie

what oil weight are you using in that vid jage?

Rotella 5w40 I believe. Having the glow plug relay go out is a bi-annual occurrence- makes it impossible to start without the block heater below about 35ºF. I've also had my fuel freeze and wax up the top fuel filter.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by jage

Rotella 5w40 I believe. Having the glow plug relay go out is a bi-annual occurrence- makes it impossible to start without the block heater below about 35ºF. I've also had my fuel freeze and wax up the top fuel filter.

So at what temps do those things occur at?

I've never had trouble with the fuel as far as I know in temps down to 10*, but I generally use the espar to warm things up first.

Does the Ford cetane booster help with fuel gelling and if not can you blend it with another product?

I've heard you can do bad things with ether but used it all thetime on some of the big rigs at work. Is it worth having on board?

[shenrie]

Originally Posted by daveb

So at what temps do those things occur at?

I've never had trouble with the fuel as far as I know in temps down to 10*, but I generally use the espar to warm things up first.

if i had to guess, the temps will vary with blends of fuel. i just found out that the diesel at the pumps is different between summer and winter months. im not sure how exact the standards are with blends of fuel and how much, if any, they vary from state to state.

the espar system seems to be very useful for many things. is there someplace that shows a diagram of exactly how its plumbed into the vehicle? ive searched around and have found lots of info, but a picture would help my simple brain understand it better. the system seems to be the hero in many situations.

Originally Posted by daveb

Does the Ford cetane booster help with fuel gelling and if not can you blend it with another product?

i have good friends that work with diesels for a living and i get mixed answers on this question. one says (sells diesel performance parts for a living, worked at bullydog for years) definitly use the power service kleen (at walmart and various other places) or the amsoil cetane, and the other says (builds high end twin turbo systems for diesels) its not really needed. id appreciate a third opinion on this subject as well.

Originally Posted by daveb

I've heard you can do bad things with ether but used it all thetime on some of the big rigs at work. Is it worth having on board?

my buddy said the same thing. said its possible to crack a piston. thats what scares me about it. but hes been using this method in bad situations since 1999 with his 97. he said you just need a quick burst through the air element and thats it. the method has saved our ass a few times, but that doesnt mean im comfortable doing it with my own rig. his truck is over 300k, 225k while in his possesion, and like ive mentioned before, his only real issues have been cam angle sensors and a tranny rebuild.

[BroncoHauler]

So when do we see the videos (at the same temperature of course) of a single glow plug cycle start, and a double glow plug cycle start? We need mor data points.

BTW, what's all that stuff on your face? Going for the full (Robert Redford) Jeremiah Johnson look?


Herb

[Gnarvan]

Jage

Have you considered contacting Christine and have her help you with your next video? I bet she could add a little pizazz to what was kind of a flat line video effort.