winterizing?

[Cduff]

have a 250 back home in california where my dad bought it new and put 124k miles on it. later this year im going to be bringing it up to wyoming with me for school and want to get down what i need to know where to start for getting it ready. now where im at during the winter it usually gets down to low teens during the night and high 20s to low 30s during the day with some more extreme temperatures mixed in. so what do yall do? looking for fluids, de gel, or anything yall got to offer.

[Highwaywrench]

5W40 engine oil, 75W90 synthetic in the diffs, synthetic in trans and transfer case. Good batteries, with blankets for extreme cold ( only used past -25F ) good block heater and oilpan heater. Coolant good for -50. Fuel should already be winter blend, so no worries there.

Check your glow plugs and relay for proper operation, maybe do a starter draw test to make sure it isn't pulling too much. Keep a spare belt around, and that should about do it.

good luck with it

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted by Cduff

have a 250 back home in california where my dad bought it new and put 124k miles on it. later this year im going to be bringing it up to wyoming with me for school and want to get down what i need to know where to start for getting it ready. now where im at during the winter it usually gets down to low teens during the night and high 20s to low 30s during the day with some more extreme temperatures mixed in. so what do yall do? looking for fluids, de gel, or anything yall got to offer.

That isn't arctic conditions by any means, actually doesn't sound all that different from what I run into in SE Mass during December through February.

As mentioned check anything electrical... glow pug relay, starter, under valve cover harness, glow plugs... whole nine yards...
Troubleshooting GPR & GP's

I could also clean your EBPV tube and make sure the sensor works.
Welcome to guzzle's Exhaust Backpressure Sensor Cleaning Maintenance Web Page


A Stancor relay is worth its weight in gold when it comes to cold starts. I am not one to push mods but this one is definitely worth it, my truck starts no issues down to zero with conventional 15w40 in it.
Welcome to guzzle's Stancor GPR replacement Mod Web Page

As far as other fluids, keep on top of your coolant testing... make sure the freeze point is within spec. A diesel rated 10w-30 or 5w40 do help a bit with cold starts so if you have the extra scratch they aren't a bad option. As far as the other fluids (x-case, trans, diffs etc) synthetic is nice but not necessary IMHO at those temps. One point on SRW trucks, they spec a synthetic 75w140 from the factory.

If you are in school, I am guessing you will be doing some short hops? If that is the case, plugging the truck (or setting a heavy duty timer) in three hours prior to your departure and using a winter front will help get fluids to operating temps quicker and keep them there, especially if your not going to be working the truck hard.

[Cduff]

i know its not real extreme i just want to be able to start her up pretty good and not wear anything down more than i should. i heard the glow plugs or atleast the relay are different in california trucks. are they different performance wise or is it just another "eco friendly save the earth" kinda stuff? thanks for the tips guys!

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted by Cduff

i know its not real extreme i just want to be able to start her up pretty good and not wear anything down more than i should. i heard the glow plugs or atleast the relay are different in california trucks. are they different performance wise or is it just another "eco friendly save the earth" kinda stuff? thanks for the tips guys!

I know the relay in a CA emissions truck is actually a control module... I have no clue if it works any better or worse then the traditional relay set up the other 49 states use.