Cold Start at -18*C or 0*F

[twoicebergs]

With all the talk of cold start issues and how cold is cold, I thought I would add a video of a cold start at 0*F or -18*C. I could not find a video of a real cold start on the web, so I thought I would post a few. No, the truck is NOT plugged in.

Yes, I do recommend using the block heater below -10*C (15*F) and it is nice to do it at warmer temperatures as well.

We will probably see -30*C this month - hopefully not - but we will certainly see it many times this winter. I will try and post a video of a real cold start at -30*C, but I don't expect it to be pretty while it is warming up! It may not go, it can be tempermental below -25*C. This is hard on the truck, but being stuck without power has happened to me over the years with my old truck and with my tractor. Glow-plugs, good batteries and synthetic oil are my best friends in cold weather!

Powerstroke 6.0l Cold Start -18*C or 0*F - YouTube

[bigric]

Interesting; thanks for the post. Does it usually do that fast surging idle on those cold starts?

[Tuscany]

Not bad at all! I wouldn't recommend turning the high idle on right after starting it though. Give it a few minutes to let the oil circulate some and start warming up.

[HarvestingInternationally]

dont our trucks go into high idle automatically when its cold enough after one minute of running ? mine does when its cold out

[Tuscany]

It does but not to 1200 Rpms.

[HarvestingInternationally]

yea ur right not 1200 its like 1000...

[pete37922]

Dont rev the engine when cold...

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[twoicebergs]

FYI, the rpm was adjusted to just stop the lope at about 1000 rpm. If I would have left it alone, it would have stopped the lope after about 15-30 seconds. The trade-off is the 200 more rpm vs the lope. which is worse?

Wait till you hear the transmission and power-steering whine when it really gets cold.

[phil_phil]

Hey twoiceburgs, cool vid, do you happen to know what your battery voltage was reading after start up? Just thinking of how hard the ficm might have been working to bump up the voltage, a little extra rpm might be helping with that. I guess it's all a trade off with a cold start.

What oil temp do people think is good to start the high idle at?

Phil

[Tuscany]

The ficm will pull the same draw on the batteries at all times. The glow plug control module is where most of the current draw comes from on cold starts like that.