how cold are your cold starts and how do you prepare your truck

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TruckNut

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It has been 65 all week/month in sonoma, we are expecting a cold spell in a couple days 59f.

We’ll get you back in about 5 months, lol. Even in TN it’s cold. Insulated garage doors have been a godsend.
 

aheeejd

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can't say for sure, but it sounds like a fuel problem. Have you tried adding some gas line antifreeze? It's not likely the problem, but possible and the cheapest thing to try first. Fuel pump would be my next guess,but if that year has one a fuel filter with some moisture in it would restrict the flow. It's a really common problem on diesels. Not as common on gas, but still quite possible.
No, no fuel filter. And I'm on my second tank with some line antifreeze. And last year when I had everything apart I individually cleaned the injectors using battery charger & Schrader valve set up (there's videos out there) so. I was thinking replacing throttle position sensor & the like starting with the cheapest. But even all that stuff was replaced when I put in new engine. I'm going to replace fuel pump cause I have small hole in frame right near tank so I have to take tank out, & at the age of truck I'd be dumb not to replace. Gotta warm up sooner or later. -9° this morning. I can't imagine -30° let alone -50. Crazy

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BWL

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No, no fuel filter. And I'm on my second tank with some line antifreeze. And last year when I had everything apart I individually cleaned the injectors using battery charger & Schrader valve set up (there's videos out there) so. I was thinking replacing throttle position sensor & the like starting with the cheapest. But even all that stuff was replaced when I put in new engine. I'm going to replace fuel pump cause I have small hole in frame right near tank so I have to take tank out, & at the age of truck I'd be dumb not to replace. Gotta warm up sooner or later. -9° this morning. I can't imagine -30° let alone -50. Crazy

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I saw you cleaned the throttle body, but did you check to see if the butterfly valve was functioning on cold start. Could just be the actuator or something impeding it's movement.
 
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You guys are too cold for 5 winter oils, move to 0 weight 30 m1, or even better Redline 0w30, pours down to -60 other oils do not.

Look at the 5 weights, they look like honey except 5w30 redline because the PAO/ester base naturally flows colder. Click expanded view, if you are that cold you need 0 weights or even better ester/pao. Crystal clear at -30. 0w30 ester/pao like redline will even get you 10 more degrees from this charts limits.


cf028082-9c32-408b-9922-6c55c0d2dc53_SAE%20chart.jpg
I'm guessing the 5W20 synthetic is close to the 5W30 as far as cold temp. The reason I went synthetic in the first place was a cold winter where my conventional looked like gear oil pouring into the engine and synthetic the same grade still poured nicely. I think you've converted me to 0W30 for the winter oil changes.
 

aheeejd

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I saw you cleaned the throttle body, but did you check to see if the butterfly valve was functioning on cold start. Could just be the actuator or something impeding it's movement.
No I did not. Other then move it by hand. Do you mean like have someone try & start it while I watch & see if it moves on its own? Something like that

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No I did not. Other then move it by hand. Do you mean like have someone try & start it while I watch & see if it moves on its own? Something like that

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Exactly. On a cold start it should automatically be enriching the fuel mixture by pumping more fuel through the injectors and closing the butterfly to varying degrees to keep the engine running. You've gone through the fuel delivery system it seems so maybe it's an air delivery problem. A loose connector somewhere, actuator problem or a program/module issue. If you already checked movement that should rule out a wire or anything else being in the way and impeding movement. First step is just to watch and see if it does anything while it's running.
 
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We’ll get you back in about 5 months, lol. Even in TN it’s cold. Insulated garage doors have been a godsend.
At home I have a heated attached garage. Definitely the best option if you have it.
 

01Ram2500

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You should come visit Canada in the winter.

Oh but I have been down the road you are on. Lived with my parents in Edmonton, Alberta when I was a youngster. I clearly remember how cold it was in the winter.

But the real test was when I drove my 1971 F-100 Ford PU up the Alcan in September 1975 to my new station at a radar site in Alaska (at the time over 1200 miles of the Alcan was dirt and gravel but that is another story). Got to 70 below F that winter. My truck had 2 - 750W engine heaters, 1 - 800W interior warmer, and 1 - 100W battery blanket to keep it from freezing into junk.. The interior warmer was critical because at those extreme temperatures, if you jumped in the truck cold the vinyl seats would shatter. Had to install a manual choke in the truck because the automatic choke would simply not function in that kind of cold. You could run out a full tank of gas in about 60 miles it would run so rich.

I have had my time in the barrel and am loving retired life in FL.
 
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tones2SS

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It's been really cold the last 2 weeks.
I use my remote start and it fires up just fine. Besides being super loud at cold start. :uhoh2: lol
 
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magnetic heater, one of a few ideas also posted in syn thread.
That's what I was thinking for my transmission. The pads have to be stuck on and I don't want to insulate in the summer. The problem with those is finding one with a strong enough magnet so it doesn't fall off, because there's no way I'll be crawling through the snow to stick it on every time I need it. Anybody bought one that stays put well enough on bumpy roads?
 

bassheadhemi

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-15F around here and use a Wolverine heat pad for the oil pan in conjunction with the factory block heater. I also use a small electrical heater for the cab that keep the temp at around 37F.

I've installed a NOCO GCP1 plug in the lower part of the bumper to plug the truck, the pan and block heater are hard wired to the connector.

I measured this setup at around 1500watts.

81HoORya9rL._SY355_.jpg
 
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Do you drill a hole and then it press fits in and have you seen them with a multi outlet so you can plug everything into it without an extra splitter? I'm thinking I could mount it into the fan shroud cover so I don't have to tuck wires in and out all the time and run all the wires under the cover.
 

CrispyBacon

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I found my block heater cable! I don't know if I'll bother using it.
 

bassheadhemi

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Do you drill a hole and then it press fits in and have you seen them with a multi outlet so you can plug everything into it without an extra splitter? I'm thinking I could mount it into the fan shroud cover so I don't have to tuck wires in and out all the time and run all the wires under the cover.

I've drilled a hole in the plastic part under the bumper and used the provided screws to secure it in the hole. I didn't trust the plug to survive to salt exposure so I hard wire all the wires together and the connection is protected from the elements. If you are not comfortable playing with electricity don't do this. You could use a Y and use some dielectric grease on the plugs to slow down the oxidation process.
 
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indept

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View attachment 116815 Right now it's cold outside. I'm using the oe block heater. Mopar battery warmer. 5W20 mobil1 synthetic. I used wire terminal cleaner on all my latches to get out moisture prior to loading them up with white lithium grease. Tailgate is frozen shut because I forgot to do it, but the tonneau still works fine.also made sure my antifreeze was up to the task good to -45 at the moment.

I wouldn't use Mobil1. Its a great oil, used it in all of my other vehicles but the 2017 Ram manual specifies that the oil must meet the ms- 6395 specification which M1 hasn't qualified for yet. Not that it couldn't meet it just that they haven't. Could cause a warranty issue.
 
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I wouldn't use Mobil1. Its a great oil, used it in all of my other vehicles but the 2017 Ram manual specifies that the oil must meet the ms- 6395 specification which M1 hasn't qualified for yet. Not that it couldn't meet it just that they haven't. Could cause a warranty issue.
I'm still driving my 2011 so it's all good. I heard about that and I'll certainly be asking when I go get my 17's oil changed. First couple are free from my dealer so I'll be curious to see what they use if I ever start driving it. They use primarily penzoil there so I'm guessing it'll be Pen Plat if that's the requirement.
 

Ramnewbie

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I'm still driving my 2011 so it's all good. I heard about that and I'll certainly be asking when I go get my 17's oil changed. First couple are free from my dealer so I'll be curious to see what they use if I ever start driving it. They use primarily penzoil there so I'm guessing it'll be Pen Plat if that's the requirement.
It will probably be Pennzoil gold ( synthetic blend) unless you pay the upcharge to PP. If you want PUP from the dealer I'd make sure to verify that that is actually what they put in. My dealer only has 0/40 in PUP.

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Devin1349

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It's usually tucked under the passenger I want to call it a shrowd cover. It's the first piece you take off if you're taking out the grill to get at the top. Will be tucked under there next to the rad cap if you have it. View attachment 116827 sorry the pictures not the best, but you can kind of make out the plug end next to the yellow cap.
crazy thing is as soon as I bought my truck I saw I had this but the plug got all messed up so now the entire thing is just tied somewhere so it doesnt drag anymore
 

gnick

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im in south jersey and its been between 10-20F this whole week. this cold is super unusual here, and this is my first winter with this truck. I had a block heater in my 1980 chevy 6.2 diesel when I lived in chicago, but it was much colder there for longer periods of time.

I checked behind my headlight and dont see a plug so I guess im **** out of luck on an OEM block heater. truck seems to start and run fine, but i sure would like the heater.
 
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