# -10ºF and car almost didn't start



## aaronmk4 (8 mo ago)

New plugs could help, especially if the car is higher in mileage. Personally, I have no knowledge on cold conditions due to where I live. Have you used/gotten to use the engine block heater?


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

No engine block heater is offered or recommended with this engine. If the car is parked for longer than 10-12 hours and you use a block heater, the ECU will throw a CEL because it assumes one of the coolant temperature sensors are defective (expects lower temperatures, not warm coolant from a heater).

There is an OEM oil pan heater offered, but I never got it installed because I could only plug it in at my parents' house (where I am now). I have no plug access at work or at my apartment, so it wouldn't be much help.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

It's possible (and likely) the fuel just gelled. Ours did at -16F. It has anti-gel in it, supposedly, but probably not "enough" for ambient temps like that.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

MP81 said:


> It's possible (and likely) the fuel just gelled. Ours did at -16F. It has anti-gel in it, supposedly, but probably not "enough" for ambient temps like that.


I do question the fuel I filled up with from the 66 station. It's one of the few stations that does not have the mandated biodiesel label, so it is supposedly straight petroleum Diesel fuel. I regularly fill up at a Hy-Vee that is the only station in my city that confirms to me they do not use biodiesel.

The biodiesel thing doesn't matter to me. I use it and don't care. It's just now it's hard starting and came close to not starting.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Around here this stuff is like gold.








Amazon.com: Power Service 08016-09 Diesel 9•1•1 Fuel Additive - 16 oz. : Automotive


Buy Power Service 08016-09 Diesel 9•1•1 Fuel Additive - 16 oz.: Engine & Oil - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases



www.amazon.com





Also, back in my days of diesel driving I would run the glow plug cycle additional times in cold weather. For -10F I'd go for 3-4 cycles.

Also, before randomly replacing them I would check them with an Amp meter first.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Johnny B said:


> I would run the glow plug cycle additional times in cold weather. For -10F I'd go for 3-4 cycles.


It's push-button start. I don't get to choose how long the plugs warm - the computer decides for me.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Well, that is unfortunate. Try using the procedure on page 253 of the owners manual. 

Sometimes these engineers need a dose of reality, a computer will never always know what to do.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Johnny B said:


> Sometimes these engineers need a dose of reality, a computer will never always know what to do.


If I routinely operated this vehicle in arctic climate, I'd have the glow plugs wired up manually. This would help both for starting and also for ether starting.

An old guy down the road from my parents owned some Ford trucks with the 6.9 and 7.3 IDI engines. He was known locally as a Diesel guru and he did custom work on his trucks. One thing he did was source some super heavy duty marine glow plugs from somewhere and he would wire them up manually with a switch and relay in the cab of his truck. He could then toggle the plugs on for 2-3 minutes on really cold days to give a long warmup period. He also had the ability to turn the plugs back on once the truck started and use them for emissions reduction (less white smoke) and combustion stability. He would drive with the plugs on until he saw the coolant temperature gauge on the dash move off of minimum level.

He also had the plugs wired up manually so he could use ether for starting, and he did this on his 7.3 DI engine as well. For those occasions he was somewhere really cold and the engine just wasn't wanting to start with plugs heated, he could manually disable them and use a squirt of ether in the intake to start the engine. The potential damage from ether comes from when it prematurely ignites due to the glow plugs being hot (combustion at the wrong time in the compression stroke can crack pistons, break rings, bend rods, etc.) but disabling the plugs allows ether to be used safely as long as you do it lightly.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

Barry Allen said:


> It's push-button start. I don't get to choose how long the plugs warm - the computer decides for me.


never thought aboot the push button start not being able to cycle glow plugs....****


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

you got a herman nelson at your parents?


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Well, you obviously know all about glow plugs. Although it is sad to resort to it, let me know if it worked.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

It warmed up to about 0ºF and this evening I had to take my mother to the christmas light show at a local farm (huge light show set to music). The car started as normal, so a difference of 8ºF helped. The engine might have been _SLIGHTLY_ warmer from driving it that morning, so I guess that could make a difference.

Seems like it's just fuel gelling. The engine will crank and crank and then shudder along a bit and then fall back to cranking again before it started. To me, that suggests the fuel is getting to be thick and when it's trying to fire off cold the fuel is coming out of the injectors in globs instead of a fine enough mist. The engine will crank until it fires off a couple times and at that point the tips of the injectors have enough heat in them to melt the fuel and get a better spray pattern. The engine definitely sounds like a Diesel when it's running very cold and when it finally warms up it's back to normal sounds - just a slight rumble in the background instead of loud Diesel clattering sounds when cold.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

Yup - sounds like ours did once we threw some Diesel 911 in there after it finally got to 4 that day. It was pissed off, but it was finally heating the fuel up.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Fuel is supposed to be treated for the area. So that it doesn't gel.

Can you imagine every diesel in the state being broke down because fuel gelled.

Only time I've added Howes to the semi is fueling up in the south and ending up in the north. Although one time I got caught with my pants down. But the fuel pump relay being bad was more the culprit.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

snowwy66 said:


> Fuel is supposed to be treated for the area. So that it doesn't gel.


Sure, but -10ºF in December isn't expected. It's entirely possible the fuel tanker driver didn't treat the fuel, or the fuel station owner didn't treat the fuel, or I bought the fuel before they treated it. I don't think this station sells through a lot of Diesel so it could be the tail end of summer fuel.

It had a 2x shot of Power Service and a 2x shot of Howes added to my fuel tank and it was still struggling to start.


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## Mrjeff (May 15, 2019)

boraz said:


> you got a herman nelson at your parents?


What do you mean by this statement?
What is a Herman Nelson ?


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

Mrjeff said:


> What do you mean by this statement?
> What is a Herman Nelson ?


also known as a torpedo heater


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## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

Being unusually cold adding a anti gel additive and making sure your battery is up to the task are too important things to keep in mind. I live in South Florida so extreme cold doesn't apply but I regularly add diesel kleen for maximum lubrication to my Cruze and Colorado.


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## honkeytoast907 (3 mo ago)

Double check the connection to the rear mounted batteries. I shined up the terminals and re-connected after a few starts that sounded like your experience.

it’s been -15 here in NW Iowa for a few days; so I had plenty of time to test this out and after four more good cold starts, I’d say this is something to quickly check.


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