# 103K Miles, -9F, -23C, 2014 Cruze Diesel Cold Start



## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

diesel said:


> Similar yet different from what others have posted. It sat outside for about 18 hours.
> 
> Cold Start 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Diesel 103K Miles -9F -23C - YouTube


Few engines sound quite as unhappy about running as a ice cold diesel eh?

Rob


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

Paint it green and take 70k off the odometer, and that could have been a video of mine this morning.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Forget the fact that it's a diesel - I don't start at -9F  I thought it started pretty well given the temperature.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

revjpeterson said:


> Paint it green and take 70k off the odometer, and that could have been a video of mine this morning.


What was the temp where you were? I remember your -18ish video from last year. Yours cranked a while longer before it started firing.


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## nebojsa (Jan 3, 2011)

Interesting video.The first attempt to start the car like that, do the glow plugs go through the cycle before the engine start. It sounded like the glow plugs did not go through its preheat cycle.
To me the second attempt was the right way but then i don't have a diesel anymore.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

nebojsa said:


> Interesting video.The first attempt to start the car like that, do the glow plugs go through the cycle before the engine start. It sounded like the glow plugs did not go through its preheat cycle.
> To me the second attempt was the right way but then i don't have a diesel anymore.


I wondered that myself. I know the glow plugs warm up much faster than the old school diesels. I do believe that the remote start knows to wait for the glow plugs to heat up. When it's about 0F out, it starts right up with no issues.


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## warloc (Dec 10, 2013)

diesel said:


> I wondered that myself. I know the glow plugs warm up much faster than the old school diesels. I do believe that the remote start knows to wait for the glow plugs to heat up. When it's about 0F out, it starts right up with no issues.


Remote start your CTD while you stand behind it, you will see the glow plug indicator light up and go out prior to the engine starting.


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## k_ob1991 (Apr 28, 2014)

Interesting video....I have the exact same car...color etc as you diesel. Mine has 25,000 on it, and when it was -18f it started almost like normal just took a hair longer, but the car only sat for 11 hours. When I tried starting it another time and it was -10f, and had been sitting for 72 hours, it was just like yours, and did not fire on the first attempt. I wonder if how long it sits has anything to do with it.


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## Kexlox (Nov 4, 2014)

Mine was -8F this morning after sitting for 14 hours, but only 21k miles on it. Sounded more like your second attempt. I think it cranked twice before starting up and running just fine. I keep thinking I should take a video, but it just wouldn't be very interesting. I've yet to hear it crank more than three times before firing off.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

diesel said:


> What was the temp where you were? I remember your -18ish video from last year. Yours cranked a while longer before it started firing.


I was -9 yesterday morning when I hit the road, so same as you. The -18 last year was a little worse. Yesterday's cranked just about the same as yours, including the first failed start followed by the good one.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Seems these cruze diesels start allot harder than any of the diesel trucks I have driven. When its cold out much prefer a gas engine, even as cold as -22F my 1.4T cruze fires right up. If anything the oil seemed a bit thicker and the battery a bit weaker but still fires on first crank.


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## nebojsa (Jan 3, 2011)

My old 98 VW TDI that i don't have anymore ,never started like the cruze diesel on the video on the first attempt.It was more like the second attempt. As it got colder even into the -30C i would wait more than 15 seconds for the glow plugs to warm up, it would turn a couple of times and start no problem.
One of the other thing that i used to do on those -30 nights preheat the glow plugs turn the key of for a second and preheat the glow plugs again then start the car.
With the original injectors on the car and over 400000 km on it, once the car started it ran rough for a few seconds but after that it was fine during the cold weather.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

If I ever have the car out in temps like that again, I will try manually with the key and I will let it glow for a few seconds after the light goes out. I wonder if that would make any difference.


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## Cruze2.0TD (Feb 12, 2014)

The coldest I have ever started mine is about -40*C (about -40*F). I had it plugged in and it wasn't happy to start, but I cycled the glow plugs about 5 times and then cranked it. It still started okay. It wasn't any worse starting than my dad's BMW 328i. Granted, his BMW wasn't plugged in. Other than the battery being weaker from it being cold though, it really didn't start bad at all. I find it almost always starts pretty easy


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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

diesel said:


> If I ever have the car out in temps like that again, I will try manually with the key and I will let it glow for a few seconds after the light goes out. I wonder if that would make any difference.


I have done that, open the car, turned the key, and went to open the garage (manual garage) and it started worse than it ever had. I can only assume the glow plugs started to cool off.

Granted I have never had a failed start or had my car even try as hard as your did in the video. I can think of once where it cranked for a good 5 seconds and that was only once.

Last week was bitter cold down to -16 (IIRC) by me and I had no issues.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

Its been covered a million times that the remote starter uses the glow plugs. It cranks the minute the light goes out. 

Mine starts exactly like yours diesel when its been outside in below zero for 24 hours or more.

like miltown said, Ive let mine sit in the ON position and didn't help anything.


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## Cruze2.0TD (Feb 12, 2014)

KpaxFAQ said:


> Its been covered a million times that the remote starter uses the glow plugs. It cranks the minute the light goes out.
> 
> Mine starts exactly like yours diesel when its been outside in below zero for 24 hours or more.
> 
> like miltown said, Ive let mine sit in the ON position and didn't help anything.


Yeah, leaving in the ON position doesn't help, but I think cycling the glow plugs does (turn key on, wait for light to go out, turn key off, turn key back on, wait for light to go out).


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

diesel said:


> If I ever have the car out in temps like that again, I will try manually with the key and I will let it glow for a few seconds after the light goes out. I wonder if that would make any difference.


I have found waiting about 2-3 seconds after the glow plug light goes out before starting seems to help make the cold start smoother.


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## wwentz87 (Dec 21, 2014)

TDCruze said:


> I have found waiting about 2-3 seconds after the glow plug light goes out before starting seems to help make the cold start smoother.


your idea doesnt jive with how the glow plugs work.... once the light goes out the glow plugs shut down.... call me old school cause i deal with way to many of the old 7.3 ford turbo diesel but always cycle the glow plugs 3-5 times and anything near freezing get diesel treatment for your tank to prevent the fuel from gelling.... All your going to do by waiting after the light goes out is to allow the cylinders to cool back down which will prohibit the diesel from combusting.


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

wwentz87 said:


> your idea doesnt jive with how the glow plugs work.... once the light goes out the glow plugs shut down.... call me old school cause i deal with way to many of the old 7.3 ford turbo diesel but always cycle the glow plugs 3-5 times and anything near freezing get diesel treatment for your tank to prevent the fuel from gelling.... All your going to do by waiting after the light goes out is to allow the cylinders to cool back down which will prohibit the diesel from combusting.


By your own theory that waiting doesn't help, then why would you cycle the glow plugs 3-5 times?
I am simply stating an observation that I have noticed with my car, when its below 0F it seems to start quicker and smother when I give it a couple extra seconds wait.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I know that on old Mercedes diesels the glow plugs stay on for a minute or two after the light goes out (regardless of if you start the car or not). 

I think if you glow the plugs and wait too long to start (in the Cruze), the sensors can tell that the engine is not running so they shut down the glow plugs. My theory anyway. 

I woudl imagine the glow plug operation is fine in my case. It's probably that the fuel is just slightly gelled, but I am not sure. When the temp was 0F the next day, it started just fine.


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## ParisTNDude (Oct 7, 2013)

We were in Crossville, TN and had spent the night in a motel coming back from Arlington, VA. The temperature was -11 first thing in the morning and I was curious if it would start using the key fob. It started and then quit and then continued to try to start but cranked longer than I thought prudent, so I inserted the key and turned it off. Turned the key back on and let the glow plug do it's thing and it cranked right up. That makes me wonder if it actually uses the glow plug pause when autostarting with the key fob.

Oh, it actually made me quite proud since another couple came back in saying their Hundai refused to start. I had to really hold my tongue to keep from saying something snide.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

ParisTNDude said:


> We were in Crossville, TN and had spent the night in a motel coming back from Arlington, VA. The temperature was -11 first thing in the morning and I was curious if it would start using the key fob. It started and then quit and then continued to try to start but cranked longer than I thought prudent, so I inserted the key and turned it off. Turned the key back on and let the glow plug do it's thing and it cranked right up. That makes me wonder if it actually uses the glow plug pause when autostarting with the key fob.
> 
> Oh, it actually made me quite proud since another couple came back in saying their Hundai refused to start. I had to really hold my tongue to keep from saying something snide.


It is supposed to get to 10 below tonight here. I might try starting with the key to see if it does any differently.


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## Garylee (Sep 13, 2015)

I had a 2001Cummin before my 2014 cruze I always let the glow plugs run 2 full cycles before cranking it on a Michigan morning worked for me easier on everything but the glow plugs which is fine by me to


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