# -18F cold start video



## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

Starting my 2014 Cruze Diesel this morning: Even though it took 2 tries, she did start up and run like a champ from that point forward. I forgot to plug it in last night, which might have helped. I figured out during that first attempt that I probably should have figured out how to cancel the start attempt if necessary, as I got a little bit nervous with the time the computer allowed the starter to crank unsuccessfully without aborting the start. It was brutal cold out there - so bad that I could barely stand to have my glove off long enough to take the video. 

Even though the MyLink temp read -9F, the air temp outside registered at -18F at the time (wind chill -44F). The LCD screens in the car were all running in slow-motion, and the fog you see crossing the camera is the exhaust from my clothes dryer (vent about 15 feet away) freezing as it exits the house. Fuel in the tank was a 70/30 blend of #1/#2 diesel. 

I anticipate some disappointment that the tailpipe isn't visible in the video (detail I only noticed after recording), but nothing eventful occurred back there during the start, so nothing lost.


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## titanman2789 (Oct 27, 2013)

Good stuff. Plugging in would have definitely helped. And maybe a 50/50 blend fuel. I had no problems starting with 50/50 at temps as low as -30f without an oil pan heater. Mpg definitely takes a hit with any mixture with #1 in it though

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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

This was 70% #1, so a little better than 50/50. My mileage on the blends (70/30, 50/50, 30/70) hasn't been much worse than with the treated or blended diesels I get from the unmarked "diesel" pumps at other stations. I can get 38+ hwy and keep it in the 33-35 range with a good bit of in-town driving mixed in. I prefer my station with the blender pump or the local station where the owner is behind the counter and can tell me exactly what he ordered that week, because then I know what I'm putting in rather than just taking whatever happens to be underground at the big-name chain fuel stations around town.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

I would imagine the starter is designed to handle extended cranks. The old Mercedes diesel starters could easily handle repeated 60 second crank times in a cold winter. Thanks for posting this video. Very interesting. So no puffs of smoke out the exhaust?


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

Nope. I could see it off-camera, and there wasn't so much as a puff of water vapor.


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## rcclockman (Jan 16, 2012)

was that a semi truck starting up..HA HA


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

revjpeterson said:


> Even though it took 2 tries, she did start up and run like a champ from that point forward. I forgot to plug it in last night, which might have helped.


I'm not familiar with the warm cranking speed of the diesel Cruze, but it sure sounded to me like it was turning over slowly. When I use the oil pan heater my car turns over really easy, though it's the gas 1.4T. With the heater on I can reach down and feel the rear of the oil pan and it's nice and warm to the touch. At that temp I'm sure yours would be turning over easier with the heater on.



revjpeterson said:


> I figured out during that first attempt that I probably should have figured out how to cancel the start attempt if necessary, as I got a little bit nervous with the time the computer allowed the starter to crank unsuccessfully without aborting the start. It was brutal cold out there - so bad that I could barely stand to have my glove off long enough to take the video.
> 
> Even though the MyLink temp read -9F, the air temp outside registered at -18F at the time (wind chill -44F). The LCD screens in the car were all running in slow-motion...


I would think the Engineers at GM would have a set max crank time for the auto start. I doubt you have to worry too much about it.

Here's a quick video I shot a couple weeks ago... check out the slow-mo LCDs! I refer to a co-worker in the video, a shameless Honda owner who constantly rides me for driving a Chevy. Then in the same breath he's asking me about engine heaters so he can get his Hondas to start in the morning:

2012 Chevy Cruze Eco Cold Start - YouTube


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## attrapereves (Jan 6, 2014)

When cranking the Cruze, is it necessary to turn the key to an accessory setting before cranking the car? My old Mercedes 300D would cycle the glow plugs when the key was in the accessory position. I usually cycled the plugs two or three times in weather below freezing. It always started, but would run rough for the first minute or so.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

There's a dash light that indicates glow plug readiness. Turn the key to the "on" position and wait for the light to turn off, and it's ready to go (1-4 seconds usually). Cycling multiple times won't have any added benefit for the Cruze, and it would need to be in the "on," not "accessory" position to work. When you use the remote start, the computer manages the glow plugs on its own. That's the pause you see between the flash of the lights in the video and when the motor starts to turn over. It normally would have been a longer pause, but I had already turned the key in order to get the temp reading off of the MyLink screen, meaning the glow plugs were already warm.


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## GotDiesel? (Sep 9, 2013)

Funny I started my car in - 15 here in Kansas and it fired right up ..I left the car out side over the whole weekend .. Started normally just the glow plug light stayed on a tad longer as I knew it would with the extreme cold. Car was never plugged in and all I have done is add Power Service to every tank. I never had any issues with cold starts .


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## warplane95 (May 29, 2013)

Start my car at - 35c without wind, car have no problem to start the first time but battery was pretty low

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## DieselMan33 (Oct 13, 2013)

I would be curious to see it done with the the key next time. Also it helps to cycle the glow plugs a couple times, at least it did in my truck.


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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

Mine sat from Sunday night at midnight till Tuesday morning at around 1030AM when I got paged out.

I do park in a garage, but it doesn't protect much, its old, not insulated, and has holes. It's just as cold in there as it is outside. It's mainly to keep snow off it so I can leave in a hurry if I need to.

Glow plugs seemed about the same amount of time but the car definitely took a good 10 seconds to get started up. Once it started though, it was fine, no rough running, no issues. When I got back from my call it fired right up without hesitation even though it had been sitting outside in the negative temperatures for a few hours.

I use no additives and had half a tank of fuel.

RevJ - Did you trigger the remote start again after it died or did the system automatically try again? I've been wondering if the system is programmed to retry if unable to start or it dies.

Also, not to get off topic but does anyone know how to properly extend the remote start time, I tried it the other night and all it ever does it shuts off on me when I follow the directions in the owners manual. As soon as I hit the start button again it shuts off instead of extending another 10 minutes. I rarely use remote start but if I do I usually want the car to run more than 10 minutes.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

MilTownSHO said:


> Mine sat from Sunday night at midnight till Tuesday morning at around 1030AM when I got paged out.
> 
> I do park in a garage, but it doesn't protect much, its old, not insulated, and has holes. It's just as cold in there as it is outside. It's mainly to keep snow off it so I can leave in a hurry if I need to.
> 
> ...


IMO it would not be a good idea to idle a cold diesel for 10 minutes from a cold start. I think you could run into fuel dilution (into the oil) issues. Don't quote me on this, but I seem to remember reading something about that on the modern CR engines. 

Also, in reading through and analyzing the data presented on this forum, it seems as if those who do NOT use any additives have better cold start results below zero.


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## revjpeterson (Oct 2, 2013)

MilTownSHO said:


> RevJ - Did you trigger the remote start again after it died or did the system automatically try again? I've been wondering if the system is programmed to retry if unable to start or it dies.


No, it didn't automatically attempt another start. I had to manually send another start request from the remote. I actually tried another start immediately after it stalled, and even though the lights flashed to acknowledge the request, it did not attempt a start. The second start was actually the third request I sent from the remote, so it appears that there may be some kind of waiting period (although only a matter of seconds) programmed between a stall and allowing another start attempt. If the second start had also stalled, I would have had to use the key to start it, since the computer only allows 2 remote starts between key starts.


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## BlkGrnetRS (Jul 21, 2013)

MilTownSHO said:


> Also, not to get off topic but does anyone know how to properly extend the remote start time, I tried it the other night and all it ever does it shuts off on me when I follow the directions in the owners manual. As soon as I hit the start button again it shuts off instead of extending another 10 minutes. I rarely use remote start but if I do I usually want the car to run more than 10 minutes.


All you have to do us exactly what have been doing except make sure after you hit the lock button to immediately hold the remote start button. the headlights will flash again and it will stay running. hope this helps 

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## MilTownSHO (Oct 9, 2013)

diesel said:


> IMO it would not be a good idea to idle a cold diesel for 10 minutes from a cold start. I think you could run into fuel dilution (into the oil) issues. Don't quote me on this, but I seem to remember reading something about that on the modern CR engines.


Really not concerned about it, I rarely use remote start since I park in a garage at home and at work.

Mainly I use it for defrosting purposes. Have a hard time believing there would be an issue, if so I doubt they would have put it as an option on the diesels.


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