Coldest starting temp.

[IdahoPlowboy]

It was -17 here this morning and wanted to do a drive on the ranch with the 1009 but didnt plug it in, Well an hour later After being plugged in it started fine. I never tried to start the truck until after it was plugged in.
So what is the coldest temps some of you have started your trucks in, plugged and unplugged?

 

[Bethelfire]

About "0" with only the GP's.

 

[319]

-10, two GP cycles, not plugged in.

 

[blackhueys]

any temp I want without being plugged in, just have to let the arctic heaters run long enough. LOL never used the plug in yet. soon though when I get to my new house my trucks gonna have a good life in the heated garage The way I see it she worked hard starting out in life so now she will be able to retire in comfort. We both did our time in the army so I know what she went through and vice versa.

 

[IdahoPlowboy]

Wish I had a shop to park my trucks in, Maybe this summer that will happen. It would be nice to give my trucks a comfy retirement.

 

[rsh4364]

My first winter with my 1009,it got down to 7 -9 degrees for several days,I dont know if i start mine right,i dont crank longer than few seconds and if it doesnt start i glow it for another 10-15 secs,when its cold usually takes 2 tries,

 

[dannyf700]

-25 and it started like a champ.

 

[zerogas]

-37 below with wind chill. No plug in heater two cycles of the plugs and fired right up.

I love my m1009

 

[two.fiveM35]

Let's see some videos of these cold starts...

 

[biggestc69]

-2 with wind chill plugged in with tank heater and magnetic stick on oil pan heater. Both on a timer and ran for 5 hours before I went out to start it. It also has the Jatonka front which helps ALOT in this cold weather. One LLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG cycle and she fired off and hammered and knockced to beat the band. Still running the 6LT's and they are on thier last leg. They still start the truck and do ok but If I dont plug it in and its under 15 degrees I can gaurntee two cycles and that front battery takes a pounding, I've done the resistor bypass so the front is responsible for the glow plugs. If I remember right its 100 amps every cycle? If I'm wrong someone correct me. I just keep plugging it in on days I dont drive the M715 to work to limp the batteries along until warmer weather. Tired of the Napa bill being bigger than the house bill. And two group 31's arent cheap. And I second two.fivem35, I wanna see some cold cold starts, single digits and under.

 

[alburms311]

Mine started after two GP cycles during the snow we had last week. That's about as cold as Ive tried.

 

[85CUCVtom]

I drive my M1009 every day. She's been starting fine with just one cycle on the GP's. She sounds like a coffee can full of nuts and bolts when you first start it on a really cold morning.

 

[scottladdy]

Cold Start Experiences

Here is how both of my trucks started in the near 0F temps we had this past week. I intentionally did not plug in the block heaters.

Background:
I performed the 12v GP bypass with AC60G's during the warmer months. This was the first time I had a chance to run empirical tests on the trucks in this type of cold since doing this. Both trucks performed identically, within the abilities of my testing procedures and equipment to determine any meaningful differences in results. Fuel tanks nicely full of winter blend for our area (pump diesel). Stock military GP controller cards. Rotella T6 in the sumps.

GP wait light time was about 18 seconds. For my current configuration, the GP controller keeps the relay energized after the wait light is turned off. Full throttle as recommended in the starting procedures, and they fire right up. A bit of clanking and banging as expected, lasting about 30 seconds or so until they smooth out. GP relay de-energized within a minute. No intermittent cycling, just steady on until cycled off.

We usually don't see temps much colder than this around here. I will provide additional information if we see significantly lower temps.

On a quick aside regarding the performance of the Kat's 600W engine block freeze plug heater, using my instant read remote thermometer the majority of the truck was showing about 2F. The coolant crossover at the top of the engine showed about 40F. GP cycle time matched ambient air temps of about 40F or about 10 seconds of wait time. Both trucks were about as noisy as when started in 40F temps. So, they appear to work well.

 

[donalloy1]

24 is lowest this NoCal Jarhead has attempted. One GP cycle and Popped off like always. Sounded like somebody threw a handful of loose bolts in Crankcase though. After a couple minutes it sounds much better!

 

[wayne pick]

Yea, 3/4 National Coarse.

 

[natemccabe]

Seeing as how my block heater came unplugged at the block, the old girl firedup yesterday at 35 below. Seemed like a 20 second glow cycle and a bag of wrenches in the drier on start up, but she did start.

 

[rivcrazy2000]

Wind chill has absolutely no effect on things that aren't living. Blow a fan on your coolant at -20 and the coolant will still be -20, it's your skins perception of how much colder it is when the heat generated by your body is being blown away from it. The coldest I've started mine was -25*F in Fairbanks this past November not plugged in. I haven't made a trip back there with the M1009 but if I just couldn't get it started I would find an extension cord long enough to plug it in. I've not had any problems starting mine at all, manual glow plug controller and the 24V system really help it out, I know lots of 12V diesels won't start that cold unassisted. The real pain of traveling when it's that cold is that the inside of an M1009 will not get warm whatsoever, too much space, and too little insulation to keep it warm. Even this morning at -12 it did not really get hot inside running errands. I can't wait for spring...

 

[hodgeb]

Mine has had the relay bypassed, I think, with all the fancy electric stuff pulled out (just like my G30) - I've got a manual switch I flick for GP.

The M1009 I've started down to -10F without any assistance from a block heater, etc. except an hour or two with 60W battery heaters. The batteries in place are a bit sad (800CCA NAPAs, but they've seen a fair number of cycles...)

The basic approach is: 15 count on the GP lever, turn off GP, crank for about a second and if the starter (which might also be tired on the m1009) protests too quietly/isn't getting enough amperage, hit the GP again for another 15 seconds or so. Usually she snaps in after that, though at -10F I think it took a third cycle.

The G30, she started down to -30F or so once I figured out how. The batteries came out of her. The m1009 has some things which need done to her to get her fit and trim for winter starts, though - possibly a starter rebuild, maybe new batteries, and at the very least a full check/overhaul of all the connections. But maybe when it's not -10F outdoors (which is where we hold services).

 

[hodgeb]

Wind chill has absolutely no effect on things that aren't living. Blow a fan on your coolant at -20 and the coolant will still be -20, it's your skins perception of how much colder it is when the heat generated by your body is being blown away from it. The coldest I've started mine was -25*F in Fairbanks this past November not plugged in. I haven't made a trip back there with the M1009 but if I just couldn't get it started I would find an extension cord long enough to plug it in. I've not had any problems starting mine at all, manual glow plug controller and the 24V system really help it out, I know lots of 12V diesels won't start that cold unassisted. The real pain of traveling when it's that cold is that the inside of an M1009 will not get warm whatsoever, too much space, and too little insulation to keep it warm. Even this morning at -12 it did not really get hot inside running errands. I can't wait for spring...

Wind chill does indeed have an impact on things which are not living: wind chill temperature is the temperature cooling equivalent sans wind. In other words, -30F means that the wind is cooling the environment at a rate equivalent to an ambient -30F temperature, even if it's only 10F outdoors. (At least, that's my understanding.) So wind chill is a factor when you're expecting ambient engine heat to keep the truck engine bay warm enough for you to get all your shopping done without having to hit the GP again when you come back out (don't park into the wind!).

 

[ajsmith184]

Yes but it still wont get below 10 degrees...If its 32 degrees normal, but 10 with the windchill, it still isnt below 32 as far as your truck is concerned..


That said, I havent started mine less than 50, as that is the temp i keep my heated garage at

I do have a block heater I installed just in case..Havent used it yet.