How do you start your truck in cold weather

[Mudstone]

i'm about to put wellman 70s in mine.... i can let you know how it goes... PM me to remind me.

 

[jdemaris]

What is the BEST glow plugs to get

It gets complicated, so it's hard to give a simple answer. Many changes have taken place with civilian rigs and glow plugs. With the military - not so much. I assume because the military doesn't want to deal with constant changes in part #s.

In my experience, nobody makes a better or more bullet-proof glow plug then Beru (from Germany). For civilian 6.2s, you can buy cheap in an AC Delco box as a 60G. If you wanted to use it in a CUCV, you'd best hook it via a manual push button control and 12 volt source.

One problem, as it appears to me, is due to the lack of competition, very little tech info is given on the two competing OEM plugs for CUCVs that are kept original. You've got the Delco 13G and the Wellman GO70. As far as I am concerned, they are both crap. When the British Wellman company first started marketing in the USA, they were pushing their GO50 plugs for civilian 6.2s, and they are just plain awful. So were the original Delco plugs. But Delco finally got smart and starting reselling Beru plugs instead. Ford did the same thing and sells Beru in Motorcraft boxes. I have Beru plugs in all my 6.2s and all my Ford-IH 6.9s and 7.3s and have never burnt out a single one.

 

[Ranger_J]

Yeah, I am having the same problem with my 85. It's not even really that cold here in Georgia. 28 degrees was the worst. My truck just didnt start one morning and hasnt since then. I didnt know about the pedal thing or even about the viser thing or that your supposed to take the key out to recycle. I hope I didnt screw anything up. Iam about to take it to a shop tomorrow to have them put in new glow plugs. I am not that good with working on trucks but I wanna learn. so..thanks for these posts, I am learning a bit. So my truck when I try to start it turns but doesnt start. smoke comes out the pipes (which i was told means fuel is getting there) but just doesnt start.

 

[91W350]

My fairly new to me M1009 started at 6 degrees F this morning, I tried to let it fall to an idle too quickly and it died, it fired right back up with a fresh cycle of the glow plugs. I know my M1008 is good to 7 below without being plugged in, sounds like I will get to test this one this coming week...

 

[Pawnshop]

I started my M1009 the other morning when it was 19* inside the truck. One cycle and a little throttle and she coughed to life first try. My high idle stopped working the first cold snap we had so I have to warm her up with my foot, but otherwise it does fine.

 

[Massm35a2]

I installed an idiot light on the dash so I can see what is going on in the output side of my glow plug circuit. When the wait light goes out, the glow plugs still stay on for a spell. 10-20 seconds. even after the engine fires up. I usually count to 10 after the wait light goes out before cranking in cold weather and always fire right up. even without an idiot light you can see the extra runtime by looking at the drop in the voltage guage

 

[Somemedic]

With my new acquisition (m100 Ive noticed it's common for the truck to fire up and die when cold. It is usually difficult after that to get it to fire up again. Truck has new ac delcos with a good 12v supply to them. The truck isnt plugged in or at least the plug heater doesnt appear to make a difference when plugged in. I assume it no longer works. What Im guessing is my problem, along with some of you other guys, is theres a little air leak in the fuel line. Both my blazer and the pick up have manual gp heater buttons installed. The wellmans (24v version) in the blazer always seem to fire it up with about a 15sec cycle but the pick up takes much longer, more like 30sec. It usually races for about 2-3 sec and then sputters and dies putting out white smoke like thers alot of unburned fuel. Once I get the first start of the day out of her she usually fires up for the rest of the day quite easily, even after sitting for 3-4hrs. I might have to hit the gp button for 5sec if the pick up doesnt fire off of the starter alone but if I do it starts immediately.

My long winded point is make sure you dont have air in the fuel line. It makes starting much harder.

 

[M1075]

With my new acquisition (m100 Ive noticed it's common for the truck to fire up and die when cold. It is usually difficult after that to get it to fire up again. Truck has new ac delcos with a good 12v supply to them. The truck isnt plugged in or at least the plug heater doesnt appear to make a difference when plugged in. I assume it no longer works. What Im guessing is my problem, along with some of you other guys, is theres a little air leak in the fuel line. Both my blazer and the pick up have manual gp heater buttons installed. The wellmans (24v version) in the blazer always seem to fire it up with about a 15sec cycle but the pick up takes much longer, more like 30sec. It usually races for about 2-3 sec and then sputters and dies putting out white smoke like thers alot of unburned fuel. Once I get the first start of the day out of her she usually fires up for the rest of the day quite easily, even after sitting for 3-4hrs. I might have to hit the gp button for 5sec if the pick up doesnt fire off of the starter alone but if I do it starts immediately.

My long winded point is make sure you dont have air in the fuel line. It makes starting much harder.

Try parking downhill and see if that remedies the situation.

 

[91W350]

I just solved that issue on my M1009. It was leaking at the drain on the fuel filter block and the lift pump was bad. I thought I had it when I found the drain valve was not tight. It improved, but it was not fixed. I could not find any other leaks, so I swapped out the lift pump and it is been great since then. Glen

 

[ChevyFan1207]

I turn the key, wait for the "wait" light to turn off, and then give it a little fuel while turning it over. Sometimes (it's currently in the teens around here) it takes me two times, and a little smoke comes out, but other than that, I leave it alone for 10-15 minutes (warm up) and hit the road. Also, I do this when it's been sitting for a week, and no problem.

With my m1009, it's loud as h*ll when I first cold crank it. After 10 minutes, you can tell the engines warmed up and ready to go.

 

[skark_burmer]

I installed a Briggs and Stratton pull rope to my crankshaft.

By the 3rd pull i have no interest to drive anywhere in that temperature so i moved to California. Kind of an expensive fix, but it works like a charm.

 

[noel.isaac]

I dont want to break another starter housing while cranking at -13 degrees, so I installed a KATS lower radiator hose heater last night, and it only took 30 minutes. Take off the Passanger side alternator (unhook the batteries first) and do a simple install. if y ou want to save time, buy a NAPA 7990 hose first and install the heater first as close to the waterpump end as possible. use new clamps and you will be happy. Also, check your glow plugs and relay for functionability and replace as necessary.

 

[50shooter]

Started mine last w/e at -4. It was parked in the timber along way from anything so it had to go right. Cycled the glow plugs twice, held the about 1/4" of throttle and cranked. 4-5 seconds of that and it started.

I've noticed that if mine pops and I don't get on the peddle quick enough it will die. Then it doesn't want to statt for anything. After reading the above I'm confused as to why it works but a bit of throttle and cycling the plugs twice works great for my M1008 and it will not start if you don't do it.

 

[mtjbrown]

Its been 13 to 15 degrees in the mornings here in north Ga this week. I had to cycle the glow plugs twice Monday morning so monday evening I fixed up my redneck block heater(trouble light under the hood all night) Worked great this morning, one gp cycle and fired right up! BTW, I never give my truck any throttle while cranking, seems to do great that way.

 

[Somemedic]

50Shooter try this:

Get in the truck and crank it immediately without cycling the glowplugs (Or if your gp system is intact) before the plugs have a chance to cycle. If theres a small air leak in your fuel line this should purge the air out. May have to do it a little longer if you havent started it in awhlie. Then cycle the plugs a few times, making sure theyre hot. after 2 cycles or maybe 2 - 15 second bursts (5sec in between) on the gp button try starting it. I'll bet she fires up. Plan on changing some fuel line or a filter mount or even a lift pump around June.

 

[50shooter]

50Shooter try this:

Get in the truck and crank it immediately without cycling the glowplugs (Or if your gp system is intact) before the plugs have a chance to cycle. If theres a small air leak in your fuel line this should purge the air out. May have to do it a little longer if you havent started it in awhlie. Then cycle the plugs a few times, making sure theyre hot. after 2 cycles or maybe 2 - 15 second bursts (5sec in between) on the gp button try starting it. I'll bet she fires up. Plan on changing some fuel line or a filter mount or even a lift pump around June.

I'll give it a try and see what happens. Thanks

 

[hudson's74]

My 1028 started great this morning at 15 degrees 10 sec on the glow plugs!

 

[mtjbrown]

Here in north Ga this morning it was 9 degrees with snow. My M1031 started great after one glow plug cycle!!

 

[91W350]

My Blazer started at -4 this morning, fired right off, a little sluggish for about ten seconds. My M1008 fired right off too, but it was flat fogging black smoke and did not smooth out for maybe a minute. That worries me as it has always fired right off and fell to a nice smooth idle, it would not stay running without nursing the pedal. I hope the metering valve did not give up on me. Wind chills in the -30 range, nasty day for man and beast. I should put some kind of heater on at least one of them. Glen

 

[BIG_RED]

Coldest mine ever started was -36*C. 2 glow plug cycles, pedal to the floor and a few short cranking sessions later - she started. No block heater, no nothing.

That, was stupid. Admittedly I didn't know any better, I had just got my M1009 and had never owned a diesel before.

Now that same truck has 2 x 600 watt Zerostart frost plug (in engine) block heaters, (one for each cylinder bank) a brand new Stanadyne FM100 filter set-up, new Wellman 070 glow plugs, brand new "carter fuel products" lift pump, all new fuel hoses except one that's 6" long and doesn't leak, and a new higher opening temp thermostat (so once she starts, she gets warm fast and stays warm for 3 hours at work, not plugged in). She starts in -45* C no sweat (plugged in).

My set up is probably overkill, but I live in Canada. It's cold here. If you wanna be able to depend on it, no matter how cold it gets - you might wanna do some of what I did.

I second the "hard starting after it sits a while". Had the same stupid air leak. The new fuel hoses, fuel pump and filter set up fixed that for me, but won't help you if your IP is the problem. I read above that Wellman GPs are apparently crap. Not knocking what was said, but mine seem to work fine. Honestly, if it's a sensible temperature outside and I've got both block heaters on - my glowplugs don't even cycle, the engine is that warm. But next time the GP's go, I'll take that guys advice - sounds like he knows his stuff.