Winter...

[Green1]

Actually it was plugged in- I have a battery warmer and an inline heater. I keep seeing posts by guys that their Delicas start on the first click and I'm wondering...

Inline heaters are useless. get a block heater, or better yet a circulating coolant heater.
The people who say they start first click are not in -25

[Spearo]

Oooh, a circulating heater I could do myself and probably get at Cambodian Tire! Will do.

[Firesong]

Saskatoon
-29 without the wind.
Plugged in the block heater for just over an
hour and it fired right up, first click.

I let the poor thing warm up for 10 minutes.
Crazy cold here.

J

[madmazda]

well this morning it was -22 at my place I have an inline heater I let the plugs warm and it fired up straight on...

Actually it was plugged in- I have a battery warmer and an inline heater. I keep seeing posts by guys that their Delicas start on the first click and I'm wondering...

Inline heaters are useless. get a block heater, or better yet a circulating coolant heater.
The people who say they start first click are not in -25

[jessef]

-18 not including windchill

sitting all day

glowplug click click... Repeat once more
turn key, first crank no problem
let the little guy warm up for 10 or so mins and we were off

I have to say I'm impressed with the bone stock 2.8 cold start although any colder and the block heater will do wonders.

A superman battery certainly helps along with 0 or 5w40 oil.

I noticed a big difference between the oil weights below freezing on the first crank. Seemed smoother and easier to turn over.

[Spearo]

I'm running 5/40 Synth and everything's fresh! Maybe my pump needs to be adjusted.

[Green1]

let the little guy warm up for 10 or so mins and we were off

This is the part I wish I could skip... all my previous vehicles have been drivable immediately after starting... this waiting for the transmission to warm up thing is starting to be rather annoying.

[jessef]

let the little guy warm up for 10 or so mins and we were off

This is the part I wish I could skip... all my previous vehicles have been drivable immediately after starting... this waiting for the transmission to warm up thing is starting to be rather annoying.

Opposite for me. Most of my previous vehicles were a pain to start in -20+ and had issues shifting, etc.

[Green1]

Opposite for me. Most of my previous vehicles were a pain to start in -20+ and had issues shifting, etc.

I didn't say they were easy to start, only that once they got going, so could you. my old mercedes was a royal pain to start in the cold, the L300 wasn't happy either, the L400 starts better than most of them... I just wish I could drive away after I do.

[madmazda]

yea my l400 starts ok i guess i have put a piece of cardboard over the radiator to help it warm up a wee bit faster it seems to help with me letting it idle for 10-15 min before driving off the temp gauge reads warm within a minute or so and chugs and sputters along for a bit then is fine......I love this thing..... my first diesel and 4x4 what was I thinking for waiting so long...

[Manitoba deli]

Starting and driving imediately will dramaticaly decrease the life of your diesel engine. It is recomended to let the engine warm up even in the summer for a few minutes. The heat generated by the combustion of deisel is tremendous, and driving a cold diesel engine will cause the engine to warm up unevenly. this causes uneven wear, warping, and glazing of many parts. Just because a diesel engine can be driven right away doesn't mean it should be. If you want to get the longest life out of your engine, let it warm up. Of course this is only my opinion as a diesel mechanic for over 20 years. I have no documented proof of this, I've only seen the damage caused by cold driving on engines I've had to work on.

Jason

[Green1]

Starting and driving imediately will dramaticaly decrease the life of your diesel engine. It is recomended to let the engine warm up even in the summer for a few minutes. The heat generated by the combustion of deisel is tremendous, and driving a cold diesel engine will cause the engine to warm up unevenly. this causes uneven wear, warping, and glazing of many parts. Just because a diesel engine can be driven right away doesn't mean it should be. If you want to get the longest life out of your engine, let it warm up. Of course this is only my opinion as a diesel mechanic for over 20 years. I have no documented proof of this, I've only seen the damage caused by cold driving on engines I've had to work on.

This is actually the opposite of everything I have ever read/heard about diesel engines.
Diesels generate very little heat at idle, it is actually bad for a diesel engine to idle for extended periods, this is why big-rigs have a "high idle" function to let them put the revs up when idling for extended periods. Now on a 1993 and earlier delica you have a hand throttle, but this is not so on newer delicas, as such you should never idle them for extended periods.
Diesels should be driven as soon as the oil pressure comes up (usually about 10-20 seconds), but driven gently for the first few minutes until they have warmed up evenly. (that part we agree on)

[FalcoColumbarius]

Starting and driving imediately will dramaticaly decrease the life of your diesel engine. It is recomended to let the engine warm up even in the summer for a few minutes. The heat generated by the combustion of deisel is tremendous, and driving a cold diesel engine will cause the engine to warm up unevenly. this causes uneven wear, warping, and glazing of many parts. Just because a diesel engine can be driven right away doesn't mean it should be. If you want to get the longest life out of your engine, let it warm up. Of course this is only my opinion as a diesel mechanic for over 20 years. I have no documented proof of this, I've only seen the damage caused by cold driving on engines I've had to work on.

Jason

I second this opinion.

Falco.

[Aztec Nomad]

Starting and driving imediately will dramaticaly decrease the life of your diesel engine. It is recomended to let the engine warm up even in the summer for a few minutes. The heat generated by the combustion of deisel is tremendous, and driving a cold diesel engine will cause the engine to warm up unevenly. this causes uneven wear, warping, and glazing of many parts. Just because a diesel engine can be driven right away doesn't mean it should be. If you want to get the longest life out of your engine, let it warm up. Of course this is only my opinion as a diesel mechanic for over 20 years. I have no documented proof of this, I've only seen the damage caused by cold driving on engines I've had to work on.

This is actually the opposite of everything I have ever read/heard about diesel engines.
Diesels generate very little heat at idle, it is actually bad for a diesel engine to idle for extended periods, this is why big-rigs have a "high idle" function to let them put the revs up when idling for extended periods. Now on a 1993 and earlier delica you have a hand throttle, but this is not so on newer delicas, as such you should never idle them for extended periods.
Diesels should be driven as soon as the oil pressure comes up (usually about 10-20 seconds), but driven gently for the first few minutes until they have warmed up evenly. (that part we agree on)

Hey,
This is true, I owned a rig and if you didn't use the high idle function in the winter you wouldn't be doing the engine any favours. Its probably all relative with the size of diesel your running.
Adam

[Manitoba deli]

While idling generates little heat, driving (even gently) creates tremendous heat and sholud be avoided at all costs when engine is cold. Excessive idiling is also harmful, but it is very easy on the l400 to wire in a switch for the cold high idle, the solinoid is already on the IP, all you have to do is wire in a relay to prevent a backfeed of current, and a switch to power the relay when you want to use high idle. If you don't have the means to wire in a high idle, 20 mins of idle is less harmful than driving a cold diesel. (thats 20min for -30 in Manitoba) the warmer the climate, the less warm up required. But even for the first trip of the day in summer, I would recomend at least 2min.

Jason