Hey I am looking for a recommendation from a knowledgable diesel guy here. Its -36 celcius up here in Alberta, -47 with the wind chill. I tried using my remote starter two days ago the jeep started, squeeled, and shutoff. So I went outside and started it manually allowing the glow plugs to heat up (and yes I have the block heater plugged in) it almost didn't start and when it did a bunch of lights came on inluding the engine light (also seatbelt, SRS, ESP, and Door ajar lights) and the belts and pulls squeeled for about 5 min. All of the other lights went off but the engine light once it warmed up, I am assuming the engine light is just a mis-fire and the light is on for 30 key turns or whatever. Now I haven't shut my jeep off since then about 36 hours. I have the elephant hose mod so im not worried about the inlet leak, but is this ammount of idiling pretty bad for the engine? or would starting it at those temperatures be worse?
I can't find any information on idiling at temperatures this low. Everyone says it increases wear, but they are all dealing with temperatures no less than 0 fahrenheit.
it warmed up to -26 so ive stopped idiling and she still starts easily with the block heater plugged in, would still like to get some oppinions though.
My CRD started well below -36 with the block heater. Take the time to make up something for a winter front, I used some cardboard painted black and zip tied it behind the grill. It makes a big difference. Any bit of wind pulls major heat out of the engine. Heck I've started it at -35 without the block heater after sitting overnight. It wasn't happy but doesn't sound as bad as what you experienced. Just leave the bottom grill open for airflow when the fan is on, or block them both and cut out a few small holes.
I had mine shut off for 6-8 hours at a time at -40 and starting was never an issue. Usually I would try to park near a barrier to block the wind or perpendicular to the wind.
I don't know about dealing with that level of coldness here in Ontario. But when I use to run the highway for work with the transport we would let them run all the time with no issues.
I was always told that since a diesel engine produces less heat than a gas model, it was a bad idea to let it idle for long periods of time in very cold weather.... I also remember reading that someplace.... damned if I remember where though... Big rigs can because sometimes, they are equipped with a radiator shutter that prevents the cold air from running through the radiator... but I am not sure aobut that either to be honest..... I just don't idle it when it is uper cold, but it is always plugged in....
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