Rough Cold Weather Start

[Victory]

Last weekend I stayed up at my buddies house for a weekend of fishing. The overnight low was in the low 20's. It was 22 when I tried to start my truck. I waited until the wait to start light went out (which too a bit longer of course) and started it up. It fired right up like it should but it sure sounded and felt like one or two cylinders were not firing correctly. Even when the fast idle kicked in it still sounded like it was missing. it wasn't until it was good and warm that is seemed to quit. Any ideas on this? Or is this just a normal cold start for a diesel? This is my first diesel so I am ignorant to how they perform and what is normal operation for them so please bear with me.

Thanks!

Eric

 

[architect-builder]

Normal. If it's not plugged in and temps are down, it's a bit louder until it warms up a bit. What weight oil is in your rig now. They recommend 30 weight in the cold temps. If I leave my Rotella in, I really get the romps when the temps dive.

Barrett

 

[Victory]

Thanks Barrett. I have not done an oil change since I have owned it but I am getting close to doing so. I assume it has Rotella in it. It has a serice reminder sticker in the window so I am going to call them and see what kind of oil they use and if they have a service history on my truck.

 

[F350DRW1]

You might want to use 5w-40 synthetic or semi-synthetic. They start alot easier and settle down quicker with the lighter oil.

 

[Victory]

I have 112,000 miles on my truck. Will it make a difference if I switch at this point? I have read and heard that switching this late in the game will cause seals to start leaking.

 

[pete37922]

use the Amsoil 5w-40 oil !!!

 

[Flopster843]

I swapped to rotella syn 5w-40 at about 96k. Runs great, and helped the cold start issue a lot. It's normal for a diesel to clank and bang and seem to "miss" when it's really cold. Try to start an old tractor or semi when it's really cold (if you can). It sounds like it's getting ready to blow apart.