COLD MOTOR STARTS

Okay so i just got back from a patrol and the outside temp was 5 Degrees and my truck did not want to start for the life of it. My buddys wife started it for me every two weeks with no problem the only two things that I could think of was dead battery or bad fuel. My truck cranked over two times but died after 5-10 secounds. After the third attempt to get it started the battery wouldnt turn it over So i decided to take my battery to advance auto to ensure that i had enough cold cranking amps coming from the battery. My buddy also recommended this stuff called ISO HEET. It acts as a fuel injector cleaner and some how heats up the fuel in your tank and lines. Advance auto hooked up my battery ran the test and it said charge and retest. So they hooked me up with a free charge that would take an hour. So I decided to go back to the house to put the ISO HEET into my fuel tank with some fresh fuel. I went back to Advance Auto to retreive my battery. Then i reinstalled. So that was the moment of truth. I then turned over the key and walla she's fired right up no problem Damn was I happy haha. I let her warm up for a good 10-15 mins and I've been driving her for a week with no problem with cold starts what so ever. I'm pretty damn sure that ISO HEET did the trick though. I highly recommend keeping a couple bottles stashed away in the truck. I could save you some head ache down the road. Plus I'd always run good fuel such as Mobil, Shell, or BP.

 

how long did your truck "sit"? the Heet stuff does not warm up the fuel. gasoline doesn't freeze until like -150* F. sounds to me like maybe some water (condensation) in your fuel. did you fill up before storage? did the fuel that was in the truck smell old? was the truck stored in a heated garage? (gasoline will go "bad" much quicker if it is warm/hot.)

...anyways, glad you got it runing.

 

I don't have any experience with batteries and 5 degree temps, but sounds like you have something drawing current with the truck off. An alarm system usually will kill a battery after a couple weeks of sitting. You might consider checking for current draw with the truck off. Or maybe next time try and have someone run the truck to charge the battery more often.

 

HEET is an alcohol solution that keeps any water in your gas from freezing (and allows it to get pumped through the engine). It doesn't actually heat anything up, AND it is hard to get it to 'defrost' lines that are already frozen. If you have any doubts about water in your gas, it is good to get this stuff into the tank before it is freezing out.

If your friend started the truck every two weeks, chances are that it didn't run long enough to fully recharge after each start, so the battery gradually was less and less charged. In the future, I'd either prep the vehicle for storage and pull the battery to put it on a trickle charger, or have the friend actually drive the truck for a couple of days every few weeks.

 

JKD is right, HEET is alcohol. It allows the water (condensation) in the tank to "mix" uniformly with the gasoline rather than separate into a layer at the bottom of the tank, where your fuel pick-up is. Glad that it worked out for you.

 

when i lived up north and we had real cold snaps, i'd just bring the battery in the apartment at night. heet is very useful to fight water condensation in gas tanks.

 

If you had someone starting the truck periodically but not actually driving it while you were away it could have done more harm than good having them do so. In the winter I store my FJ40 and my mustang in my shop garage. I do frequently have to move the FJ40 if I need to work on the wife's 4Runner, my tacoma, or my plow truck during the winter. The FJ40 has an enormous battery probably 50% bigger than my Tacoma with like 900CCA. But if I just start it, move it, and let it run for 5 minutes after 3-4 times of this the battery will be dead. If I drive it around the block a few times every few times I start it the truck is fine. My Mustang sits all winter without being touched and has a tiny battery, but it always fires right up in the spring. The same is true with my plow truck. It sits under my deck without being touched quite often for 4-5 months during the summer and it never fails to start. As long as you don't have some kind of mystery electrical draw you may as well put in some fuel stabilizer and just let it sit.

 

This is really encouraging, I've been in this cold snap in wyoming without a starting vehicle and i think i've isolated the problem to the fuel line (engine is turning over strong, just isn't firing). I'm going to put HEET (the yellow bottle) in tonight and see if it starts tomorrow morning. The temp still is not above freezing, but it's getting warmer now that the snap blowing over. If the car doesn't start two days from now when the weather is 40F and above freezing, i'll finally cut my losses and take it to the shop.

 

You can tell if its water separation by pulling a spark plug after turning it over. If the electrode is wet and smells like really old gas, youve got water in the fuel line/tank. Hopefully its a small enough amount that the HEET will take care of it though. Good luck man!

 

Just started my taco this morning in Calgary Alberta, -33 C! Wasn't plugged in either

 

The ethanol in gas today is horrible and if it sits for a longer period of time it starts breaking down. If you are going to let it sit again grab a bottle of Sta-bil for ethanol treatment, fill up your truck, add the stabil and drive for a bit to mix it up in the tank. It's a lot better to fill the tank before letting it sit so there is less room for condensation to form on the inside of the tank due to temp fluctuations. A fully charged battery in good condition will hold a charge for a long time without charging or messing with it. I charge my boat batteries when I pull them from the boat and a couple months later I put the charger on them again and they are only down a few percent from full. Glad you were able to get it started.

 

Mine started too without being plugged in. I also run full synthetic 5w-30 and I have an Optima 720CC(I think) battery. Steering was a little hard at the start(reminded me of before power steering). After 10 minutes of driving it was all warmed up.