do i let it warm up????

Only takes about 10 seconds for the oil to circulate. Idling is the hardest thing an engine can do. Letting it warm up for an extended period of time just promotes carbon build up.

 

Alway let your truck warm at least 5 min. when its cold if not you run the chance of CRACKIN! the block. In warmer weather turn it on get the oil moveing and drive off.

 

Had -14 temp on the center console today going to work with -40 windchills.

But my tech is, below 0 here and its a 10 min warm up. Above 0 its get in and a slow crawl till the engine revs down and then on the gas to get her warmed up. Damn windows fog like hell though with recirculate on, get some outside air and it slowely goes away..one of my biggest pet peeves with this truck.

 

Welcome to TW, Air force brat?

 

I always let it warm up in the cold weather. If its near 40 or above - I'm not concerned too much about letting it warm up. Depending on if I'm running late or not - I usually let it warm up about 5 minutes. My truck is parked outside all the time.

 

I usually let it warm up a coupel of minutes while I have a quick smoke.

 

Yeah, Air Farce brat, both parents no less.

 

I am too, well just my Dad, we were in Minot for 4 years, ugh!!

 

Apparently there was a problem in the late 1990's into the early 2000's with some cast iron block diesel engines in commercial trucks. Some of the blocks were improperly cast leaving voids which caused poor heat transfer and weak areas. Unless you've dropped a Cummins 5.9 liter diesel into your Tacoma you don't have to lose much sleep worrying about this.

 

Excellent post. I was reading through the thread and wondering why nobody suggested an EBH (engine block heater). I had an EBH installed in my Taco by the dealership when I bought it, it wasn't very expensive, parts and labor totalled around $100 if I recall correctly. I plug it in at night and in the morning, depending on how cold it gets, the oil temp (per the ScanGaugeII) is around 80F. I start the truck and drive away.

 

Yep, is sure is cold here in the NorthEast too., though not as cold as Wis, Minn etc. I had to go out at 8am and it was 6deg her in Mass. I just fire it up let it warm up for a min or two, as I had to leave, then drove just normal, no lugging, shifting around 1800rpms until the gauge got off the bottom.
Had I had plenty of time I would have waited until the temp gauge got up a little and the idle settled down.
Thats one of the good things about syn oil, it stays fluid at very cold temps.
Tonite, it will be -1 or -2 and the wind will pick up tomorrow, that of course does not effect engines, just exposed skin.
Jeff, 06,V6, 6spd, 4x4 Radiant Red

 

I've experienced starting or trying to start diesels in cold. Doesn't sound good especially Ford power strokes. Running on 2 then 3 then 6 cylinders. This is at -30-40c. A lot of guys where I was in Fort Mac would start the truck and put a brick on the throttle to warm them up, ugly sounds! When it was really cold for a couple weeks, we didn't shut anything off, run all day all night at 1000rpm. Stick a jug of your motor oil outside when its cold and try and pour it in the morning, yes synthetic is better then conventional oil, but it's still like molasses when its cold. I think it's all going to depend on the overnight temps in your area, and weather you park outside. If I parked in a garage I wouldn't let it warm up much.

 

Well, there's nothing magical about Minot, except when it's cold enough you can take a glass of boiling water and toss the water outside it immediately turns to ice crystals.

For those of you living in the tundra, I highly recommend an oil pan heater. They come in different shapes/sizes to fit various applications, usually broken down into how much oil is in the pan. Different vendors offer them about the pads are 3M products. My Ranger didn't have a block heater so the oil pan heater was the easiest install. My wifes F-150 has both and before she gets to the end of the block she usually has heat.

As far as folks having their blocks crack I wouldn't know, but if it were a problem it would be an epidemic in North Dakota.

I run Amsoil in all my vehicles 0W-30, even at -40 the viscosity is still very low(high?). Before the major advances in motor oils even conventional dino oils some very old manuals advised the user to dilute the oil with gasoline. Sounds nuts but given the tolerances of 50-60's era engines and poor oil viscosities this was only way to have the oil flow before your engine siezed (PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT ON YOUR TACO, FOLLOW YOUR OWNER'S MANUAL). Once the engine reaches operating temperature the gasoline would evaporate. I'm sure the hydrocarbons coming out the tail pipe were just a little more than today.

 

Yes.

Had that happen in Slave Lake when it was -50ºC and a windchill on top of that. One of the other medics plugged her Diesel into a faulty plug which wasn't working and froze her truck solid. Took me 3 hours to get it to start again. Let's just say that truck hates life now.

Other times yeah, we just had to leave them going all the time cause if you let it stop and cool down, it will never get started again unless you want to try ether. But I don't know if that even works with diesels? I know you can do it with petrol.

 

I was in Anzac for a while and before that we were in the Slave lake area! On the DND base or some base? Ether or nose candy works with old diesels, most new diesels have glow plugs, or some sort of intake heater which could ignite the ether and cause harm to the engine and you. We had one truck with a big Cat and it had a oil heater and big 2000w block heater, and no go would not start. We ended up leaving the steam wand under it for a couple hours.

 

or run it off a temp guage like it should be if you were putting in an electric fan.

 

circulate the fluids? the oil is circulating from teh get go, the coolant is going anywhere until it heats up enough to open the t stat to head to the radiator. transfluid? that doesn't move unless the car is moving...at least in a manual. i suppose with an auto it is a little.

just fire it up and go. that's what you are suppose to do.

 

When its cold out i let my truck warm 'til it either thaws the ice off, or if there isn't any I still wait until the SG reads about 80 deg. temp. With the cold my 6speed is almost impossible to get into 1st until driven and warmed up a bit so thats some motivation to let it warm up a bit too.

 

The original part of this thread was discussion on Taco's being warmed in "normal" cold temps and morphed into diesels in the artic and very extreme temps.
I am surprised not to hear that more Taco owners( or any car/truck owner) in the colder climates, such as Wis, Minn. or even the upper regions of Vt., Maine and NH., don't have block heaters etc. Certainly would help and make the warm up quicker.
Those area's that have below 0 for many days in a row definately benefit from extra help. Luckily this morning its only -2deg...
Jeff , V6, 06, SR5, 6spd, 4x4