notlimah

I agree with you guys. I think the truck should start in negative temps on just grid heater alone. I think mine would, although we never get that cold enough to test it. Only time mine gets mad is starting cold without grids/plugged. Otherwise I'm going to plug in whenever I can when the temps get low. No point in starting an extra cold engine when I could've warned it up. If you're wondering about electricity costs, check out dauntless' thread (who by the way, has some of the best threads on CF so if you have a chance read through some!) and see that he found its really not that bad, especially when combined with a timer.

Im pretty sure @leathermaneod was talking about using it but not sure if he has or not. Not sure about anyone else running it. This is the first tank I've used optilube and I'm using the summer blend. I think I'm going to get the XPD though.

That sorta sounds like weak batteries to me. Mine will start in the same amount of time of turning the key weather MPG is on or off. It just starts and runs a little rougher right at first but eventually smooth's out. It definitely is interesting to hear how different everyone's truck reacts to starting in the colder weather.

I agree, it doesn't NEED it to start, but my philosophy with that is, why make it harder if I don't have too. My truck starts up fine in any weather my area can throw at it, as long as I left the grids do their job. It's when I have MPG mode selected up and fire it off is when she gets pissy haha!

sorta the same thing as yours, minus the miss. It'll put out a good amount of white smoke and just run a little rough, but that's only when I forget to use the grids and it's fairly cold out.

Yea I tend to agree with you. Just because a company says it's great doesn't mean it really is. Ever since I found this sight and became knowledge to what HFRR scores are and how important they are, I've pretty much decided that anything off that list I won't use. I just like quantifiable data when it comes to this kind of stuff. Side note, I did buy some opti-lube summer blend and I think I am going to actually order the XPD from them as well and I MIGHT end up using that in place of 2 stroke.

I just want to see if I can clear the air up a bit on a few things and talk Cummins related additives From what I understood, in the past Cummins had never officially endorsed a specific additive nor advised using one. I believe they stated that as long as you were using adequate fuel, there was no need, unless you needed protection from gelling or worried there was a lot of water in the fuel for some reason. A lot of people seemed to think that Cummins endorsed stanadyne, but from what I've read, it seems that it was a misunderstanding. A person closely related or that worked for Cummins said that he really liked stanadyne or said some great things about it and everyone took that as 'Cummins endorses stanadyne' but that doesn't seem to be the case. Fast forward to now, Cummins seems to have changed it's stance, and rightfully so with changing fuels. https://www.cumminsfiltration.com/literature/additives So it seems that Cummins seems to think that using additives is beneficial, but I'm curious as to why it doesn't seem to be as common knowledge or as popular as I would think. There's a lot of anal-retentive Cummins owners who I would think wouldn't use anything but Cummins endorsed additives so just seems weird that it's just now coming to light, at least to me anyways. What do you guys think?! Answer in the poll!

That's no good, you pluggin in? My trucks finicky, sometimes it'll start up no problem when it's cooler out, other time she puts up a big fuss.

Welcome aboard William! Always good to see new people around!

Shoot if I didn't already have 3 trucks in the driveway, I'd make you an offer too! hahah

Man @JAG1 that's a sweet looking rig! One of these days I'll get me a 1st gen!

Just flip the switch from 6cyl (or 3cyl for that matter) to MPG and you're good to go. No need to shut off the truck.

I was gonna ask @KATOOM you sure your engine didn't do a 3cyl run for a bit? I don't know if it gets cold enough down your way to need it so just curious. Definitely sounds alarming if you've never heard it. Using Mikes high idle switch, I can get two kinds of 3cyl high idles. One that actually happens with the switch in that position, and another one if I do the previous, don't shut off the truck, let the truck come back to idle and switch to 6cyl, it'll do it again, but it doesn't sound the same as the actual 3cyl high idle. Weird. As far as cold fuels concerned, when would you guys recommend running an after market fuel heater for guys like me with a FASS and not running through the stock fuel filter?

Thought you'd get a kick out of this @CSM

I'm a sucker for the older trucks! Looks real nice that's for sure! Keep us updated on what you find out.

Google image aux switches and a lot will come up. I'm pretty sure there's some old threads on CF concerning this very issue and people have gotten pretty extravagant with switches.

I think you'd be hard pressed to fit more then maybe 2 extra switches in the cubby hole along with the high idle switch. The lock panel is a popular choice, or to the right of the headlight switch or left of the HVAC switches.

@leathermaneod Yea I did see the XL and the chart you're talking about. The reason I went with the summer blend is mainly because of the smaller mixing ratio and what that'd end up costing per tank. If price wasn't a factor for me then I'd go with the XPD blend as that seems to be the best over all in terms of performance. Also, I'll never need to deal with negative temps where I live so the anti-gel component is something I over look. Either way I don't think you can go wrong with any of opti-lubes products as they all look to perform really well.

Just to stir the (witches) pot in here... Ever since I joined this forum, it was quick and easy to figure out that 2 stroke is great to run in our trucks. I've ran it ever since and have had zero issues. With that being said, @TFaoro mentioned the opti-lube summer blend and so I went over and looked at the HFRR article again and sure enough, there it was, a few spots higher on the list then 2 stroke oil, with a MUCH lower (or higher depending on how you see it) mixing ratio so it'll last a lot longer then 2 stroke. Just something to think about for sure. I just ordered a 1 gallon bucket and two smaller bottles for mixing on amazon for $65 + shipping and it says it'll last 2560 gallons so I'll give it a try and see how it works.

I've never heard of the turbo being more or less efficient with or without the silencer ring. Have a link?

Thanks IBM, I really couldn't think of any logical reason why it would cause an issues, just wanted some other opinions! I didn't put any 2 stroke in this last tank but I filled up at half a tank. Now I'm back at half a tank and going to wait until I'm at a 1/4 tank to fill up, then probably start running the opti-lube.

I'm gonna ask this question here as it somewhat fits... I'm looking to start using opti-lube summer blend this next tank, I'm sure I won't be able to get all of the old 2-stroke out of the tank. Are there any ill effects of having both of those in the tank at the same time?

Hmm, definitely weird they still cycle, but I'm glad to hear mine is not the only one doing it! One things for sure, my truck does NOT like starting without grids, even if it's only in the 40s! hahaha plenty of white smoke to let me know she was pissed!

Ok, that sounds like what mines doing. If the switch is telling the sensor what temp it is, then how does the grid still cycle? Is that on a separate temp reading?