A Cold Start

The point of this story is to serve one purpose… and that is to document further proof that I don’t know what I’m doing!

To be frank, the ambo is the first diesel vehicle I own and I’m quickly being introduced to all the nuances it comes with.

During out trip to Utah, we linked up with Caleb (@calebwallace) his brother Sam (@samrwallace) and dad Rob (@gngrrob) in Bryce Canyon National Park and spent the afternoon soaking in some amazing views of Bryce Canyon (more of that to come).

We drove through the park until the sun began to set and with the brisk evening fast approaching, decided to hunker down and spend the night just outside the park. We checked the weather forecast and quickly determined this would be the coldest night we’ve spent in the ambo so far, 15-17 degrees.

 
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Here is where my ignorance kicks in. Though I’m aware that cold starts on the 7.3 can be an issue.. up to this point I had absolutely no clue that diesel has a cloud, pour, and gel point. The latter being at, you guessed it, 15-17 degrees.

Queue the morning sun, here I go deciding to start the ambo to get it warmed up prior to hitting the road and… no dice. I wasn’t surprised at first since, as mentioned above, I’m aware that cold starts can be a problem. I sat in the driver’s seat for quite a while trying everything I could think of to get it started.

I cycled the glow plugs various times (to the point of draining the batteries), tried heating the engine bay with a propane heater, and resorted to hooking up to another vehicle with some jumper cables and testing battery voltage with a multimeter, all with no luck. At that point I knew it couldn’t be “spark” or air, so it had to be fuel. I feared that my glow plugs had called it quits in which case we would not be going anywhere any time soon.

Luckily for me, Randy (@pvtmule) who was heading down from Oregon and was under an hour away from us, just happens to be a very experienced diesel owner and was able to provided some major pro tips, do’s, and don’ts. Armed with this new info Sam acted like a true legend and drove to the nearest auto store to pick up what we needed as I got to taking some things apart in the engine bay. Shout-out to Caleb for getting a fire going and finding some time to capture some photos of me working on the rig.

Upon Sam’s return and a little brainstorming, dismantling, and a can of starter fluid later, we got the ambo running to my extreme relief. For the small price of $7 and one eyebrow, we were back on the road headed towards good times!

 
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Lessons Learned:

  • Diesel gels at 15-17 degrees

  • Use an additive or preferably a block heater if possible in sub 20 degree weather because not all towns winterize their diesel

  • Allowing your engine to idle over night will keep warm fuel circulating into your tank

  • A full tank helps prevent gelling

  • Always carry a can of starter fluid

  • Traveling with others is a safety pro

So… there’s that. Hopefully it helps someone or at least provides a decent laugh at my expense. The more you know!

Brian Sirin