20* out, should it start?

[Nate]

Looks like its about 20 degrees out in my town, and I have unblended fuel in right now...

Its been a little hectic out, and I havent gotten to store it for the winter (just parked it) Theres been a little snow/salt, but it rained like heck a few days ago. I'm thinking the salts all gone, unless the retards salt the crap out of the occasional fluff ball we get that lands... I've got some time, and I'm wandering If I can start my car and drive it around a bit, then fill it with winterized fuel (accually... mabey filling up and then driving... work it through the system?)

I gotta go to bed in an hour, so in 45 Im leaving IF I get the OK. Would it hurt anything if it DIDNT start? Should it start? Dare I shut it off when fueling?

What would you do in my situation? (which is no time, and little money)
Its the warmest its gonna be for a while right now... sad but true. I DONT PLAN ON DRIVING IT AFTER THIS DURNING THE WINTER!!!

Thanks alot
~Nate

[Larry Delor]

Coupla questions...

Is it garaged? Is it plugged in? If you shake the car, can you hear fuel sloshing?

It ought to start, but you never know...these things are pretty much case by case basis.

Once you get it to the fuel station, you should be able to shut it off. The engine compartment will stay warm during your fill up.

I think that somewhere in the manual, it says that the fuel can be "enhanced" by a certain percentage of kerosene as aid to retain fluidity.

Either way... Good Luck and dress warm just in case!

[Nate]

Its in the unsinsulated gurage (which is at above 32 so far), and its not plugged in... If it wont hurt anything I'd like to see if it will even start at this temp. Whats the worst thing that could logicly happen (no turning the key and getting electrocuited... or being hijacked by aliens )
I can hear fuel slosh, any other things I can do to easly test it?
Thanks alot
~Nate

The worst thing that's likely to happen is you will run down the battery if it doesn't start. If the car's in a 30F garage, I would expect it to start with no problem. Once you get it started and warmed up you should be able to shut it down and restart it as long as the battery is good. If you have a problem, let us know what it does.

[sailor15015]

It shouldn't hurt anything. Might turn over a bit slow depending on the condition of your battery/starter/gp's. The first freeze we had here a couple of weeks ago caught me by suprise, or maybe I wasn't paying attention. By this I mean I still had about 50% biodiesel and summer fuel(I'm pretty sure) in the main tank and I didn't plug her in. The gp's were about a month old, starter and battery about the same. I hadn't yet switched from my summertime Rotella T 15W-40 to my winter Mobil 1 5W-40 oil either.I waited about five seconds after the gp light went out and she fired right up. It shouldn't hurt but whether or not it starts is a different matter. I'd say go give it a shot.

[pawoSD]

I don't even start worrying about mine starting unplugged till its -3 or below....above that it will always start in about 4-6 cranks unplugged with a 20 second glow, or in 1-2 cranks if its been plugged in a few hours or more. I now plug it in if its below 25 out though....easier on the engine.

[sailor15015]

The quick unplugged firing time on my car put my mind at ease when it comes to its performance issues. It always fires right up and that indicates generally good compression, right? 0-60 times are around 20 seconds and I was considering doing a compression test but after doing some reading it appears to me that if compression was an issue, I'd have to do a lot more cranking to get her to fire. Am I correct in assuming this? I do plug it in when it gets below 30 just to make it easier on the engine.

[Nate]

****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I glowed for 2 min, and started cranking 15/15 cycle (cranking/non cranking)... all of a sudden NOTHING... Open the hood, and GUESS what the hell I did... I mented my POSITIVE battery cable end..... I took the cable off IMMEDIATLY, and found the wing nut on the positive to be BURNING hot... enough to burn my hand... The cable was warm, but the end was BLISTERING. It was on the battery, and melted part of the lable on top.........

It didnt start either, just sputtered a few times with varing degrees of fuel. I think I got a good two minits of solid cranking in...

Batterys inside right now, and I'll have to take a peak at it in the morning... The cables were 4 GA non vehical specific ones, with lead terminals. Did I find a ****ty set, and just need to replace them? OR did I do major damage...

This sucks, REALLY sucks... I gotta sleep on it... My questions are; Is it likely that I ruined my starter/soloniod, battery, and went cheap on the cables?

Thanks alot, I realy appreciate it
~Nate

The fact that the battery terminal/clamp heated up tells us that you had high resistance at that location. I doubt you damaged anything else, but you were probably getting low voltage to the starter and glow plugs (making it hard to start). I would buy a new terminal clamp and make sure it well connected to both the cable and battery terminal. Make sure the battery terminal in clean and that all the connections are tight. Did you damage the battery from the heat?

[Nate]

the battery wasnt hot anywhere but the positive terminal. What do you think I should do as a next step... What shoud I look for in a battery cable? I checked fastlane, and my "other" online site, and nobody sells a battery cable.
Thanks alot
~Nate

*EDIT*still cant fall asleep, its REALLY bothering me*EDIT*

[sailor15015]

I believe its just a generic cable. Walmart or the equivilant in your area will have them. I was able to pick up two new ones for the bimmer. Make sure all your contacts are clean. My bimmer is notorious for corrosion on the contacts about every six months. Last night they told me they were do again because my alternator light had been coming on intermitantly and I had to get a jump when I left work. Starter is strong and battery is only a year or two old. Alternator less than two years old as well. Cleaned contacts at battery, solaniod, and battery to engine ground. I also pulled the voltage regulator and it was fine. I charged the battery overnight and no light all day today and she cranked perfectly. Anyway sorry it looks like I'm rambling again. A new straight cable to the solaniod should be easy to find, just make sure you don't get one that's a smaller size. A bigger size wouldn't hurt either.

Was the cable very hot, or was it only the terminal clamp? Do you have "standard" size cables installed, or are they smaller? If it was only the clamp that heated up, I would just buy a new clamp (the type that clamps to the existing cable with a couple of bolts). I replaced mine a while ago, it's just a matter of stripping the insulation from the end of the cable and installing the new clamp. If everything is correct, the cable/clamp should not heat up noticeably. You should be able to buy automotive type cables and clamps at any auto parts store. When you put it back together, try cranking for just a couple of seconds and make sure it's not heating up again. Let us know what happens, I don't think you did any real damage.

[pawoSD]

0-60 in 20 seconds is VERY slow for a 300D turbo, thats about twice what it should be (11-12 seconds or so) 20 seconds is more in the land of a manual 240(22 secs).... or a N/A 300 (18.4 secs I believe) I think 300D turbo is 12.3 and SD is 13.2 or so.

My SD I have clocked at 12.1 sec's.....its quick. whunter can vouch for the quickness of my car.... He's driven it....

[mplafleur]

Clean the battery posts and cable and reclamp it.

Start the car and use the fuel. You'll only know at what temp the car will start without a block heater is by just trial and error.

It's 32 deg here and I bet my SD can start without glowing the plugs, it's that good.

My other SD is a different story. It will start with glowing, but it will put up a fuss.

I've been able to start my '75 30D at -20 deg F without a block heater.

[boneheaddoctor]

Use dielectric grease on the contacts and posts after you clean it well...it will help slow down future oxidation...its standard practice on large stationary UPS systems....