Okay, so finally the cold weather has arrived and I got a chance to see how the Ram fares. Answer ... Not so great.
The truck spins fast enough, will fire a bit but won't actually start.
At -25c it started no problem. This morning at -33c its a no-go. So just so you know I don't need a primer on cold air temp starting. What I'm more interested in is what are the known issues with these vehicles when they should start and won't.
Battery, battery cables, electrical system: good; will spin fast enough; will do 10-20 8 second start attempts (which is all you can expect). Spins fast. Will fire a bit but won't actually run. Lights, gauges, etc all bright and as normal.
No fuel smell; no indication its flooded.
96 Ram 1500 5.2l automatic.
Broadly speaking behaves similar to a FI engine that just won't light in cold weather. Were it a carb I would throw fuel at it and it would start considering how it acts but with FI you are limited as to what you can do.

So here's my question:
What issues affect these trucks in a cold start? Plugs, sensor, etc?

I need reliable starts to at least -35 and preferrably -40c.

 

I would be tempted to have a look with a scanner, and see what temp the PCM thinks it is. When it starts getting cold like that, you need a fair bit of fuel in the mix to get something that will actually burn. A nice fat spark helps too..... Wonder if something like an MSD system would help? (three sparks per cycle, maybe light the mixture off better?)

 

I have a scanner so I can check that. I believe the temp sensor reads coolant temp and if so the sensors used by pretty much all mfrs should read to -40 which is good enough even if actual temp is a bit lower.
What Plugs do you run in your truck and what do you gap them at? I haven't looked at the ones in this engine but probably will pick up a set since its a cheap sanity check. Theres no misfires so havent worried about it so far.
I usually run NGK's or Bosch Platinums (not the multi-electrode ones ... I believe in an unshrouded spark) in other vehicles. Since I am pretty sure there is enough electicity i'm wondering if its getting to the plugs. Also if you have a favorite plug wire set what are they?

 

I used some "super copper" plugs.... don't recall the brand, but, I think they were bosch. I just run the stock gap. (.035 on my truck)

Our trucks don't always care for the rare-earth plugs.... a bunch of folks have had problems with them, for some reason, the magnum motors just don't seem to like them. There is a thread in the faq section with a poll on who uses what plugs... may wanna have a look there. The autolite 3923's seem to be pretty popular.

Putting in some standard copper plugs, and seeing if that doesn't improve it's attitude some wouldn't be a bad test. And it is indeed cheap....... So long as you don't have to change them outside in the cold...... ugh.

 

Well just tried to boost it. One thing I've learned already is I need to do a part-throttle start ... On some FI engines that puts into a rich fuel mode and it definitely made a difference. But I couldnt sustain cranking long enough to get it to actually run. Seems like the cable to the starter is shy a gauge or three because voltage dropped to 8 just when it wanted to run + cable was hot. Will change that wiring when I get a chance.

I read some threads about people not liking the Plats but they were all using the multis like +4s which are a mistake in my opinion. The whole deal with Plat or Iridium is the much smaller centre electrode unshrouds the gap ... Plopping four side electodes defeats the advantage. It is very combustion-chamber specific though if Plats work well but ive never seen it where theyre no good at all ... More likely they foul and dont last as well.

 

Well, I broke down and went out to the 77 GMC ... which hasn't turned over since last May and didn't have the block heater plugged in ... fired right up.

The Ram is still dead in the driveway ... I like the truck but it has to start or I won't be keeping it. I'm off to the parts store in the 77 for some new plugs.

 

I don't see anywhere about when the truck last had a tune-up, pick up a cap and rotor/wires when you get the plugs. Is that -40c with a wind chill or just -40? Why not use the block heater over night like most Canadians do when it's that cold out.

 

Block heaters are for people who always park at work in some stall, go to the office, and then go home and park at the house. Not an option for me every day; I use it when I can but the truck needs to work and that means being able to park anywhere overnight and start in the morning. It helps, and since it did start yesterday it probably would be fine but I demand more than that, and I know I can get it, or at least have been able to in the past.

Wind Chill is nearly irrelevant to a vehicle ... it only affects warm bodies and is not a temperature but a rate of cooling. Although the truck will cool at a faster rate in the wind, it can't go any colder than the air temp. So, it'a a situation where if it's been less than two hours since it had run it might not be at ambient yet, but if it' sat overnight a wind of a hundred miles and hour and one of zero wind won't make a bit of difference; three hours sitting in zero wind and it's at ambient air temp no matter what; just the same as if it had sat for a half hour in 100 mph winds.

USWO and Environment Canada both will tell you air temps should always use the scale and wind chills must never use the scale, so they can be told apart.

So, -35F is always the air temp and -35 is always the wind chill. "Wind Chill of -35F" is incorrect; you never have the F (or C) there if it's a wind chill factor.

The idiots on the radio were telling people it was -45 today but air temp was -33C and wind was 15 mph. The truck can never be colder than the air temp so -33C is the temp it's having starting issues at. If you're having cold weather start issues, using the wind chill tells other posters absolutely nothing; it could be just below freezing and extreme wind, and have some severe wind chill of -30C or -25F or something, but the truck is only starting or not starting at -2C or +30F or whatever ... then the guy might think he can drive from Vancouver to Regina and start his truck in the morning. He would be wrong.

When I find -40C air ... it doesn't always happen every year but it probably will during the time I plan to own this truck ... we'll really know something but until then this is the coldest this year ... started fine at -27C yesterday.

I've been in extreme cold (45~48C, about 49~54F) and I can assure you that a wind chill of -45 most certainly does not "feel like" an air temp of -45C.

Your lungs hurt to breathe, any part of you body not covered will show frostbite in 1~2 minutes ... that means full face coverage. Plus you avoid working on equipment unless absolutely essential because everything breaks .... bolt heads will snap off ... at those temps.

If it makes you guys feel any better, the GMC is the same truck I had to use to boost the company Ford F250 '06 the last time I was up north; that thing would not start below around -38C no matter what, and I don't want that kind of performance from the Ram. Just like today, the 77 was sitting unused, not plugged in, fired right up when I really needed it.

I've heard it a hundred times from a hundred people that EFI is "of course" better for cold starts but I've yet to see any evidence with the key in my hand. I haven't called a tow truck in 25 years; now I've called one twice ... once each within six months of buying a Chrysler product. (To be fair, I could also say "since buying an ODBII product and trying to start it in extreme cold").

The PT Cruiser needed a lot of remedial attention to be a reliable starter as well. I am starting to believe you need two batteries for EFI cold starts; one to run the show and the other for the starter. I don't know of any EFI system that allows spark on the first spin; third is pretty common.

It seems the starter battery drops in voltage and then the computer loses it's grip on reality and that's that. Once you interrupt the EFI ... even if it's still spinning at a decent RPM ... it reverts and then you will need two more spins before the spark will be allowed to fire. The theory is fine but reality rears it's ugly head.

The PT was a mess too ... everything was fine until it got really cold one day, then gauges would spin wildly like some Frankenstein movie ... the tach would hit the pin like it was trying to break it, and this is just with the key turned on ... but it wouldn't start. Dodge store wanted me to buy a new computer; I declined. I replaced the factory battery and starter cables with some I made up and after that, it starts fine (with the one, tiny battery). Seems like Chrysler fears the price of copper for some reason.

It's easy to make up some good cables with welding cable and the appropriate terminals; I like to crimp then solder. If you use a heat gun to pre-heat fat cables, they solder quite nicely. I also swap brass battery terminals in; they don't corrode so you never have to clean crud off them. I also like to use brass nuts on things like starter solenoids; one standard and one nylox to back it up and keep it tight. Of course, I haven't done any of this stuff to the Ram yet; I wanted to see how it started when things got tough first, and it has been near freezing all winter until now.

 

Installing a second battery to go with the upgraded starter cable might put and end to the bitching and whining.

 

I agree on the second battery.