are you runnin long wires or shorties?

 

I am running Taylor shorties and NGK plugs. I checked a couple plugs a month or so ago and found the gap to be about 10 thou open. They have about 18k on them. New battery last winter as well. I have tried cycling the key a few times to build pressure and it makes no difference.

 

Something else to mention...

Would a flakey ignition switch cause this? A couple times I have had to try turning the key to the start position to get it to fire. Sometimes I get nothing. Let off the key and try again and it catches. I also have to hold the key in the ACC position to get the radio to come on.

 

UPDATE:

Yesterday I replaced the NGK plugs with stock Champions and this morning the truck fired right up. It was 6 degrees out and I did not have the block heater plugged in. Seems to be good. I will post up a pic of the NGK's I pulled out. They don't look bad and the gaps are between 52 and 55 thou. New plugs were all gapped to 45 thou.

 

Stop being cheap and plug your truck in over night.... That's the whole point of the block heater, to help with cold weather conditions for start.... Ur gonna do more damage and it will cost you more in the end then just paying the increased power bill..

I plug my truck in if it is going to be colder than -15oC overnight, that's 5oF. Being in Canada we have all experienced this if we forget to plug the thing in...

 

It has nothing to do with being cheap. It is simply that a gas engine shouldn't ever need to be plugged in when it's above 0*F out. For my truck it was a requirement to plug it in at 30*F just so it would start.

 

Wow, if it doesn't start at 30oF without it plugged in, then I agree there is a problem. I have started my truck when it was -31oF without plugging my truck in, but you could tell it really really didn't like it with with all the groaning noises it was making..lol.
One thing that you have to remember, is that the way that these engines are designed these days is that the pistons and the cylinders have an extemely small clearance for the seals on your pistons, that is one reason why it is a hard start when it is cold. I had a 94 dodge dakota sport with a V6 and I could leave that thing unplugged for 2 weeks without starting at -40oF, go outside and just turn the key and it would start! I notice this with the wife's Chevy as well, once it gets colder than -4oF it is a really hard start.
Not too sure what I would do in your case.... A winter front would most definetely help on the warming up though!

 

Problem is solved. The plugs were the only thing I changed and it will start with the remote start again. I am happy! I am still getting the coolant temp sensor code every so often so I will change the sensor someday. The truck is running great and getting better mileage as well. Well, it was getting better mileage...it's been snowing lake effect for a few days and plowing kills any mileage.

 

Awesome. glad to hear. When i first started reading this I was thinking...Check the plugs...since they were alreay at their halfway point. These engines are picky.

 

Thanks for posting this... I've been banging my head trying to figure it out because I have the EXACT same problem. I even replaced the TB (the year after trying to just clean it). Can't fix once it's already too cold. Anyway, I use NGKs and have about 30k on them. It just sucks getting to the back one behind the brake booster, but you all know that.