Hey guys, quick question.. I know on my diesel i plug it in below about above zero. My gassers how ever are always inside... I am taking a 3 day trip and its cold up here in montana. Will be in temps as cold as -30F.. Do I need to plug the hemi in? Coolant is obviously up to snuff as well as having sythetic fluids all the way around.. I know if i took my diesel, id have to plug in or itd be pretty un happy starting.

Josh

 

Mine's a 2010 and has never been plugged in.

And if you think it gets cold in Montana, just check out the temperature records for Thunder Bay up here in Canada!

 

Just a thought, while I do not have the ability to plug in the Hemi, I think I would just to keep things working such as the engine heater. I once had a Ramcharger 4x4 but never, ever went 4 wheeling with it however, about 2 twice a year would put in 4 wheel drive to make sure the system worked if needed.

 

You don't want to lesson impact of cold weather starting on your truck; save flue, time, and increase heat in the cab?

If you have a plug in, plug in.

 

There is no plug in on my 09 and I've never felt like it needs one. Fired right up at -18F yesterday and it gets a bunch colder than that each January.

 

Plugging in is more for the diesels. You can however have a block heater installed in a gas engine. I'm not sure if you can order one with it already in it though.

 

Josh, I would plug it in. I've usually got mine on a timer to start about three hrs before an anticipated departure. I use -18 C (0 F) as the trigger. Sure, if you've got a really good battery it'll start way down to -40 but it sure don't sound pretty compared to having the block heater going for a couple or three hrs. And the warm up is that much faster.

 

You can get away with not plugging it it but it's a lot better for the truck to plug it in if you can. I use -15C as my rule of thumb.

 

There was a video of a 2010 Dodge Ram on Youtube who started up w/out being plugged in at -38*C(-36.4*F). The truck barely cranked and when it did, the engine was practically screaming murder.
Oil doesnt flow well, bearings don't move well which means excessive drag on anything with a mating surface.
If I lived where it was regularly below zero, I would plug in my vehicles regardless of gas or diesel. Luckily, teens is about the cold normal for here in Uptsate NY. Not common for single digits or to go below 0*F but it does happen.

ryans590, hard to give negative celcius figures. People in US are not aware of the swing when gone below zero w/Celsius and they think that F is astronomically cold in the negative like it is when Celsius is positive. Example. 12*C = 53.6*F but going negative doesn't mean same numbers(i.e -53.6*F). Actually -12*C = 10.4*F

 

We'll I use both Celsius and Fahrenheit daily at work so the conversion takes place automatically in my head. But if there's any confusion °C x 9/5 + 32 = °F or (°F - 32) x 5/9 = °C