trouble with cold starting
 

New to cummins 12 valve. 98 2500. Do these have glow plug or other cold start assist. runs like a top, just a real task to start in cold weather. where do i start with a fix?

You could plug it in. Should be a cord coming out of one of the passenger side freeze plugs, for the block heater. It should spit out somewhere in that side front corner of the truck unless someone has removed it. Doesn't work great, but when it's below zero here it makes the difference between my truck starting and not. They do not have glow plugs, but they do have grid heaters (again, unless it's been removed) which pre-heat the combustion chambers. You should get a dash light when you turn the key on showing the grid heater working, and wait until it goes out to crank it just like with glow plugs. It will continue to cycle intermittently for the next few minutes even after it starts, until it comes up to temp. I've never not been able to start my 12V using the grid heater and leaving it plugged in over night, although it's still grumpy about it when it's really cold out. Regardless, we've had months where it never went above zero all month and it still fired up (grouchily) and brought me to work. If I forgot to plug it in over night when it's that cold though, odds are good it will give me the big FU in the morning.

Good batteries and connections are a must :c:

make sure your starter is in good shape too ... I had a weak one .. didnt take long to find out... :argh:

Is the problem regardless of ambient temperature or only when below say 40f?
Does the length of time sitting effect the start time? We often see leaking fuel heaters, faulty grid heater relays, burnt grid heaters and slipped timing causing hard starts. Typically in 5f weather here a 12v will start with the first or second try.

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