I need to do a test on the synthetic vs dino oil.

The other day I went to put some oil (synthetic) in the truck as it was a quart or so low. It was around -10* outside and I keep a gal jug in the cab so it was pretty much the same temp.

It had maybe a quart left in it and I found it would barely pour out. I could have turned the jug upside down and stuck my hand under it for a good 2-3 seconds.

I had to bring it in to warm it up before I could pour it out.

I was not expecting that at all with synthetic oil.

I reminded me of when I did a R&P on my Jeep several years ago. Brought the Jeep in from about -30* outside. Popped the diff cover and the gear lube was froze solid. I had to wait for it to warm up!

That is a very wierd pour point on what ever oil you had. Mobils and Kendalls is like -40ish. crazy. You may want to find the website of that oil and find out it's pour point.

Actually we have a local trucking company (Scott Fulcher) who is doing a test for us on thier problem cummins trucks. Conoco phillips is giving them 3 free oil changes ( 11 gallons each) and doing 2 sample tests with 2 different facilities. They have been using Delo LE, and thier 07 cummins went at 150k. Not good for Delo's sake. Mobil will actually warranty a engine or trans, whatever. If it goes BECAUSE of the oil, they will replace it.

From what I've been told, the CPS in the PSD does advance timing to accommodate cold starts. Is there a 15W40 fully synthetic to run?

Was Shaeffer Supreme 9000 5w40. It did pour out, but no where near it does when it's a room temp. Maybe I will make a video when it gets cold again.

I need to make one of the Dodge firing up at -15* not being plugged too. Will make the Ford guys cry! The guy a few houses down has an old 7.3L Ford and it sounds worse at 30* then mine does at -15*!

Knock on wood, my stroker has never sounded differnt or started hard at -20.

I find that hard to believe. We have about 25 trucks here at work, 96-02 Dodge and 00-06 Ford, all diesels. If the Fords are parked outside and not plugged in when it is close to zero or colder they usually won't start.
They will crank, but it's like the engine has to crank at a certain RPM or something to fire and it's just not quite enough.

Sorry to be different i guess. but working up a tamarack at -20 there were no plug ins in the parking lot. it started just fine. dont know whats different. i know our 99 at work is hard starting now if not plugged in. it also knocks abit. Mine never has.

I'm sure that amsoil (I know I know) makes a 15w40 synthetic, never seen it freeze up, fairly sure that valvoline makes a 15w40 syn, not sure though.

as far as why the powerstrokes won't start when it's really cold, they use oil-powered injectors, and the computer wont even try to fire the injectors until it sees a certain PSI from the HPOP (high pressure oil pump) so when your oil is really cold the HPOP cant pump enough to get to the required pressure, while a syn oil is more fluid at cold temps it pumps easier and makes it easier for the HPOP to reach the required pressure.
certain performance chips (hypermax for one) can make this condition worse, because one of the ways they increase HP is by increasing the HPOP pressure, except they do it all across the board, so the required pressure before the injectors will fire is also higher.

as far as a syn oil causing too much timing on startup, BS. there is no way to score the head (whatever that means?) at idle speeds and fueling levels especially with a cold engine.

increasing timing would only make it knock and rattle a bit until things get going, no damage, just noisy.

It would be interesting for you to go back and ask whoever told you it would score the head what they meant. I would think they meant scoring of the cylinder and pistons. This can occur anytime they touch (The pistons don't actually touch the cylinder - usually!). I'm going to call BS too though because while the oil pressure is used to fire the injectors (Sort of, anyway . . . . ) this oil pressure is regulated and controlled and just changing the weight of the oil won't necessarily change the operating pressure.
The other thing I noticed was what you guys were saying about timing. Yes the engine has crank and / or cam position sensors that send info to the computer so it will be able to track exactly where the engine is at all times (Many measurements / pulses per second!). Only way these can 'change' timing is if the sensor or tone wheel is moved from where it is supposed to be. On modern diesels the computer does alter the timing based on it's programming. To change or adjust the timing on a diesel, the injector is fired at a different time (Since when the injector fires fuel is when the combustion takes place. This is similar to the spark plug firing on a gas motor, which is what is changed to adjust it's timing.)

If a PowerStroke becomes hard to start in the cold, first thing I would suspect would be the glow plugs. If it looses only one (Out of the 8 it has!) it will make it hard to start. If it looses more it won't start! You can ohm them to check them but they can deteriorate inside and actually heat up near their base instead of out on the tip like they are supposed to. Under these conditions they can still ohm ok so the only way to completely check them is to remove them and energize them and see where they glow. If they are 'open' (Burnt out) or heat up near the threads, replace them. You can just replace bad ones, but be aware they do have a 'life' span so you may be back to do more of the others fairly quickly. If you decide to do it this way, keep track of where the new ones are and as long as they are not defective, you hopefully won't be pulling them again right away to find bad ones.
If you need new glow plugs, OEM is your best bet for value for the money. All 8 are going to cost you about $85 (I think - We are picking up a set for my boy's this week, so we will know for sure then.) Only other things you need to check in this system are the electrical connections from the batteries to and through the glow plug relay. Quick and dirty way is to just do a voltage drop test from the batt + to the output of the relay while it is on. You don't want to see more than .2 VDC! If it is, then move your leads around to find where the drop is occurring. If it's in the relay and cleaning the cable connections doesn't cure it, then replace the relay (Same goes for any cable. If cleaning it's connections doesn't make your voltage drop go away, replace the cable.).
On the early PowerStrokes, check the plug on the valve cover for obvious melting. If a glow plug goes bad and draws too much current, it can cause the plug and connector to get too hot and melt. You don't want that! If all that checks out, then you should have a PowerStroke that will start when it's cold out!
(Some guys report that their diesel won't start anymore in the cold unless they continue to use ether. It is possible to bend connecting rods with ether. Once that happens the engines compression is lowered and it won't have the power it did and it will be hard to start in the cold even if it's starting aide is working correctly. I would just recommend to not ever use the stuff! If a diesel won't start, figure out what the problem is and correct it. Then it will start correctly and you won't take the chance destroying it!)