The no crank when its darn cold again

[57diesel]

I thought about poking around the starter but at minus F temps that rubber stuff in the fender might as well be sheet metal, it was not going to bend back to let me easily probe the terminals.

Battery cables, hardware and batteries were new this summer so hopefully no issues there yet.

Maybe my starter came from the same batch with the extra thick grease as Ryan's.

[JMJNet]

There is always a chance that the batteries are freezing?

[Graplr]

Originally Posted by 57diesel

I thought about poking around the starter but at minus F temps that rubber stuff in the fender might as well be sheet metal, it was not going to bend back to let me easily probe the terminals.

Battery cables, hardware and batteries were new this summer so hopefully no issues there yet.

Maybe my starter came from the same batch with the extra thick grease as Ryan's.

My starter is about 2.5 years old from Autozone (with the lifetime warranty). Not trying to get into a debate about the Mcparts stuff vs Bosch, etc just stating for purposes of the debate. This is really the first winter I've driven it since the new starter was installed (sat two years ago awaiting an IP and last year awaiting a trans rebuild).

[JMJNet]

Lifetime warranty does not reflect any quality, it just means that you can replace it anytime whether it is good or bad or may be the store can test it for you.

[FloridaHorseman]

If you already have access to 110v for the block heater I'd suggest tapping into it for a good ol' 100W light bulb positioned directly under or next to the starter overnight and see if that makes a difference. It should certainly narrow the problem down between congealed grease and bad cable/ignition connections. ~FH

[Graplr]

Originally Posted by JMJNet

Lifetime warranty does not reflect any quality, it just means that you can replace it anytime whether it is good or bad or may be the store can test it for you.

As I stated, I didn't want to get in a debate about Mcparts vs high quality. I fully understand the differences and have chosen to go that route with starters and alternators on the 6.5.

[Graplr]

Originally Posted by FloridaHorseman

If you already have access to 110v for the block heater I'd suggest tapping into it for a good ol' 100W light bulb positioned directly under or next to the starter overnight and see if that makes a difference. It should certainly narrow the problem down between congealed grease and bad cable/ignition connections. ~FH

That is true but in my thread on this matter, it was suggested that the starter solenoid sticks in cold weather so if the bulb warms this it may very well be electrical still?

[FloridaHorseman]

Originally Posted by Graplr

That is true but in my thread on this matter, it was suggested that the starter solenoid sticks in cold weather so if the bulb warms this it may very well be electrical still?

Yes. That's the point. Isolate the problem. ~FH

[bigblazer]

If you take the selonoid off that "lifetime" starter, disassemble it, go get delco disassemble that, then you will find your answer.

[57diesel]

Today pretty much similar ambient temps and it was fine with just the block heater running about an hour longer than it did the previous day when it had the problem. The problem day it only got about 1 1/2 hours on the heater. Guessing that was enough to add some heat to the coolant but not a lot to the block. I can't remember but I am thinking the heater is on the left side? So it would take a while to migrate heat to the starter?

No idea what brand my starter is. I think the PO said he had just replaced it. I did get a pack of paper work for the stuff a shop did but I got the impression he had a no start at home situation and that is likely when the GP's got half ass done and maybe the new starter. He told me that all the GP's got replaced but later I found out that what he meant to say was all the ones that are easy to get to. 4-6-8 looked like they could have been originals and 2 of them were not working. Add that a link was bad on the other side it was starting on 5. That tells me that either who ever did the work was not the best or the PO would not let the worker do what needed to be done.