Ok, so I've been using the block heater pretty religiously this winter. Jan and Feb it was getting a down to 0 every once in a while. When I used it (most of the time) it started right up. Just like new. When I forget to plug it in, its a bear to start. Two or three times cranking for 10 seconds with 1/2 to full throttle then it will finally crank with lots of white smoke. I figured all this was normal for the cold.

So anyway, its been warming up a bit and last week it didn't even get below freezing at night. The highs were in the 60s. So I wasn't plugging it in. To my surprise, it was still pretty hard to start. When I lived in Texas, I never plugged it in and it never started this hard. The winters in Texas were about like last week was here.

So I'm wondering if my engine is getting addicted to the block heater or if the few hard cold starts did some damage. I was thinking that the cold/thick oil could have damaged my rings (186K no rebuild) and now I've lost compression.

Two things to add:

I bought the rig a year or so ago from a guy in Minnesota so it grew up in the extreme cold.

I've got a trouble code for TPS and EGR. I've been meaning to fix that and I wonder if the they could have anything to do with the hard starting when I don't plug in.

Thanks

They don't get addicted to blockheaters. that is just an aid in cold temps. My 89 will start right up till -25c without heater plugged in, but i use heaters[i got 1 on each side] to make life easier when temps dip below 15 or so

Thick cold oil does no damage to the rings.

You are loosing prime overnight.

glow not working as it should.

worn injectors.

low compression.

to slow cranking

Ok, so I've been using the block heater pretty religiously this winter. Jan and Feb it was getting a down to 0 every once in a while. When I used it (most of the time) it started right up. Just like new. When I forget to plug it in, its a bear to start. Two or three times cranking for 10 seconds with 1/2 to full throttle then it will finally crank with lots of white smoke. I figured all this was normal for the cold.

So anyway, its been warming up a bit and last week it didn't even get below freezing at night. The highs were in the 60s. So I wasn't plugging it in. To my surprise, it was still pretty hard to start. When I lived in Texas, I never plugged it in and it never started this hard. The winters in Texas were about like last week was here.

So I'm wondering if my engine is getting addicted to the block heater or if the few hard cold starts did some damage. I was thinking that the cold/thick oil could have damaged my rings (186K no rebuild) and now I've lost compression.

Two things to add:

I bought the rig a year or so ago from a guy in Minnesota so it grew up in the extreme cold.

I've got a trouble code for TPS and EGR. I've been meaning to fix that and I wonder if the they could have anything to do with the hard starting when I don't plug in.

Thanks

i had the same problem this winter - replaced every thing i could think of and very little has changed. So, if you don't have a lot of time or money to throw into your rig you may want to consider just keeping the block heater plugged in when you know you will have to drive it.
But, if you do figure it out - by all means let us know!

Paul