Why I Never Plug The Truck In During Winter

Plenty of engines run 200 degrees. Heck, I've driven International T444E's that would run 215-220 all the time in the summer. The newer DT466's run 190-200 (IIRC, International says up to 225 is fine on the 466), the C7 ACERT in my Sterling runs 190-195 in the winter.

My Caddy runs 230 in the summer.

 

Something wrong with your DD, then. I've lit off several (6V71N, 8V71N, 8V71T, 6V92TA) in sub-zero weather without problems. They smoke for a minute, they settle down to a steady idle & only a faint amount of white smoke. You're probably not following the correct starting procedures.

 

Yeah my MBE4000 runs 200 all the time winter summer or whatever when pulling a hill it will climb to 220 and thats it never seen it go over that and never been under 195. Not a fan of theese motors but I will say this one so far has been impressive, I didnt pay for it so whatever.

 

It may help some, but very very very little. You're not generating a whole lot of heat with a motor spinning at ~200 rpms and you don't have any combustion going on.

 

No yellow areas on any of them...the newer Internationals have nothing but numbers on the gauge, no red at all--ditto for the Sterling. As I said: International says anything below 225 is fine on the DT466. IIRC, the gauge on the T444E has the red area around 230 (the T444E is a hot runner), and we had one with >300,000 miles & >25,000 hours that ran 215-220 degrees the entire time.

No temp gauge on the Caddy...the gauges consist of a speedometer & a gas gauge...that's it. However, it's run that hot for almost 100,000 miles without a problem. and the TEMP light has never come on. I run Evans NPG+ coolant--it's the combination of a stock-size radiator cooling an engine (542 stroker) that roughly triples the factory HP.

 

Yes, there is...and you clearly didn't follow it! Here it is: grab a can of ether, while cranking the engine give the air intake about a half-second shot. It will light off immediately. Hold it at high idle (~1200RPM) for one minute. This will work at -25 degrees. Ether is the FACTORY RECOMMENDED starting method when cold...I prefer to use Liquid Wrench (WD-40 worked too, until the formula changed a while ago), since it's much easier oin the rings.

Then again, I've lit off 6V and 8V71's in sub-zero weather without it.

A 2-stroke Jimmy WILL NOT warm up idling. They need to be driven.

The only better cold starters I've seen are International DT466's. Those seem essentially immune to cold...even the old S1700 wrecker (a 79 with over 650,000 miles since an IFO) would light off instantly. Ford/IH 7.3's are pretty good (as long as the ring seal is strong)...I found that cycling the glow plugs twice helps dramatically.

 

When I had my mechanical 3406 cats I never pluged on in and we lived in WI. poped every time.
the detroit series 60's I'v been driving lately won't start if it's below 10 degrees but they are higher milage city trucks too.