Cold Start Detroit

No not the oil pressure sensor the oil temperature sensor. The oil temperature sensor can affect cold-starting as each temperature value corresponds to a certain fueling ratio and timing degree for cold starts. The sensor could be reading a slightly higher value than actual which can causes the symptoms you described.

 

My 14 liter Detroit doesnt sound much better when cold. Doesnt smoke that bad, but it knocks like that untill the coolant gets up to around 30 F. byt he time it gets to 80 or so she sound as smooth as a hot summer day. I find a little throttle while starting helps a little. Also make sure your fuel is properly treated. That one sounded like it was struggling for fuel in the beginning which probably means the fuel was slushy or frozen. I idle at 900 untill the knocking sofens which normally takes 2 or 3 min. Just make sure your oil pressure comes up like it should.

 

Your 14.0 doesn't idle up to 900 automatically?

 

It jumps to around 850, but drops off after a min or so, I manually hit it to 900 to keep it there. Mine has beautifle oil samples and uses no oil after 750,000 miles, so im not to worried about it. I always idle at 900 to keep the bullgear happy...but now that i have a bunk heater i rairly idle. She wasn't to happy this morn when i started it at -10 and forgot to add anything to the fuel. I had to floor it for like 10 sec to keep it running. Not to smart. Normally she starts smoother in cold IF i put in fuel additive. But gotta love the Detroit. Frozen fuel and - 10 and it still fired up. Within 3 min it was drivable. Started on first crank of only 2 seconds long. (on low batts cuz i ran microwave, laptop and bunk heater all night.)

But yea, mine sounds rough after a cold start. heck it sound a little rough on a warm day for the first few min. I dont feel the whole 490 horses untill it gets all the way up to temp. The trans is the biggest problem i have in the cold. I think i need a different trans oil because I cant float gears until it warms up. I have to double clutch cuz it wont slide out on its own.

 

Yea not many people know about idling at 900 to keep everything lubed up. That issue wasn't solved until like 2009 i think.
When my trans is cold or been sitting for a while, i can't shift into high range then when i do manage to shift into high, i can't go down for a couple minutes then its fine. I think its the air actuator on mine but haven't had time to check.

 

It does. It should be on the pass. Side if I remember correctly.

 

They should know...the motor starts knocking after 30 min of idleing at 550-600. It started doing that on mine the other day in traffic. It was so slow i just kept putting the cluch in and out, with no throttle, so it idles at 600ish for like 30 min. I started using throttle when i started hearing it not sound so good.

 

I'm beginning to think cam timing is a big issue on the detroits. To the point where cam timing should be checked before and after a rebuild.

 

The truck in the video did not go into high idle as it should when cold. There are a few sensors that will keep this from happening. Hook the truck up to the right computer, and check to see if the air, water, oil, ect, are what the actual temperature is as opposed to what is showing on the screen.

Some white smoke and knocking is normal at cold temps, but the engine speed not increasing when cold is not. I chased this porblem with a truck of mine for a while. Come to find out the engine thought the temperature was 75 deg all the time. Look at all the temperature sensors.