How bad are cold starts?

When l was home during the summer l had to go start the truck every day or so to keep the batteries charged. Next oil sample they noticed higher than normal lead from the bearings probably due to all the cold starts. Next oil sample when back on the road lead was back to normal.

 

If its going to be a regular thing , run a synthetic oil in it. Your not doing it any good, that's for sure.

 

Use the proper oil grade for your climate.

 

Depends on how long it has been sitting. A few days and the bearings are still wet. If you are in frigid temps I would throw a few quarts of 5w-20 synthetic in just to help keep them lubricated.

 

Someone said it already....oil for your climate and/or the very least synthetic if its going to be a regular thing.

 

Any electricity where you park? How about a pan heater

 

If you don't have access to plug in just be easy on it. Let idle at 650 for the 1st 10min then bump it up to build some heat. Cold starts aren't easy on em that's for sure. If it only sits over night/weekend you still have a bit of oil left on top

 

You guys would freak at the cold starts I dealt with when I worked in the rental business at Caterpillar. Generators dont have an idle speed normally, just straight to 1800rpm. And to hear a 3516 crank up at 30-40 degrees, go to 1800rpm with in 5 seconds of hitting the start switch is rather fun. It gets real fun when it goes into cold mode and start randomly dropping 4 or 6 cylinders at a time to warm itself up.

 

Lol I used to deal with gensets a lot too. We'd be firing them up at -30 and like you said, full send to 1800 RPM!