Off grid cold starts with Ford 7.3 IDI (forced air option?)

bmxr064

New member
I'm building out an old 94 Ford e350 Ambo package with the 7.3L IDI engine. This thing is a pain to start at elevation and in the cold. My anticipated travels suggest i'll face temps into the teens (F) at about 5-6000 ft (Moab/Canyonlands area in Nov/Dec), its gonna need a little boost to get turned over in these situations. Not expecting miserably cold scenarios.

Looking for suggestions for off-grid cold starts. I have a 170 Ah house battery bank, but the 1250W block heater uses too much power to be realistic. Larger battery bank is an option, but quite expensive. It seems a small portable generator is realistic, although a bit loud and cumbersome.

I have installed a 5kW chinese diesel heater in the van and was considering running ducting of sorts through the dog house to throw some forced air to the engine bay. These heaters really crank! Is it likely that this forced air scenario would help enough to improve starting? Does anybody have suggestions on installing ducting (3" or 4") through the dog house? Concerned about sealing out noise, heat, and fumes if i cut a ducting hole in that thing. Any advice or thoughts is welcome!

Thanks!
-Nick
 
Last edited:

toastyjosh

Adventurer
The easy option is to run a small generator like a honda for a few hrs before you start the truck.
If the gen is not a option one of the small jump start packs on your starting battery, this will help spin over a cold engine.

You need to run some antigel in your tank regardless.
 

shortbus4x4

Expedition Leader
Double check your glow plugs and relay. All the 7.3 IDI cold start issues I've worked on are because there were a few glow plugs burned out. Also make sure your batteries, cables, and starter motor are good so it cranks over fast enough. Try running some diesel additive in colder weather too. For using your heater to help in starting try having a removable dryer ducting or something like that you can hook to your heater and then to the air cleaner inlet. Run run hot air into your engine for 10 or 20 minutes and bump the engine over every few minutes so hot air gets in all the cylinders. This was a trick I learned in N Dakota in sub zero temperatures to start stuff. I'd take a hot air gun and stick it in the air inlet on a truck for a few minutes, worked every time.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
You don't need anti-gel :rolleyes:
Just the proper winter blend diesel.

The proper oil for cold weather helps loads as well.
I ran a 5W fully synthetic rotella in our old 7.3 powerstroke, and that alone was the difference in many (VERY) cold start situations.
And I'm talking -20(F) cold starts. At those temps the crank speed between a dino oil and the synthetic was drastic.

With the proper oil, good starter, good batteries (and cables), the most I would expect you to need is running a hair dryer or heat gun right into the intake when cranking.
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
Light a charcoal grill when you wake up...when the flames go out slide it under your motor. By the time you're ready to start the truck, the oil pan will be have warm oil in it.
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Funny you mention that. Before getting ALL of the glow plugs working in our old PSD, Id carry one of these with us.

Id run it in the morning prior to leaving, below the oil pan, with the hood shut.

Remarkable how well it started after just a few hours in such cold temps

images
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
Funny you mention that. Before getting ALL of the glow plugs working in our old PSD, Id carry one of these with us.

Id run it in the morning prior to leaving, below the oil pan, with the hood shut.

Remarkable how well it started after just a few hours in such cold temps

images

That's freaking brilliant!
 

bmxr064

New member
Double check your glow plugs and relay. All the 7.3 IDI cold start issues I've worked on are because there were a few glow plugs burned out. Also make sure your batteries, cables, and starter motor are good so it cranks over fast enough. Try running some diesel additive in colder weather too. For using your heater to help in starting try having a removable dryer ducting or something like that you can hook to your heater and then to the air cleaner inlet. Run run hot air into your engine for 10 or 20 minutes and bump the engine over every few minutes so hot air gets in all the cylinders. This was a trick I learned in N Dakota in sub zero temperatures to start stuff. I'd take a hot air gun and stick it in the air inlet on a truck for a few minutes, worked every time.

I've got new glow plugs & relay, new starter, new batteries, new injectors, running T6 synthetic oil, only 80,000 on the odometer. Still just a pig to turn over, but i'm also currently at 9000 ft in the cold of Colorado (Gunnison Valley), so worst case scenario... so im hoping to travel elsewhere and hoping the elevation drop is very noticable. I'm curious to try some hot air at the intake, thanks for the suggestion!


Funny you mention that. Before getting ALL of the glow plugs working in our old PSD, Id carry one of these with us.

Id run it in the morning prior to leaving, below the oil pan, with the hood shut.

Remarkable how well it started after just a few hours in such cold temps

images

I've considered the camping stove approach, excited to get confirmation that its helpful. That encourages me that my thinking is not too far off. My heater is located near the barn doors, so have considered dropping ducting to the ground, then under the engine. I suspect i'll need insulated ducting or most of the heat will dissipate. Thats why i was considering through the dog house, a nice straight quick duct run... just more complex install process but could be promising if it turns out i need to use it frequently. At the very least I'm hoping to keep some of these ideas as a backup if poor weather rolls in on me unsuspectingly too.

Thanks for all the suggestions!
 

bmxr064

New member
Considering mountain a 3" threaded flange to the doghouse. Something like this: FBFL3X6-3/8 - Ward FBFL3X6-3/8 - 3" x 6-3/8" Black Floor Flange Class 150 (supplyhouse.com)

Should be able to use a threaded plug to open/close the hole. Nervous about how much heat that metal would conduct when the engines running full send. Might cause burns to the touch unless i can protect it somehow. Anybody else have words of caution for trying to install an iron flange through doghouse and close it with a plug?
 

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