Diesel truck and a frozen starter.

[leveled]

It has been below zero here as well. I had to use my truck for some ice and snow removal jobs, so i started it the day prior and took it and fueled it up with some fresh diesel.

I haven't ran it in about a month or so and its been parked outside. It started effortlessly. I had put it on the block heater for 3 hours or so.

I ran it for a hour or so and parked it up front next to my house and put the block heater on it for the next morning.

The next morning it was froze up to the point it wouldn't crank at all. I checked voltage and it was good, tried jumping the starter solenoid with no luck.

I ended up aiming my turbo heater at the starter for about 15 min and it fired right up. I must have froze the starter.

Its now parked inside where it should have been all along.

I ended up using my cube van instead for the jobs and now my pickup truck is all full of salt from the pointless trip to the gas station. I hate that.

 

[firemanmike69]

That sounds strange,maybe some water got into the Flexplate. All the battery connections and everything good. Maybe have the batteries load tested,voltage could be good but drop to unacceptable when a load is applied

 

[leveled]

That sounds strange,maybe some water got into the Flexplate. All the battery connections and everything good. Maybe have the batteries load tested,voltage could be good but drop to unacceptable when a load is applied

I will have to do that. Its a good chance your right, it seems a little odd that it would not not break free.

 

[Patrickdozer]

Glad to see you got it going. That's always my silver bullet [Torpedo heater]. It is possible to have moisture or condensation in starter that froze. Its happened before, and with temps right now with heating up and cooling down of engine its possible.

 

[DANOCHEESE]

Whne you were attempting to crank it did you notice if the lights dimmed or the heater blower motor slowed down? Seems like a frozen starter woudl still draw current trying to work.

 

[D7E]

My cat D7 will freeze the starter every night when running in winter just condensation freezing I thought . Has to be thawed with space heater every morning . When in remote areas we often took the starter motor home at night to keep it warm .