Need help with intake grid heater options???

S

skav

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Oct 16, 2008
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So it turns out that the intake grid heater on my 99 was removed, and a billet spacer was installed in its place. I believe this was done to increase flow. Living in Southern California, this hasn't really been an issue until we went camping in the high Sierras this weekend. This is when I realized that the heater had been removed.


This brings up a couple questions...

First question. What is the best method to start a truck with no heater in cold weather?

It took about 5 minutes to get the truck started in the 40* temps. During this time, it would light and stumble for a second or two, then die. Then it would light and act like it was missing, then die again. All this time, it was smoking bad, and I could smell raw fuel. When it finally lit and ran, it took a about a minute to smooth out. I let it idle for about 10 minutes before leaving. After getting it to light, I thought that I should use a bit of Starter fluid next time. (We are here for two more days.)

Second question. I plan to install a heater when we get home, but is there an aftermarket option that flows better than the stock heater, or is this not even an issue?

Thanks in advance for any advise.
 
The stock grid doesn't really cause much of a restriction. Its strange that it didn't start at 40° though, I've started mine down to the teens without cycling the heater.

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I'd say injectors are probably junk.... I had a set that wouldnt barely crank when it was 40ish or below..... but the ones I run now as well as a couple other sets crank fine even in 20* weather
 
Mudn_1 said:
I'd say injectors are probably junk.... I had a set that wouldnt barely crank when it was 40ish or below..... but the ones I run now as well as a couple other sets crank fine even in 20* weather
Click to expand...

I have II 80hp sticks now. Probably been in for about a year now. I've heard that they aren't the cleanest though. The truck smokes for about 5 minutes after start up. I'd like to maybe try a good set of 150s.

What are you using?
 
So from the two replies, it sounds like I shouldn't have any issues starting at 40* without the heater.

Assuming the injectors are ok, what else should I look at?
 
chevota84 said:
The stock grid doesn't really cause much of a restriction. Its strange that it didn't start at 40° though, I've started mine down to the teens without cycling the heater.

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Click to expand...

What injectors do you have? I'm Using II 80hp sticks now. Would bad atomization cause it to hard start?
 
skav said:
What injectors do you have? I'm Using II 80hp sticks now. Would bad atomization cause it to hard start?
Click to expand...

I'm running 7x.014's with lift, they're rated around 275-300. If you were looking at going bigger anyway, it might not hurt to try that first.

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injectors with lower pop pressures seem to have poor atomization at startup...
 
Mudn_1 said:
injectors with lower pop pressures seem to have poor atomization at startup...
Click to expand...

I believe mine are 275 bar, it definitely doesn't start as good as the last set which were 300 bar.

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No idea, but i started mine, same injectors as chevota84 but set at 300 bar, several times in the teens, and it doesn't have heaters..
You can send then to get checked at contagious diesel for 75 bucks...
Lee can let you know exactly what you have.
 
Your injectors are the culprit. I've owned a few VP, P-pump and VE trucks along with my CR's. everyone had the grid removed or not functional. Never once have I had a problem with cold starts down to 15*. Below freezing there is sometimes a bit of haze after start up but nonetheless you should be able to start up pretty much immediately on a VP truck all my trucks had factory pressure injectors and some where 100hp tips on the VP trucks.
 
The two 12-valve trucks I've owned always started better than my VP rigs without grid heaters. But my 24V trucks smooth out and smoke clears up faster. I figured it was a combination of lower compression of the SO engine and the VP44 having lower injection pressure. So it's interesting others have had good starting with their 24-valves. Smokem is doing a set of ~100hp injectors for my '98.5 so it'll be interesting to see how that affects it.
 
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