Lucas oil stabilizer and below zero temps

SHARP327 · Dec 11, 2013

Has anyone here on EO ever had a problem starting an engine with below zero temps that was caused by thick oil with Lucas in it?

Truck's batteries are 100% but it's slow cranking and won't fire up...there's Anti-gell in the tanks and the Espar is still running good....around 15 below up here...I knew I should have stayed south!

Any suggestions?...I'm thinking of aiming my propane torch towards the sump area of the oil pan...open to ideas

Thanks

greasytshirt · Dec 12, 2013

Are the batteries also at ambient temp? They will be effectively reduced to around 50% capacity if they're at -15F.

I'd point a kerosene heater or car exhaust toward the battery box for about 15 minutes, and see if that gets her to whirl over any quicker.

pearlpro · Dec 12, 2013

What is the CCA Cold Cranking Amperage of your batterys, I agree if its that cold you can effectively reduce your starting power and a few cranks and it doesnt start and your in trouble....might be time for Bigger rated batterys....

zorry · Dec 12, 2013

Be careful with heater on the pan.
There's a truck out back of Pozzo Mack that burned.
They put a charcoal fire under the pan. Oil dripped down and ignited.
Due to an office error it had never been added to the fleet's insurance policy.
There it sits.....

skyraider · Dec 12, 2013

Lucas is a ripoff. Your oil is already stabilized by the oil folks, why do you need it stabilized again? Go to - Bob is the Oil Guy and go to the forums, sign up first, go to the search section and read about lucas

On that battery and start stuff: HowStuffWorks "Why is it so hard to start a car in the winter?" PS, buy the highest rated cold cranking amp batteries you can afford, and ,,,,and keep those battery post clean,,yep you will not,,,,repeat not get all the voltage and electrons you need when those battery post are dirty___ I know those post are hard to get to,,,but when they are corroded, you will get less performance.....good luck

highway star · Dec 12, 2013

I'm with Skyraider, Lucas is completely unnecessary. I've heard of this problem happening when too much Lucas is used.

Just do oil changes on a regular basis and ditch the additives.

tknight · Dec 12, 2013

Here's a side spin on thick oil ,can you have too much anti-freeze in your system and what would be the problem?

jjoerger · Dec 12, 2013

If Lucas was so great Shell or Mobil or another large oil company would buy them. Regular oil changes are the way to go. We are over a million miles without using any oil additives.
We never shut our truck off at those kinds of temperatures. No APU. No Espar. The motor would freeze up and we would freeze to death.

zorry · Dec 12, 2013

It's 10 degrees where I'm at.
My block heater kept my oil at 85 degrees and my water at 113.
Parked for 12 hours.

To the OP. a charcoal fire under the pan and/or battery area may help. A plastic drop cloth to contain the heat will help.
Just have a fire extinguisher ready.

At some point it just time to call a wrecker.

And like Mom said, " Dress warm."

highway star · Dec 12, 2013

zorry said:
And like Mom said, " Dress warm."

And clean underwear... Don't forget the clean underwear.

SHARP327 · Dec 12, 2013

Thanks for all the come backs!

The batteries are Napa 950 ccas (4) all were tested and found in great condition about 3 weeks ago...one of them dropped to 10 volts under load and all the connections were cleaned and coated with a battery post protector and all were checked for leaks.

I'll check on the Lucas thing but I've been using it for almost 14 years now and twice I feel it save the engine when the turbo blew and the high pressure oil hose blew, causing a no oil situation for a short while when heading to the curb.

I wouldn't let the flame of the torch come in contact with the pan and there's no oil residue on the outside of the pan.

And as for the Oil...Shell paid for a new oil pump on my engine when it was discovered by Speedco that the viscosity of the oil was sub-par at the previous PM....they notified me and offered me a free PM...I then told them of the failure and they paid for the repair.

So I'm now aware that things aren't always as stated with the quality of motor oils.

Went out a bit ago (it's warmed up to 7 degrees) and it almost started...so I'm thinking that when it hits 19 degrees it should fire up.

Got a load out tomorrow from Mn. to Fl. whoooooopeeeee!

Thanks people!....I'm going buy a block heater to keep with me to avoid this possibility again.

jjoerger · Dec 12, 2013

We had four NAPA batteries that tested good. They died after 3 hours with no load on them except the refrigerator. Put in 4 new ones purchased at T/A and everything has been fine. I will not purchase NAPA batteries again.

Turtle · Dec 12, 2013

jjoerger said:
We had four NAPA batteries that tested good. They died after 3 hours with no load on them except the refrigerator. Put in 4 new ones purchased at T/A and everything has been fine. I will not purchase NAPA batteries again.

NAPA batteries are made by Exide. Basically, all automotive and truck batteries in the US are made by two companies: Johnson Controls and Exide

Johnson Controls makes Duralast (Autozone), Diehard (Sears), Kirkland (Costco), Motorcraft (Ford), AC Delco, Interstate Battery, and some of the EverStarts.

Exide makes Exide, Champion, NAPA, and some EverStart batteries.

A third company, Deka (East Penn), also makes some NAPA batteries.

My experience is that the Johnson Controls or Deka batteries are the best. You can't really go by the brand in all cases, and you have to look at the fine print to see who actually made the battery. A NAPA battery made by Deka is one that I would buy. A NAPA battery made by Exide, not so much. For the Sprinter, it's been Autozone Duralast.

Turtle · Dec 12, 2013

greasytshirt said:
Are the batteries also at ambient temp? They will be effectively reduced to around 50% capacity if they're at -15F.

The definition of the Cold-Cranking Amperage (CCA) of an automotive battery is the amount of current a given battery can deliver for 30 seconds at zero degrees F without dropping below a specified cutoff voltage (manufacturer-specific, but usually 10.5 volts). The value of CCA will change with battery temperature, CCA increasing with higher temperatures. (There is also a Marine Cranking Amps, or MCA, or just CA, which is the amps a battery can give at 32 degrees F.)

A battery of 950 CCA means it has 950 CCA at zero degrees. But that's also with a brand new, fully charged battery. Every battery looses capacity every time it is discharged and recharged. Even a 3 month old battery may only be a 900 CCA battery. But at 950 CCA, at -15 degrees the 950 becomes 744 CCA, all other things being equal. At 32 degrees, the 950 CCA becomes 1292 CCA, and at 90 degrees, the 950 CCA becomes 1556 CCA.

The same temperature relationship holds true for available amp hours for deep cycle batteries.

But you can see why running inverter loads or an Espar heater off your cranking battery when it's really, really cold is a really, really bad idea. Especially something like an Espar, which, while it doesn't use very many amps in the first place, the colder it is the more it will use, and the colder it is the fewer amps are available out of the battery, and the Espar pulls what precious amps that are in there right out, leaving even less available for cranking.

davekc · Dec 12, 2013

jjoerger said:
If Lucas was so great Shell or Mobil or another large oil company would buy them. Regular oil changes are the way to go. We are over a million miles without using any oil additives.
We never shut our truck off at those kinds of temperatures. No APU. No Espar. The motor would freeze up and we would freeze to death.

There are oil additives out there made by the oil companies for different applications. Most of those are sold through the engine manufacturers rather than the oil company. Cat or Cummins have several additives but that work but are pricey. One that is similar to Lucas that Cat sells goes for $20.00 a qt.

SHARP327 · Dec 12, 2013

Well!....I had a hot air gun blowing on the batteries and a propane torch blowing in the direction of the oil pan and a battery charger hooked to the batteries...and a small shot of starting fluid (no glow plugs in this engine) and a waiting game....plus it warmed up to 15 degrees....I was told that my battery charger is weak that's why it takes so long to bring up the charge of 4 batteries.....IT STARTED!!!! thank you Jesus!!

SHARP327 · Dec 12, 2013

Turtle...the wife wants to know where to fine the formulas you referenced from so she can stash for later when new batteries are needed.

Thanks a bunch!

ntimevan · Dec 12, 2013

On a side note. ..back when I drove str8 truck I used to carry a magnet heatet 110 volt that would stick to any metal surface and heat up what attached to. ...worked great for airline connections or fuel crossovers....picked it up at a Farm & Fleet type store. ...about $ 25...

Sent from my SGH-T959 using EO Forums mobile app

SHARP327 · Dec 12, 2013

I think those heaters are the Hottest (get it?) selling items in this Ice Box of an area!....the one I wanted was about $45 bucks and NO-ONE has any in stock....go figure huh?

tknight · Dec 12, 2013

ntimevan said:
On a side note. ..back when I drove str8 truck I used to carry a magnet heatet 110 volt that would stick to any metal surface and heat up what attached to. ...worked great for airline connections or fuel crossovers....picked it up at a Farm & Fleet type store. ...about $ 25...

Sent from my SGH-T959 using EO Forums mobile app

Any metal surface wow someone is gonna be a bazillion air now that they figured how to stick a magnet to aluminum !!!
Gorilla glue?