Winter, straight truck starting problems Hino specifically

[piper1]

You are correct as well, and not just Hino's. Your 99 was built for performance more than emissions....it's the other way round now for sure.

 

[Dakota]

If your truck is still under warranty, they can NOT charge you to come jump start it, regardless if it's plugged in or not. I called HINO to come jump start my trucks several times
last winter when my guys 'forgot' to plug them in when they were either home or in a motel. Never got charged once. You might want to look into that more if someone is trying to charge you for a service that's covered under warranty. Sounds to me like someone is trying to rip you off.

I would think my truck is out of warranty at 188K, not sure though, remember I do not own this truck I lease it.

 

[Dakota]

OK so let me get this straight.... if you don't plug in your truck, it don't start?

This past February, in -30 degree cold weather, I had to shut my truck down. It sat for a day and a half in the open lot with the wind whipping up to 20 mph. I got into the truck when I got back to it, turned the key, let it go through its ecm checks and started it up. It started, stumbled for a moment and then ran smooth. It wasn't plugged in and this was a week after I had frozen fuel lines.

So what am I missing?

Hmmm, not sure does your truck have glow plugs or an intake heater. FL70 is a pre 2000 truck I assume
The newer Internationals, Hino, Freightliner M2's all will not start when it gets cold. I'm speaking from experience on all these trucks, since I have driven all makes of medium duty trucks since the 1999

 

[Dakota]

These HINO's tend to be cold blooded. When the temp gets down to 20 or lower, they tend to have a hard time starting if they're not plugged in or in a warm garage. It does help tremendously to keep the diesel fuel additives in the fuel. For some reason, this helps the trucks to start easier when it's real cold out. I keep a case of it in all my trucks in the winter & tell my drivers to add some whenever they get fuel during the cold winter months. It helps to keep those lines from freezing. We've also put some insulation around the fuel lines for the winter and haven't had a frozen fuel line since. Take it off in the spring. Might not look the prettiest but it works great and is much easier & cheaper than to have frozen fuel lines.

I do plan on using the additives, I wonder if the newer trucks are harder to start due to the reformulated diesel and that most is mixed with biodiesel, or maybe the fuel systems on these trucks are just more fickel No matter how long you crank some of these newer trucks they just won't fire when very cold unless you have the block heater plugged in.

Thanks for everyone's ideas. We will see how it goes this winter. local work has really picked up! so I might not be going on any road trips or I could just head South!!!!

 

[greg334]

Well mine is not alone.

I know of another FL80 with a new ISC in it being used for testing that will start in all kinds of cold temps. It was slower cranking but still started. That engine is a 2007 or 2008.

My firmware is newer too but it is a CAPS system (maybe that has to do with it). It is a non-egr engine.

My point seems to be I am surprised at the sensitivity of the Japanese trucks. It seems that they would design it to be more forgiving.

 

[Dakota]

I don't think it snows in Japan
The newer freightliners and internationals have the same problems, so it probably is due to the timing, compression or the low sulfur diesel who knows

 

[Wingnut]

I would think my truck is out of warranty at 188K, not sure though, remember I do not own this truck I lease it.

Normally, the warranty on these HINO's are 3 yr unlimited mile warranty...which is why I own them.
You can call a HINO dealer & give them the VIN # on your truck and ask them to look up the warranty for you. They'll be able to give you a list of what warranty is left on which part. For instatnce, towing is usually for only 2 yrs, jump start for 3, turbo for 3 yrs, etc. I can tell you from personal experience that calling the HINO hot line to ask how much warranty you have left on your vehicle will get you nowhere. Those people know nothing. You're better off contacting any HINO dealer & have them look it up for you. I always keep a list of what's covered under warranty & for how long on each of my trucks. Saves alot of time & headache later down the road.

 

[raylawrence]

How about using an Espar Hydronic 5 engine preheater? This 17,000 btu diesel operated coolant heater will raise your engine coolant temp atleast 100 deg above the ambient temp within 1 hour - warmer than most summer days! This heater can be preset with a timer for auto-preheat also.

 

[greg334]

Ray, I think part of the problem are the batteries themselves, they need heat too. The espar water version will still need power but it is a good start. They make several thermo solutions for batteries, one is with circulating coolant.

 

[Slo-Ride]

These HINO's tend to be cold blooded. When the temp gets down to 20 or lower,

I would be looking at possible other problems,,,no way should a diesel be affect by 20 degree weather,,,Have ya checked cranking speed,,,thought of possibly injectors leaking down during shutdown,,,wrong weight oil???
Its needs to be colder then He_ _ for a modern engine with clean fuel not to fire up as most have pre heaters anyways(I think)...Well below 20 degrees,,, if everything is in working order...Just my 2 cents..

 

[Wingnut]

I would be looking at possible other problems,,,no way should a diesel be affect by 20 degree weather,,,Have ya checked cranking speed,,,thought of possibly injectors leaking down during shutdown,,,wrong weight oil???
Its needs to be colder then He_ _ for a modern engine with clean fuel not to fire up as most have pre heaters anyways(I think)...Well below 20 degrees,,, if everything is in working order...Just my 2 cents..

Great suggestion but unfortunately I've found that even my brand new HINO's have the same starting problem when it gets real cold out. It seems to be one of the 'bugs' that toyota needs to get out and make better.

 

[Dakota]

Great suggestion but unfortunately I've found that even my brand new HINO's have the same starting problem when it gets real cold out. It seems to be one of the 'bugs' that toyota needs to get out and make better.

I can tell you it's just not the Hino's the Freightliner M2 and Internationals are hard to start cold also
Maybe the FL 60-80's are just special

 

[FIS53]

Sounds like fun with Hinos. There are quite a few around here and all of course get plugged in during the winter. Helpful things for a couple of guys has been:

Espar coolant heater for engine and cabin heat during shutdowns. This for two guys was run off of a secondary battery install with isolator so as to not drain main starting batteries but of course charges with engine running.

Next was changing the oil over to synthetic but to a better winter like 10w-30 or even a lower rated 5w-40 diesel oil for easier starting in colder weather. These lower temp rated oils flow much better than the 15w-40 normally used in diesels.

The espar unit has allowed these guys to leave the trucks without plugging in for over a day (one fellas plug in cord was damaged) and once the espar has heated the engine they start up good.

Yes utilize fuel additives if the fuel is not winterized or if going into a cold area as this will reduce gelling and frozen fuel lines (I know we all know this). However lots of guys still use the additives even with winterized diesel as a preventitive measure against moisture buildup.
Rob

 

[Dakota]

We had a problem here a few years back. All the school buses were using BioDiesel and one extremely could moring the whole fleet of 400 plus buses wouldn't start.
I know must places put a 10% blend in the diesel, and it is not very winter friendly
Last company I worked for left all six of their straight trucks running all night every time it got below 20

 

[Wingnut]

At one point, I thought it was the 'junk' batteries that came with the truck. I changed them out & put marine batteries in all the trucks. Didn't seem to make any difference.

 

[Moot]

I have not been associated with big truck diesels for about 13 years so I am not familiar with the new age electronic computer controlled engines. In my day when it got cold, below zero, all trucks were either left running, parked in a heated building or had the coolant heater plugged in.

Once in my early LTL days we came in on a Saturday morning and found a note to leave the trucks idle over the weekend. The forecast called for lows in the minus 25-30 degree range. This was in an unsecured yard. All of the trucks were still there and idling Monday morning.

A few years later we moved into a terminal with a shop and electrical outlets for all of the tractors. Even plugged in, over a weekend, many would not start in sub-zero temps. The yard horse was kept in the shop and used to pull start all tractors that wouldn't start. I won't even get into how useless air-starters are in Minnesota.

So my question to all of you that have newer Cummins, Caterpillar, Mercedes and Detroit engines; would your truck start in -25 degrees or colder (I'm talking actual temps, not windchill) after sitting for 24 to 36 hours without starting aids or a block heater?

If you have some type of self contained starting aid, what is it and how well does it work?

 

[moose]

. I changed them out & put marine batteries in all the trucks. .

Can you please let me know the brand serial # Ext. ?
what will you recommended ?
in looking to upgrade to 950 ~ 1250 range cranking Amp's .
that will still fit in the box .


(BTW Inshasha... ,thanks for you post last week , i called the Hino , and it's show in the Comp. that the recall was done on my truck before i bought it , thanks.)

 

[Wingnut]

Can you please let me know the brand serial # Ext. ?
what will you recommended ?
in looking to upgrade to 950 ~ 1250 range cranking Amp's .
that will still fit in the box .


(BTW Inshasha... ,thanks for you post last week , i called the Hino , and it's show in the Comp. that the recall was done on my truck before i bought it , thanks.)

I think they were ALLIANCE 1100 cca's.

 

[Dakota]

A few of the older internationals pre 1998 4400's had ether start button in them, in addition to the normal start button
The new ones have warnings against using ether.
We had a new guy that sweared he had a dead battery in the 4400 because he turn the key and it wouldn't crank. Turns out he hadn't pushed the start button