Winter Questions

Tiarnon · **Posted:** Thu Sep 20, 2012 10:20 pm

This will be my first winter with the CRD. I bought it in March, and aside from dropping the alt clutch pulley and replacing the whole alt, it's been a breeze. Just Eco-tuned, and looking forward to my first real winter. Last winter was soooo mild, and I only had a couple snows to drive in, which the Jeep drove marvelously.

Anyways, what do I need to know for winter with these critters? Did the Jeep come with a pan heater installed and I just don't know it, or do I need to look into that? Live in Iowa, and I'm expecting a typical cold one. And when do stations typically start carrying winter blend diesel? What temperature do you start having gel issues at?

The big thing that I need to take care of is tires. My BFG Long Trail's are almost to the wear bars, and I look forward to the replacement in the next month or so.

Thanks guys for your assistance. Told the sig other I might steal the garage for the winter and she wasn't having any of that. Lol.

CIMARRON13 · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:36 am

It should have a heater. Look for the plug zip tied to the oil dip stick tube. Mine was pretty bridle when I checked mine when I bought the CRD.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:44 am

IIRC all US KJ CRDs came with the block heater from the factory and CIMARRON13 is correct that from the factory the plug and cord were waddded up and ziptied somewhat down on the oil dipstick tube. It's a flat black 3 wire cord with a typical 3 prong grounded plug on the end with a weather cover on the plug. Owners typically route it along the wiring harness to near the electical distribution center in front of the battery or maybe out the grill. If it's still coiled up there is a good chance the black exterior insullation that encases the wires is cracking. No harm if each wire's separate insulation is ok but it's pretty easy to replace if you wish with 1 person up top to feed wire and the other underneath to detach old and attach new. Cost was like $25 several years ago.

Allen M. · **Posted:** Fri Sep 21, 2012 10:41 pm

With these rigs, it doesn't take much. Living here in central Montana, I don't see many CRD's around but I do have to be careful, some may be overkill but I use this for the rigs at work and don't have a problem.

1. Make sure your thermostat is working properly, temp gauge should read between the first tick left of center and center.
2. For the real dead of winter get the FIA winter cover, I run with the little center open on the highway and closed around town. This made the biggest difference for winter comfort and mileage.
3. Use the PowerService white bottle, I use 8oz every other fill up and don't have a problem, even at -40°
4. I pour in the full PowerService 911 (red bottle) before it gets cold to remove water in the tank (just in case)
5. Keep the Sig other happy and tell her that you will suffer the outside, Just go buy a lamp timer and plug it in. Have the timer set to turn on 2 hrs before you need it in the morning and you will be OK. If you have to let it sit for a long period of time without being plugged in, let the glow plugs fully cycle (30 secs) before starting, It will sound like crap for about 30 secs then smooth out. Let it warm about another minute and then slowly drive away trying not to get on the boost until you see movement on the temp gauge.
6. Make Sure your battery is up to it. IF IN DOUBT, REPLACE.

As for tires, I run the Toyo WildCat radial XTX (235/75R16) and can go just about anywhere I need to go in 2WD, If you can get them sipped, much better. I also keep about 100lbs of tools, tow ropes, etc in the back for extra weight.

Have Fun,

canlib · **Posted:** Sat Sep 22, 2012 11:41 pm

When I lived in Calgary the Jeep started at -40 as long as it was plugged in. If you have a Provent installed remove it for the winter...or forever since the ecotune takes care of the egr. Mine froze up on a trip to Vancouver and the crankcase pressure blew the rear main seal. Fia works great except mine got stolen in a parking lot. :evil:

Seven years in and I still love my CRD.

Tiarnon · **Posted:** Sun Sep 23, 2012 10:03 pm

I'm assuming that my thermostat is out in the Jeep. The last week it has gone from warm here in Iowa to solid fall weather, get's comfortably warm (65-70ish) at the height of day but chill otherwise. Anyways, my thermostat goes just above the quarter mark. I've suspected this ever since coming to this forum after getting the Jeep. The big thing that worries me is that even after just getting my eco tune, my jeep came back with 26mpg on its first almost full tank run. Before while it was still warm/hot out (needing AC kind of weather) I was getting 30+. Is my mileage tanking because the thermostat is stuck open so the engine is dragging itself with the viscous thing?

I still didn't find that plug for the oil pan heater. I need to get under it I guess and try tracing the power supply down. How far down should I expect it? Maybe the PO routed it someplace already.

Thank you for the rest. I do need to stop and pick up the white bottle PS soon. Think it'll work out great, my grey bottle is almost done.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:34 am

Yes your tstat is gone and it's probably costing you about 10% in mpg, maybe more if the viscous is running all the time, and if your area is already running "winter" fuel blends that cuts mpg a bit more. The GDE ecotune adjusts the viscous thresholds to minimize its use but probably not enough to shut it off given where your temp gauge is riding. FYI you can completely disable the viscous by pulling the viscous heater relay in the power distribution center.

The block heater wire like I mentioned is flat and black. It connects fairly far down on the block on the driver's side IIRC sort of below or near the bottom of the oil dipstick tube and in front of the starter.

Tiarnon · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 12:33 am

Yeah, from my reading I had already concluded the failed tstat. Will do some searches to figure things out. I calculated out to 27mpg on my last tank, and as you touched on if I am already on winter fuel, then it's actually not that bad.

What will be the negative ramifications to disabling the viscous? Obviously that will increase my time to warm up, but what about general drivability? Any adverse effects that I would suffer long term from doing this for the time being?

I will crawl under the Jeep on my day off Thursday and track that wire down. There is nothing around the dipstick tube from the top, so it must already have been routed someplace on the underside.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 10:38 am

The new OEM tstat plus gasket runs a bit over $100 depending on where you get it. Swapping out is pretty easy but 1) invest in a 6" or so wobble 1/4" drive extension to snake a socket onto the invisible lower rear tstat bolt as there is a hump in the way of using a 3/8" drive and 2) be careful scraping off the old gasket as it's easy to gouge the aluminum surface it mates to. Some have gone the route of installing an inline tstat. I've participated in that discussion but elected to go the OEM route as messing with cooling system plumbing makes me nervous.

There is zero downside to running with the viscous disabled in what I consider normal weather; say anything above 32F. Mine has been disabled for over a year now. The only downside of it being disabled in colder weather is a marginal, in my opinion, impact on how long it takes the engine to warm up and a possibly noticable impact on how long it takes to get cabin heat. If you use the block heater on cold days (20F or below) that will do more to warm up the engine and provide cabin heat than the viscous will. The main thing to remember, which should be normal practice with/without viscous or block heater, to crank up the engine; let it idle for like 30 seconds to pump fluids up; drive conservatively until the temp gauge shows signs of life. Long warm up times are just a waste of fuel and do nothing to warm up transmission and other drive train fluids and jumping straight from cold start to highway speed is kind of hard on the system.

Drop me an email if you have trouble finding the block heater cord and I'll crawl under my CRD to find where it hooks into the block.

spitfire36o · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:14 pm

I did not try this last winter (my first winter with the CRD) but this year I will be removing the cooling fan. It is always spinning from friction within the fan clutch. Removing the fan should help with warm up times and keeping the heat while idling.

weeks101 · **Joined:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:29 pm **Posts:** 747

Allen M. wrote:

5. Keep the Sig other happy and tell her that you will suffer the outside, Just go buy a lamp timer and plug it in. Have the timer set to turn on 2 hrs before you need it in the morning and you will be OK.

Anyone know how many amps our block heaters are?

naturist · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:20 pm

weeks101 wrote:

Allen M. wrote:

5. Keep the Sig other happy and tell her that you will suffer the outside, Just go buy a lamp timer and plug it in. Have the timer set to turn on 2 hrs before you need it in the morning and you will be OK.

Anyone know how many amps our block heaters are?

I measured mine at 400 watts, someone else said they got 1400 watts. It may be that one of us is nuts, and it may be that it depends on how cold it is. In either case, it'll run on a 15 amp circuit, 1400 watts being just under 12 amps.

CATCRD · **Posted:** Wed Sep 26, 2012 10:28 pm

naturist wrote:

weeks101 wrote:

Allen M. wrote:

5. Keep the Sig other happy and tell her that you will suffer the outside, Just go buy a lamp timer and plug it in. Have the timer set to turn on 2 hrs before you need it in the morning and you will be OK.

Anyone know how many amps our block heaters are?

I measured mine at 400 watts, someone else said they got 1400 watts. It may be that one of us is nuts, and it may be that it depends on how cold it is. In either case, it'll run on a 15 amp circuit, 1400 watts being just under 12 amps.

It is indeed 400W. About 3.5A.

weeks101 · **Joined:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:29 pm **Posts:** 747

naturist wrote:

I measured mine at 400 watts, someone else said they got 1400 watts. It may be that one of us is nuts, and it may be that it depends on how cold it is. In either case, it'll run on a 15 amp circuit, 1400 watts being just under 12 amps.

CATCRD wrote:

It is indeed 400W. About 3.5A.

Thank you.

amslube · **Posted:** Fri Sep 28, 2012 5:48 pm

I got a chance to drive my wife's CRD a few weeks ago and noticed the temperature gauge only coming up a quarter of the way. I purchased the inline thermostat housing and a Chevy 195* tstat, drilled a 1/8" hole in the tstat flange as mentioned in these forums. Works like a charm. No temperature overshoot or spikes like some have experienced here. Needle comes up to just a hair under the half way mark. I happened to check a tank of fuel before and after the tstat change and a 6mpg improvement.

Tiarnon · **Posted:** Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:10 pm

What was your total cost? I looked in the CRD tech section and did not see a thread on this. How much do you think it will cost to have a shop do this? The girlfriends family does racing and motors, so I can probably have her dad get the drilling done quick at the shop when he's there working with the motors. Just looking to get a rough up of the cost. How long did it take you clearing hoses out of the way?

Just filled up today and 276.4 miles x 1.05 to correct for speedometer offset and 9.79 gallons of fuel is 29.6mpg. But I haven't been driving to work in the cold morning as often as the last full tank.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:55 am

See discussion at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=63587 . No need to waste $s having a shop do this. It's a 10-15 min. DIY job if you have a screwdriver, a knife to cut hose, and a power drill with like a 1/8" bit. Cost for the tstat like $10 although I elected to replace the OEM tstat, not comfortable with the inline, for like $100. Also a DIY but a bit more time consuming.

amslube · **Posted:** Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:03 am

I used the Meziere WN0072 Inline Thermostat Housing (Amazon.com), a 1992 GM K1500 pickup 195* thermostat and 2 hose clamps from NAPA. Total cost was about $70. Took about 15-30 minuted to install. This time included draining a quart or so of coolant from the radiator. Easy installation and easy to replace the thermostat if it fails again...and for about $7.

LMWatBullRun · **Posted:** Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:42 am

A couple things:

If it were me, I would change the oil to a 0W-40 for really cold wx.

Also, I prefer to warm the engine to between 1/8 and 1/4 before driving.

LMW

fool4wheelin · **Posted:** Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:46 pm

Tiarnon wrote:

I still didn't find that plug for the oil pan heater.

Just to make sure, there is a BIG difference between an "Oil Pan" and "Block" heater. A block heater is a electical resistance heater that is inserted into one of the soft plugs on the side of the engine block and heats up the engine coolant directly. The oil pan heater does a similar job to the engine oil sump. Block heaters are common from the factory, oil pan heaters are not.

Concerning fuel, No. 2 Diesel starts causing probems with gelling/waxing up in the fuel filters ~20°F and below. Not sure if they have started distributing winter blends yet, but should be soon.

For tires I'm a huge proponent of winter snow tires (I personally run the Hankook i-Pike W409 on 2 vehicles). The added siping along with the softer compound work wonders in winter conditions. For the money I don't know of any other mod that will give you the performance gain on winter roads than a good set of snow tires. I'm fortunate enough with my Liberty that the 2nd set of snow tires I had for my Cherokee will bolt right up!

How cold does it get down in Iowa? It gets pretty darn tootin cold up here in North Dakota, ya know...

Winter Questions

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