Troubles with cold starts

[babyburb]

Having trouble with my International school bus starting and running on cold mornings. It cranks over and starts up but runs horrible for about 5 minutes.

I have never dealt with a diesel but I am guessing it is the oil sludging up because of the cold. Any remedy for this or just keep letting it run like crap. I've asked the transportation people over the buses but they were not too concerned about it. It's a good bus though and I want to take care of it so I don't get some crap bus instead. I have put 5000 miles on it in 3 months and will be taking it in for an oil change tommorow.

Any ideas?

 

[Chaddy]

Plug it in when its not in use.

 

[babyburb]

I've looked for a plug in but can't find one.

 

[vortec]

If you're "north of Dallas" as your info says, there's a very slim chance that the oil is getting too thick....Unless you're waaaaaaaay north of Dallas. My sister lives in Lubbock, which is much colder than DFW, and she doesn't have any problems on cold mornings. I live in Fort Worth and have no issues.

So is this YOUR bus, or a fleet bus for a company or something? If it's not yours, it's not your problem. get those people to fix it.

 

[babyburb]

It's not personally MY bus but I will be the only driver for along time so I do take ownership of it. It is part of a fleet of buses per se.

As far as cold goes it starts happening anytime it drops below maybe 45 degrees or so. The oil pressure shows 80 until it warms up and then it runs at 60. The only factor that does it is when it begins to get colder.

 

[vortec]

45, huh? woah. i'm no diesel expert, but considering i still wear a t-shirt in 45 degree weather (sweatshirt if it's windy), it really doesn't seem like enough to give a healthy engine problems. is it a single-weight oil? that would probably be ok in a texas summer, but not so great in winter. I run 10w40 year round, so it's never been a problem for me.

 

[babyburb]

Not sure what weight of oil it is running. It became my bus at the start of the year with 29000 miles on it. Never has any trouble until it drops below said degrees.

I am still in shorts and sleeveless shirt as well. I went camping/hiking Friday/Saturday morning during a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow. It was around 34 degrees and I was in shorts, sleeveless shirt and a light jacket. Excellent camping trip!

 

[Chaddy]

I know with my cummins, when its below 50 or 60* it sais to turn the heating element on a couple times to warm the fuel and then let it run for a minute or so.