Cold weather oddities.

[fourwheelford]

Ok it is the first winter with this truck and there a couple of things I want to clear up. First off we were at 0 degrees F yesterday morning the truck cranked and fired better than any other car I have ever had but when I got to work at 6am for some reason it was idleing at 1500 rpm if I put it in gear it would idle down to normal but when I put it in park back up it went. It didn't do it on my way home and the high was 12 degrees that day. Has this ever happened to anyone else? The extreme cold weather seems to mess with the idle a bit but im afraid it could be a coincindence of something worse.

The other thing is that my alternator seems to have developed a chirp, its coming from the front of the motor and the belt, tensioner, syncro and water pump are new, how long will the alternator last before I have to get a new one? Will it chirp for awhile or will it just go tits up randomly? It seems to be charging just fine, it really doesn't even crank slow on the really cold mornings but I can also give that up to the synthetic oil thats in it. Any info would be great thanks everyone.

Also I always let it warm up for at least 5 minutes during the winter.

 

[Grof]

Well it got to -45 one night and the next morning my ranger started fine(without being pluged in) and i had a high idle but that went a way after 2 min. The alternator was "chirpen" but that went a way after i started to drive it. The only problem im having is that my engine light is on. I don't know if it is just a sensor or there is really a problem with the engine.

 

[bigcountry]

the chirp could just be the cold messin with the alternator and the high idle could be from a bad coolant temp sensor my old yota had the problem it also had a 3.slow and it would idle high and take a long time to change gears and thats in a alabama winter where it bearly get to 30F. also if you are running a high weight oil like 10w30 the cold will turn that into almost a solid i would change it to a 5w30 or lighter if your weather up there is cold longer than ours is down here. what i mean for example down here yesterday it was 60+ the day before it was bearly 40 and today it was about 35 to 40

 

[LittleHorse]

my '90 cranks a little slow when it's below 20. It already seems like this winters going to be colder than usual, no surprise after a VERY mild summer. Hopefully the truck keeps starting. I'm about due for an oil change, might put in something thinner.

The alternator chirp is likely the bearings, they'll chirp for awhile until the grease in them warms up enough to lubricate. I've noticed my door lock cylinders are stiff when it's that cold, I guess the grease gets thick in there.

 

[bigcountry]

the cranking slower for you could be a low cold cranking amps in your battery or the alternator could not be charging enough. but with a 1000rms in ur truck you more than likely already have a pretty big battery. good cold cranking amps is about 750 to 800 in older engines so ive read but every engine is differnt

 

[LittleHorse]

got 750CCA and the battery is about 6 months old, it's a 7 year battery. Might be my el-cheapo eBay remanufactured starter.

 

[bigcountry]

hahaha yea thats plenty and yea an ebay starter could be or the connectors i know old yotas would burn them up when you would put in a bigger battery

 

[LittleHorse]

connectors should be ok too...I replaced all the battery and starter cables when I replaced the battery (which was done at the same time as a transmission and 4.0 clutch swap, which required the starter).

There's some stuff I've been meaning to fix, the starter is on that list.

 

[TomB1269]

The "Alternator Chirp"; to test if it is belt related, start the truck with the belt off for a minute. I noticed you stated "syncro new", shaft or sensor? The shaft is what actually causes the chirp and if it is not replaced the sensor will eventually make contact.

High Idle in park after arrive to work, the IAC is what should be controlling the idle in park. Some have mentioned being able to clean them? I have only replaced them, (under $50 if memory serves).

 

[rum66runner]

visually verifery all your pulleys are lined up nice if ya wanna raelly be sure take a nice straight edge to it. after this is done i'd spray alittle wd-40 at the bearings on the idler pulley and belt ten pulley. (DO NOT GET ANY ON THE BELT) if it all looks good could be bearings in the alternator. Next Your truck's ecm will do whatever it can to get the truck to "normal" operating temp (hense why if you put a lower temp thermostat your gas mileage goes down) the high idle is caused by the engine sending more fuel trying to get the truck to warm up.