Well it’s -41C this morning and still dark. Nice picture from the Sunny State, Doug! Care and feeding of the F150 in the Cold Canadian Winter months:
A.) Fuel Tank of Canadian Winter Fuel Grade 1Diesel, 2 bottles Cetane Booster, 1 Bottle anti Gel. Washer Fluid -50C if available. Engine Coolant checked to -65C . That’s the Fuel Load! Engine oil change interval reduced to 3,000 Kms Max. I only complete Service 2’s always rotating the tires every oil change and a Service 3 Brake and Chassie inspection after the Winter Season early spring.
B. ) Plugged in a minimum of 3 Hrs, with the “Remove Before Flight Flag” or Your Wife in my Case who is also an Aircraft Engineer to read the prestart checklist.
C.) After departure 5 mins into the drive unless required earlier full system operational check , including all transmission modes, and four wheel drive modes. As per the Check List this is a mandatory check prior to ice road operation.
D.) Navigation mode to destination is mandatory when operating on the Ice road with visibility below 100Ft, (RVR).
C.) A full bottle of your most preferred spirits is required under the drivers, (Captains) seat for any engine failure in temperatures below -50c as well as cold weather survival gear.
Our truck is always outside exposed to the elements and we do everything we can to keep her clean in the winter months washing inside in a warm environment as well as keeping the engine compartment clean, who’s is really important in my book. I have operated without using the block heater to between -5C to -8C starting was no problem, however engine warmup at idle is slightly longer.
After a long run in cold weather, (-40C) greater than 1 hr, and if stopping for longer than the drive time I plug the block heater in immediately for the next start, even then with the temperature maintaining -40C or colder the engine temperature does drop . I have thought about a winter front but at this point have not installed one.
Merry Christmas to everyone on this Forum and thank you for sharing your knowledge.