Hi everyone.
I've got a 1999 that I use off-road in canada. I was setting up some trail cams for the hunting season and forded a river that was a bit deeper than I remembered when I saw the water pass my wheel wells. New snow had fallen so this wasn't too surprising and I had crossed numerous times over the previous week. The next day a cold front rolled in and the temp dropped to -20C (just below 0F?).
While heading out to run an errand before bed I started 'er up and heard a crack sound when the starter first engaged. A bit tough to explain but it really sounded like something was a bit froze up. No biggie in Canada to have tires froze to the ground, doors and window sealed tight...off I drove and didn't think anything of it.
The next morning after being outside it was worse and I wasn't even getting the solenoid click from the starter and my first instinct was to boost it, assuming either the battery was a touch weak in the cold or something like that. After it didn't start I remembered the crack sound feom the night before and realized I must have some moisture around the starter solenoid. After bribing my kids to help me push it through the snow into the garage I put a space heater under it (pointed up at the starter) for a few hours and she started up fine and we drove it around chasing a few wolves off the property that showed up IN THE FLIPPIN YARD
while I had my head under the truck... Another night without heat and it froze up again followed by another spa treatment and it started up fine. I left the heater under it for all of last night to be sure it would run to morning as I need it rolling under it's own power.
Has anyone else experienced this? Any recommended products I could spray at the starter to help displace some of the offending moisture? I haven't had a chance to hit the road and I'm guessing the heat off the exhaust manifold should heat everything up enough to dry it. It would be a disaster if I was off in the hills with kids in the back and had it freeze up!
I've got a 1999 that I use off-road in canada. I was setting up some trail cams for the hunting season and forded a river that was a bit deeper than I remembered when I saw the water pass my wheel wells. New snow had fallen so this wasn't too surprising and I had crossed numerous times over the previous week. The next day a cold front rolled in and the temp dropped to -20C (just below 0F?).
While heading out to run an errand before bed I started 'er up and heard a crack sound when the starter first engaged. A bit tough to explain but it really sounded like something was a bit froze up. No biggie in Canada to have tires froze to the ground, doors and window sealed tight...off I drove and didn't think anything of it.
The next morning after being outside it was worse and I wasn't even getting the solenoid click from the starter and my first instinct was to boost it, assuming either the battery was a touch weak in the cold or something like that. After it didn't start I remembered the crack sound feom the night before and realized I must have some moisture around the starter solenoid. After bribing my kids to help me push it through the snow into the garage I put a space heater under it (pointed up at the starter) for a few hours and she started up fine and we drove it around chasing a few wolves off the property that showed up IN THE FLIPPIN YARD
while I had my head under the truck... Another night without heat and it froze up again followed by another spa treatment and it started up fine. I left the heater under it for all of last night to be sure it would run to morning as I need it rolling under it's own power. Has anyone else experienced this? Any recommended products I could spray at the starter to help displace some of the offending moisture? I haven't had a chance to hit the road and I'm guessing the heat off the exhaust manifold should heat everything up enough to dry it. It would be a disaster if I was off in the hills with kids in the back and had it freeze up!
