The snow has arrived and my wife is complaining that the cab of our 2004.5 LLY 2500HD extended cab is cold on her way to work in the morning. I get to drive the 14 year old Honda so you can see who wears the pants in our family. I'm going to install a 110 volt interior car warmer to take off the initial chill unitl the engine warms up. I know, I know some wise a** is going to reply that I'm going to need a long extension cord. My problem is how to get the electrical cord from the cab through the fire wall into the engine compartment. Has anyone else found an easy and air-tight way?

I know, I know some wise a** is going to reply that I'm going to need a long extension cord.





No need for a long extension cord - just take short tripshttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/hihi.gif



Signed,



Wise A** #1



BTW - welcome to the forum - sorry I can't help you with the other
issue. Now might be a prime time to start talking with the little
Mrs. about a heated garage!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley12.gif

Edited by: skoryaro2

It will only get worse when it gets colder. Diesel are not known for
heating up quickly idling on a cold day either. You could install
double block heaters like I did for quicker compartment heat when I
lived in Montana in the 90's. The "trick" is to get engine warm as quick as possible.


Edited by: snoman

Why do that, just get a remote start system and you can start the truck so it will warm up before she gets in it to leave. Simple and less damage to the fire wall and to the truck if something would happen with that heater...

Tell her to drive the Honda. She will either keep warm from the cars heater, or she will be so mad you suggested it she won't even notice that the truck takes longer to warm up!

Plug truck in. Winter front (may be too early)

How about finding a power inverter that converts 12vdc to 120vac. I thought I have also seen in JC Witney a 12 vdc interior heater. Could be wrong though.

Why do that, just get a remote start system
and you can start the truck so it will warm up before she gets in it to
leave. Simple and less damage to the fire wall and to the truck if
something would happen with that heater...



Doesn't work well in real cold. Diesels need to be slightly loaded to build heat. Even high idle doesn't work that great.



I noticed my egt's would slowly drop on cold mornings at idle indicating very little heat being produced.



A good idea would be a plugging in to an intermatic timer. Turn on an
hour before starting it. Saves electric cause the plug in block
heater will kick up the electric bill.

I tried the only 12 volt heater I could find. It was a cheap
piece of junk. Wish I could find a better one. An inverter
might be good. Do they produce enough juice to run a 110 volt
heater?

I tried the only 12 volt heater I could find. It was a cheap
piece of junk. Wish I could find a better one. An inverter
might be good. Do they produce enough juice to run a 110 volt
heater?


So why not use the block heater? Put a timer on a plug in the garage to come on a couple hours before she starts. Cuts down on the electric use.

Jim

How about an aftermarket seat heater? If her butt is warm, everrthing else
is tolerable. An inverter running a 110 volt heater won't be much better
than a 12 volt heater and will draw a lot of current (wattage =amperage x
voltage).

Plug in the block heater and near instant heat. And then throw the winter front on when it gets cold. Run the plug out the holes in the bumper. The plug for the block heater is bundeled up on the pass side in with some other wires. Free it then cut the tape and peel it down outa the plastic loom stuff to get some extra slack.


I went the auto timer route too.

The snow has arrived and my wife is complaining that the cab of our 2004.5 LLY 2500HD extended cab is cold on her way to work in the morning. I get to drive the 14 year old Honda so you can see who wears the pants in our family. I'm going to install a 110 volt interior car warmer to take off the initial chill until the engine warms up. I know, I know some wise a** is going to reply that I'm going to need a long extension cord. My problem is how to get the electrical cord from the cab through the fire wall into the engine compartment. Has anyone else found an easy and air-tight way?





I had to quote you to bring us to the obvious.


There's is a block heater like many have already said. Plug the truck in on a timer and have it come on about 2 hours before she goes to work. The truck coolant temp will be about 160 deg. If she doesn't drive over 10-15 miles it will not warm up much further.


Put the grill part of the winter front on. It makes a world of difference both in heating up faster and improving fuel mileage.


If you have seat heaters, they work great! I have a Grand Cherokee with leather seats and no heaters. I didn't make that mistake twice. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley9.gif


The best heater I've heard of other than doing those things above is a diesel fuel powered heater called Espar I believe. (The spelling may not be correct but it is close. I think that may be want you're hunting for if you want the truck cab warm when it can not be plugged in.


Our Canadian boys love them and they ought to know what cold is! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/hihi.gif





PS Speaking of snow. I don't think he will be making any more "Helpful" posts. Our gracious host neutered him. Probably the same reason as the last site he was removed from. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley32.gifEdited by: DavesDmax

JHOLLY; I personally live in an apartment. No
outlets. My truck has been plugged in twice, so far. At my
grandmothers. Do carry a 10 gauge cord of fifty feet with me, in
the winter. If I can plug it in, I do.



Up here I had a verbal quote of ABOUT $1800 CDN for an Espar heater. Installed.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley3.gif



Needless to say, it won't happen.

JHOLLY; I personally live in an apartment. No
outlets. My truck has been plugged in twice, so far. At my
grandmothers. Do carry a 10 gauge cord of fifty feet with me, in
the winter. If I can plug it in, I do.

Up here I had a verbal quote of ABOUT $1800 CDN for an Espar heater. Installed.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley3.gif

Needless to say, it won't happen.



Ah, if your going to plug in a 110v heater to warm the cab, where is that 110 comming from? Not the cigarette lighter and a 110v converter I hope.

Jim

When you do the block heater thing, firmly attach the plug to the truck and make sure the extension cord is routed in such a way that it will unplug with no harm done when the truck is driven away. You will forget to unplug the truck, it may take a while, but Murphy is alive and well.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley2.gif

Cabelas ( http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jhtml (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jhtml?id=0010501520933a&type=product&cmCat=se arch&returnString=hasJS=true&_D%3AhasJS=+&QueryTex t=12+volt+blanket&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon% 2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jhtml.22&Go.x=27&Go.y=10&N=4887&Ntk=all&Ntx=mo de+matchallpartial&Nty=1&Ntt=12+volt+blanket&noIma ge=0&returnPage=search-results1.jhtml) ?id=0010501520933a&type=product&cmCat=search&ret urnString=hasJS=true&_D%3AhasJS=+&QueryText=12+vol t+ blanket&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2 Fsearc h-box.jhtml.22&Go.x=27&Go.y=10&N=4887&Ntk=al l&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&Ntt=12+volt+bla nket&noImage=0&returnPage=search-results1.jhtml [/url]) has a 12-volt electric blanket with a cigarette lighter plug on sale. If she's the passenger, she can plug that into the lighter to keep her warm until the heater comes online. The more expensive and complex solution is an Espar heater sold by Greg Landuyt ([url="http://www.lubespecialist.com"]www.lubespecialist.com (http://www.cabelas.com)) Which is a diesel-fired coolant heater that will not only keep your coolant warm offering easy starts and instant cabin heat but will also come on by timer to heat up the cabin before you even get into the truck! Edited by: Idle_Chatter

Hey this sounds like a good excuse to build a heated Garage

They make the heavier duty power inverters that can handle delivering the current, they are bigger and more $$$. But a possible solution to your problem.

My thoughts for 110 would have been using a power inverter that Reineke mentioned. Don't know much about them.



Looking forward to a house, to plug into.

I don't think an inverter is the answer. The perfect thing for your problem is the espar heater. www.espar.com (http://www.espar.com) but its not cheap. Over $1000. Talk to Greg at Lube Specialists if it intrests you. It is definately the ultimate solution.

WOW! I can't believe the responses to my query. They have been phenomenal. However, I still need some help. I live in Saskatchewan (Canada) where we often get several months of daytime temperatures below 10 degress F. My truck is parked in an insulated garage and I do plug-in the engine coolant heater several hours before starting the truck. The problem is that the interior is soooo cold that it could "freeze the balls off of the brass monkey". The use of an interior 110 volt compact car-warmer is quite common up here. My problem is threading the 110 volt cord through the firewall to join with the engine coolant heater cord and eventually be plugged into a 110 volt outlet. Where is the best (easiest) location to make this passage through the firewall?

zulu, cut the end off, find a gromet and run it through. Then put a new end on. To make a hole big enough for the plug isn't practical. There are several gromets on the driver side firewall and you shouldn't have any problem finding one to do the job.


I am in Manitoba if you ever decide to go the remote started route, I'll give you a good deal.

Hey Max, how much are those remote starters going for? I had a cheap unit on my old toyota and loved it.


Ben

We have outside outlets here at work (yea I know Ohio)to plug diesels into.


When I had 6.5s I'd plug the truck into one outlet and set a bathroom ceramic heater w/ thermostat(on 800 watts setting)on the passenger side floor.


I just ran the cord out the door and closed it, the rubber seals have a lot of give.


If I'd kept it longer I was going to hard wire everything to the back of truck and leave cord in back of bed, but w/ both heaters your at/over the 15 amp rating of plug and breakers.


Those nights getting off work at 2:30am after freezing rain were GREAT, jump in and go while others couldn't even get their doors open http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley4.gif


After years of doing this I found Sears sold extension cords w/ led in the female plug so u know the outlet is working, many times the GFCI breakers we use are tripped.


I little salt water on the male plug can trip the GFCI when plugged in and coming out to a cold (<0F) truck wasn't fun.

Heat? We don't need NO MO Heat, it was 93 down here yesterday!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley4.gif

Heat? We don't need NO MO Heat, it was 93 down here yesterday!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley4.gif


I'll bet your block heater works good http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/hihi.gif

Tell her to hit the button for the seat to warm up That has got to take the chill off of herhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley2.gif

Srode; sounds like you need snow. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley17.gif

Block heater? What's that? NO SNOW!!!!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/hihi.gif