The owners manual says you do not need to use the engine block heater unless it is -20. Would it benefit starting if you use the heater and it is cold but not that cold? Maybe even if it is 30 or 40 degrees. It takes a couple cranks to start it in the mornings now that it is 40 degrees. When it is warm it takes just one short crank.


Eric

The block heater will warm your engine in about three hours. Edited by: quantum mechanic

quantum mechanic, At what temperature do you start using your block heater?





Thanks Eric

Have you checked your glow plugs? One or two bad plugs can make starting difficult as it gets colder.

Thumbsmasher, I havn't checked them yet. I assumed they were all good since it started very quickly when the weather is warm. I will have to check them.


Thanks Eric

Anywhere below freezing oil gets thick. Thick oil = Hard cranking Edited by: War Wagon

quantum mechanic, At what temperature do you start using your block heater?





Thanks Eric









I run the block heater anytime it gets below 40 F and I have a place to plug in. It will help your engine start faster and minimize wear on your starter.


I'm an electrician and I have actually installed special outlets on jobsites, just so I could plug my truck in. I love it when dopey laborers ask "hey, what, is that truck electric or something?"

DieselLuver, I used my engine block heater this morning. It was 27 degrees. Started good. I had it on about 30 minutes. I am going to put it on a timer tonight so it will be on for about an hour before i leave for work. How long do you keep it on for?


Eric

I've plugged it in overnight the few times we hit 15*F over the last three years, maybe 6 times total. I've started it at 17*F without and it sounds like hell 'till it warms up.

Will the engine block heater burn out if you leave it on to long?


Eric

I have been using it the past couple days and it starts up quick and has no tapping noise. I have a extension cord under the garage door to the driveway where i park. The extension cord is plugged into a timer so when i get home i just plug it in and the next morning it turnes for an hour before i leave for work.


Eric

the haynes 6.2 and 6.5 diesel repair manual says:


"Leave the heater on for at least two hours to warm up an engine with 30w oil when the temperature is between 0 and 32-degrees F. Leave it on for at least eight hours to warm up engines with 30w, 15w-40 or 10w-30 oil when the temperature drops below 0-degrees F."


If it gets below 40 degrees, I usaully plug it in at night and leave it on all night.

I think i will leave it on longer. I had it on an hour and a half before i left this morning for work. When i started it up the engine was slow starting and sounded dry & loud for about 10 seconds until the warmer oil circulated through it. Then it was normal. I think it was 30 this morning.





Eric

This is just one ol' Fire Chief/Diesel Tech talking but, be extremely cautious of using a light duty type of timer for a block heater. The heater uses between 350 and 600 watts of power. That translates to heat, in the timer and the cords! Some heavy-duty block heaters demand up to 1500 watts of power. That's the same as a coffee pot or a toaster!


Use a heavy-duty extension cord (12 guage preferred).


Place the timer out in the open in the event of an overheat! Your insurance company and the local F.D. will thank you.

I didn't think of that. I will look at the heavy duty timers when i go to the store. The one i have now is a light duty ungrounded timer. The extension cord is a heavy duty outside type. Thanks for the info.


Eric

If a guy wanted to get real catty, he could use one of those hot water heater timers that sold for around $20 a few years ago. They were rated for 230 volts and high amperage load. They were supposed to save energy by timing out the water heater during low useage times. You could adjust the time on and off to match the times of day that you were using a lot of hot water. I remember they had a 24 hour clock in them. (I put one on my heater and soon found out the family used hot water at all hours of the day!! Didn't work for us.) You could probably find one on the net. Split the 230 volt legs and use one as hot, one as a ground and one as a common for your three-wire cord.

I went to home depot last night and got a heavy duty timer (10.00). It was rated up to 1750 watts. It said enough to run small appliances and a window air conditioner. I put it on for 2 hours this morning and it started up perfect with no noise.


Thanks Eric

I believe my engine manual states you can leave on all night since it doesn't use much power. I have never used mine in my 6.2L engine for the past 20 years and I have been in temps down to 10 degrees F. I do have a 120 volt a/c line from my camper generator to the engine compartment in case it does get very cold outside while we are camping. I guess if it got below 0 then I might get out my wife's hair dryer and direct it into the intake. I also have a manual switch on my fuel heater so I might turn that on to warm up the fuel since warm fuel and warm air really helps the ignition. I turn the fuel heater on when the outside temperature hits 40 degrees to keep the fuel from gelling in the filter and clogging it up. I have a temp sensor in my grill with the display in my dash.

I would run the block heater about three hours before you expect to start the engine.

If you have free power like I do at work I run it all night. I'm sure that as with any electic device it has a finite life and will eventually fail, but they are cheap and very easy to replace.

You should at the very least make sure that you have an ample timer and extension cord.

My setup is more elaborate, but I'm an Electrician.

I used to work with a Chief on the FDNY he even plugged his car in while inside the firehouse, he claimed it started much easier and faster. I think he just got off on using city power for free.

Silverbk,

I plug in our weekend "Duty Vehicle" ('97 Jeep Cherokee) mostly to keep the batteries alive when parked (parasitic drain fm cel phone, radios, CO detector, etc.), but the block heater does supply enough heat to help defrost the glass and provide a faster cabin warmup when responding at 0300hrs on a cold night.

I believe a block heater does help minimize wear due to slow (or lack of) lubrication in extreme cold. I also believe you are right about the "Free Power" thing!

Last night, while visiting Central Oregon for the holidays, I plugged the 6.2 N/A Suburban in for about two hours. It started right up and ran smoothly, as usual. The night before, I did not use the block heater (temp was about 25 degrees F.) and it took two glo-plug/cranking cycles to get it running. It ran a little rough for a few seconds as well. The heater definately helps!

When I was in the Coast Guard every small boat operating in a cold climate was kept warm with Kim Hotstarts when they were at the dock.

They keep them plugged in 24/7 because you never know when the boat will go out.

I believe that they extend the life of the engine dramactically. You eliminate most of those smokey oil starved warm ups.

In regard to the issue of plugging in our vehicles, I have a little round doohicky that is attached to the coolant hose. I plug it in and it sits all night, sometimes days if I forget to unplug it, and it helps tremendously with cold starts. You can just barely hear it sizzling while it is plugged in. It has been used on this truck for about 8 years now with no problems. Someone once told me I should not leave it plugged in for too long, but like I said, it has been going through this scenario now for 8 years.

i have a 82 gmc 6.2 iwas wondering which type of heater to buy and where to buy it, also would like to know how to install it.

does an oil an heater do the same thing and will it be as capable?

An oil heater heats the oil and is not as effective as a coolant heater. DO NOT waste your money on the dipstick style, they suck. If you must go with an oil heater buy the magnetic style, that stick to the block


A better bet is the freeze plug style, these heat the coolant, and work well, easy to install, just drain the coolant, remove the freeze plug, and pop in the heater, it's like a rubber plug with a heating element stuck through it.

Just go to any auto parts store and ask them for a universal style freeze plug block heater. They are cheap.
There are some other styles that splice into a cooolant hose, I cannot coment on howthey work.

block heater keeps moisture out of engine and helps life, did 20 yrs in coast guard and even in sunny carib if engine wasn't turning heater was on 40 and down heater plugged in all time. pan heater would be secondery to ease lube to engine, started 2.5ltr iron duke in fla 1 day warm took about 45 seconds for oil to get to rocker arms. i wait after starting for battery voltage to come back before putting in gear.
keith

The heater should not burn out since it is a low wattage heater. Cycling on and off shortens the life of a heater more than just leaving it on.

There's a bunch of these type of heaters on Ebay, or just go to any auto parts store and ask them for a universal type freeze plug heater.

If you live in Florida they may have to order it, Maine, they probably stock them.

were i live its going to 35 below tonite, had hell of a time to find the plug, hidden very good under the hood.

Just got my first diesel truck and couldn't resist starting it even though it was -5F. I had one of those magnetic heaters on the oil pan overnight, but I have no coolant heater yet. I got it to fire up, but had very loud tapping for the first few minutes. What's the source of the tapping, and is it very bad for the motor?