I am a full time student in west new york and my campus has now here for me to plug in without being ticket or the cord being unplugged. So I am looking at a Perfection stove company diesel fired coolant heater.

Looking to get some thoughts?

This is for an 88' 7.3 IDI

 

I have never heard of it, so I googled it. Last time it was brought up was in 02 and they all said it was more tousle than it is worth for the $1000 cost. Just make sure your glow plug system is working good and you will have no issues

 

Found one NOS for about $160...
My problem is my GP relay is working intermittently and the truck has an aftermarket turbo so to change the relay I believe I have to pull the turbo. has new plugs though. I want to not have to idle for so long for her to get warm before driving to mile to and from work every day.

 

I agree with brad. Make sure you're batteries and your glow plugs are good and you'll be fine. I've never plugged my truck in in winter, and Maine gets fairly cold at night.

I have a propane tank heater on one of my old diesel loaders that doesn't have glow plugs. I would turn it on as late as I could the night before I wanted to use it so it had plenty of time to warm up a 250 cummins block. It works fine I suppose. It does the job anyway.

 

Also Think I need a new main positive lead that connects the two batteries. insulation is split by the terminals and corroded to hell. Would prefer to hold off till spring for that.

 

Your glow plug system is a critical part of the truck starting. I would think you would look into fixing the gp relay. Replace it with a plow pump solenoid. Brad can tell you the part number. I know what it is in the parts store, but can't tell you off the top of my head. It's a great upgrade.

 

Well I can't get to the GP controller. I have a replacement controller and relay and GP wires off my parts truck I was thinking about hooking up for manual control until I get around to tearing the turbo off. Set it up in such a way to not cut any of the stock items, maybe just pull the fuse.

 

why do you want to put off replacing a corroded battery cable until the spring while your having hard starting issues in the winter? that doesn't make any sense to me.....at all.
the GP relay should have been relocated to make assessable when the turbo was installed.
since it's working intermittently,start with checking the ground at the relay.

 

Because its cold and I have zero time. I haven't had problems lately since the relay is working again but I've never driven it below I think 5 degrees and am trying to be proactive. If I was going to replace the battery cables is there anyone who sells OEM style or reproductions?

I know the relay SHOULD have been relocated, alas it was not.

 

LMC has it for $120... Another reason to wait on it.

 

I can't believe I am doing this, but..........
Go over to oilbuners.net

 

Ugh like I don't belong to enough forums already.

 

we'll tell him the same things over there that we do here lol.
you need good battery cables.these can be bought at good prices (they're not like buying for gas engines.they're large wires so "good" is relative lol) at orileys.
i buy mine and have them custom made at NAPA with marine battery cables.
they can be bought here too;
Heavy Duty, Aftermarket, Custom Battery Cables for your Car, Truck or RV

and you need to fix the glow plug system;
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post12967785

i can't help ya fix lazy though.your on your own there.i hate the cold too but iv still got to work in it.
if you don't want to bundle up and pull a turbo to move the controller where it belongs and then fix/replace it,then i guess the best thing ya can do is use the block heater and when you need to leave after hours without near a plug use starting fluid until the spring.
id just bundle up and fix the truck.sucks i know.i hope to god and im working my ars off to insure this is my last winter without a heated shop.

 

Thanks for the links but if they're going to be custom to get good ones I guess I'll just have to kick myself and build em.

As far as the glow plug system I think I will just run a separate controller for now I guess. I can do it without cutting any of the stock setup so I can go back to that when I have more time. I do carry either and diesel 911.

Would you say I want a minimum of 1/0 cable?

 

they need to be at least 2/0 and making the one that goes down to the starter from the pass side battery 3/0 won't hurt.