Grateful for recommendation for best battery jump starter. '94 F-250XL GAS 5.8L 200K miles.

Would my truck have a block heater connection as standard equipment or something I'd have to install.

Have heard that a "block heater" that connects to the radiator hose would give heat immediately upon starting engine instead of having to wait for engine to warm up. Those work well?

 

No block heater on gas motors.

I used to have one on my 70 F100 years back. Circulating style. Tap into heater hose and lower block plug.

Similar to this:

Instant heat in the morning.

 

Why no block heater???

I have one on my F250. I was going to do a tank that fits in the heater hose line and Kat does not recommend them. Problem is most new vehicles have a heater control valve that shuts off the flow of coolant in the heater hoses. Then it will smoke the circulation tank heater. If you look up the Kat heat application guide it won't list a tank heater.

They also have a tank heater that hooks into a heater hose and then into a drain in the bottom of the block. (like the one you linked to) Problem is the heater is a lot more expensive than a freeze plug heater and they want it mounted low so it does not trap air and burn it out. By the time I would mount it by the frame it was almost under the truck. To me it was a lot of hassle.

I am not much for the radiator hose heater. Once you go so far as to draining all your antifreeze you might as well put in a block heater. It is not very hard to install. Pop out a freeze plug, clean the hole really well with emory cloth to get a good seal and put in the heater. Tighten it carefully so you do not over torque it. It uses a bolt to hold it in place, not to squish the oring. I put mine near the starter so it slightly helps to warm the starter. At really cold temps it needs all the help it can get.

I really don't use mine much unless it gets cold. (below zero) Truck has a rough time starting below -10

http://www.fivestarmanufacturing.com...s_2015_cat_web

 

Probably he meant that block heaters are not installed on Ford GAS motors as standard original equipment. That was one of my questions: "Would my truck have a block heater connection as standard equipment or something I'd have to install."

Thx for jumping in...

 

I follow. Even some of our big diesels did not come with engine heaters. Maybe it would be a special option on gas engines way up north.

 

Does your block heater provide heat in the cab immediately upon start up? That's my objective. If so, how many watts is yours?

 

Mine is a 600 watt. Problem is I don't use it unless it is really cold out. It does start right up and from what I remember has warm air, but not like when the engine is warmed up. I have it on a timer and use it when it starts to drop in the single digits. I have the timer to turn on a couple hours before I would start it.

 

If your main concern is having heat maybe you should get a remote start, ASSuming you have an auto trans.

 

My '87 with a 6.9 came with a block heater. 1000 or 1100 watts. It actually circulates the coolant through convection. The heater will have a little heat at start up. Uses lots of juice if you plug it in stone cold. If the engine is already warmed up it's not too bad.

 

I had a block heater in mine when I got the truck and put in a new one with the rebuilt engine. I get heat out in about 4 blocks of driving after leaving the house. I plug it in when I get home so that it keeps things warmed up. I love it and wouldn't have a truck without out one.

 

The circ pump style heater is the way to go if you want heat, no heater shut off valve in these trucks, and a standard core plug style heater (which was standard equipment here in the great white north) doesn't put much heat into the heater core, or the rad unless it's plugged in all night.

 

My 7.3 has a .can looking heater mounted in the side of the block, drivers side.
I think it's factory, and big enough that it could circulate too? I'm spending 2 months on Cape Cod right on the ocean. I'll be using it. Being a southern truck all it's life I'm sure it has never been used1 We'll see... It's already cold enough here that I could use a block heater in my boots!

 

That's the oil cooler. The block heater just happens to be inside it. As said above, it "circulates" by convection. There's no pump. 'Course, there's no pump on the Kat's product referenced above - see http://www.fivestarmanufacturing.com..._and_opera.pdf

 

I'm most likely wrong but I could have sworn there is a 120 volt wire running to it. I'll go under and check it out more carefully. I'll be back

 

Yes, the 120-V wire is for the block heater. But the object you're seeing is the oil cooler, which happens to contain the block heater. The heater itself is just a loop heating element.

Gasser trucks, in any event, don't have anything like this. Even the IDI diesels don't have the block heater there. What you're seeing applies to the PSDs only.