Anybody have a problem with their block heater burning up the cord. While pulling the plug from extension cord, a short melted both the truck plug & extension cord recepticle without tripping the electric panel circuit breaker!. Put a new plug end on truck & manufacturer replaced cord (yellow jacket 10G). Still notice sparks while disconnecting. ???

 

I'd guess that the block heater is an inductive load. Assuming that it is, a bit of sparking when you unplug wouldn't be that unusual as the energy in the inductive field collapses.

I wouldn't expect any big old arc welding type of spark though, now that would be problem . . .

Daryl

 

All of my diesels with heaters will snap or arc when you plug them in. A light cord does not work well, try 14 ga wire if you can find one.

 

To eliminate the spark when unplugging the truck connection unplug the extension cord at the power source first.

 

when it is really cold out here (like in the teens) i leave the truck plugged in all night and sometimes all day...does that hurt the heater or is it cool to leave it plugged in

 

Nothing wrong with leaving it plugged in, emergency vehicles are always plugged in and so is my farm tractor. The power company loves it too.

 

I live in St. Louis, Mo. the weather gets down in the single digits and teens, so far I have never plug my 6.0 deisel up yet. And it starts blowing heat within a few miles. Is this normal for a 6.0?

 

Mine fires right up. No need to plug in your truck until it falls below zero. The AstroStart I have is set to start the truck if temps go below -5 degrees when plugging in is not an option.

 

Well, mine does it too. I'd think it's normal, but with so many trucks acting up in so many different ways, who knows?

 

My wifes 2004 fires up fine up to 5 below, complains a bit, but running synthetic it seems to start and run (at startup) better than with non synthetic.

If it gets colder than 5 below we plug it in to a timer for 2.5 hours before she leaves. Works fine without the 1500 or so watts making the meter run.

 

If I don't plug in my truck below 20 degrees, it will start (with remote) and run rough for about 10 seconds, then continue to run for approx two minutes. Then it will shutdown, wait for 15 seconds and restart. Depending on how cold it is, I have seen it do this routine 5 or 6 times. Is it stalling when the glow plugs shut off? Do glow plugs shutoff after 2 minutes?

 

Does it do this in the summer also? The question is, did the knuckleheads that installed it set it to a two minute shutdown? I set mine to 15 minutes so the old lady has to get to the truck once she starts it!

 

No, the remote start timeout timer is set to the longer of the two options which is 25 minutes. I have verified this as I have been though the programming options of the Code Alarm system a few times. My feeling is that it just hasn't warmed up enough to stay running after the glow plugs shut off. And no it only does this approx 20 degrees and below.

 

not to change the subject, but do you have enough snow? :~)

 

After all how much power does a block heater burn? It can't be too much? I like to keep mine plugged in so the wife stays warm.