I have a question for you cold weather guys about a block heater. My 99 F-150 was used when I got it. I discovered the other day that it has a heater. I had a 99 F-250 7.3 Turbo and I usually heated it for three hours in the morning before starting. My question is how long do I need to heat this 5.4 before I start it, seeing that it does not have as much oil and coolant to have to warm up.

Thanks for your help

fyrfytr4lyf

 

I think that they are designed to stay plugged in overnight. Is it in a coolant line?

 

Thanks for the reply Jimmy. It is actually in one of the freeze plugs. This is the first gas engine I have had with a heater, I just don't want to over do it. I turned it on for an hour with a timer the other morning, I will just bump the time up in half hour increments until I get it where it needs to be. The 7.3 that I had heated for three hours and was fine, but the 5.4 doesn't have as much fluid to have to warm up, and I don't need the light bill going up for no reason, if you know what I mean. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't even bother plugging it in unless it keeps it warm enough that there is instantly heat. I'd say that we live in about the same climate (Northern KY) and I have never heated any of my trucks. It gets down to about 0 and sometimes into the negatives around here in the winter. Just run the 5w30 or 20 and you'll be fine.

Mike

 

North Carolina?...Kentucky?...I am suprised you even need to plug your trucks in at all. I live on the Canadian boarder in Northern Minnesota and I do not even think about plugging in my truck untill it is well below -0F and we are literally known as the coldest area of the continental U.S. with weeks on end of -20 to -40 below zero. What ever you decide should be more than enough where you live.

 

My '98 Expy has one and I plug mine in below freezing. It keeps it warm enough that you can tell the difference when starting it up. I plug it in when I get home and unplug when I leave. I have 155k miles on the original battery.

 

If it is the Ford accessory, you can leave it on all night, but if you don't want to waste the electricity, 2 hours should be enough. I guess that would depend on conditions. I never bother with mine unless it's going below zero, and frankly, although we've had a lot of that here lately, I still don't always plug it in. It always starts immediately, but I feel that I'd like to get that oil up to the (overhead) cams as soon as possible.

 

It is 70 degrees and christmas day here

 

I live in saskatchewan canada and it can get to -50c up here in the north.We usually plug our vehicles in over night.I use a timer and have it plugged in for at least for hours.A lot of people have automatic car starters up here and program them to start every half hour when the temp. drops down to a certain degrees.They don't even have to go out side to start them.

 

Well, so far I have been using a timer on the heater. I leave around 6, and have the timer set to come on at 3. I have heat within a couple of minutes, and the engine doesn't rattle as bad when I first start it as it does when I don't plug it in. I have just been using the heater on the nights when it gets down below twenty.

 

I run mine for about an hour before I start it but I also have an oil pan heatpad and a pad under the battery. I usually don't plug it in unless its 10 degree F or lower.