I noticed on my 2000 F-350 7.3 here in the Seattle WA area that while it does not get extremely cold, it does take my truck forever to get up to full operating temp (around 195 degrees). I if leave in the morning with the temp at around 40 degrees after idling for about 1 minute, it will take approx 16 miles to reach the 195 degree range! That is cruising on flat freeway unloaded at 55 MPH. This includes a 2 mile surface street drive prior to freeway entrance. I start to get slight heat out of the vents at about 7 miles or so. How many miles or how much driving time does it take your trucks to get up to full operating temp? Starting to question my thermostat at this point.

 

I don't have numbers on my temp gauge. The temp gauge will take a long time to stabilize. It takes about 5 miles to blow any warm air out the defrost vents.

This is why I drive a Jeep Cherokee all winter. Nothing worse in winter then a diesel for around town commute. My Jeep is blowing hot air in about 1 - 2 miles with no idling before driving. That 4.0L in-line six is so dang inefficient that it dumps a lot of heat in the cab . It will defrost any amount of ice within 5 minutes when idling. Best heater I've ever had in a vehicle! Some of the worst mileage as well! My wife has a Subaru Forester with the electric defrost in the front window. My Jeep will beat it on defrost every time.

 

takes mine about 2 miles to get to the low end of the "normal range" when its in the 30's...dosen't get much colder than that here.

 

On the factory Ford gauge, at what gauge point are you referring to as "low end of the normal range"? Needle just beginning to move from needle start point, 1/4 up the gauge etc?

 

Mine takes about 2 miles starting with cold 50F.
Sounds like OP has bad thermostat. I bought the aftermarket thermostat with higher setting, that suppose to improve engine work. Didn't notice any difference on the gauge, but maybe it is 5 degrees warmer.

 

I guess what Im refering to is the second mark. The needle sits on the first mark when cold. the second mark is connected to the third with a line. it is considered the "normal range"
you may need a thermostat....

 

I wouldn't call 50F "cold". I don't even warm up at that temp. Just start and drive away.

There will be a big difference in warm up time between 50F, 30F, and 0F. I assume below 0F you will use the block heater.

 

With the temps around here this winter a "cold" 20 to 30 I can usually get heat in about 1 mile of street driving. I am probably almost to work (about 15 mins of driving) before it's really searing hot, but it gets effective heat pretty quickly.

 

I know enough to know that you don't exaggerate. What have you done to get that quick of a warm up? My truck behaves more like the OP's. I want whatever you have.

 

Yeah, I've actually paid attention to how long my truck warms up. Uh, I don't know, it just works well. I did put a new thermostat in it recently which actually made it warm up better, but it wasn't bad before that. My EBPV still works which could help too, and I try to drive so it comes on when it's really cold. I had to turn it down 1/2 way to work today, but I did have it running for a few minutes before I left. From the sounds of it, that wouldn't make that much difference for you guys to have it running a couple of minutes before hand.

I notice the TC doesn't lock and it holds gears more when it's cold. My truck came from Wisconsin, but I've changed the ECM to a VDH5 from an 03 so the programming is not stock. Maybe it's the path I drive, if you are on the highway, and not stop and go (which I don't do that much of) it may take longer to warm up with the increased air flow. Maybe I'll take a different route to work and see how that does.

 

I never have a problem with heat because I give my truck atleast a 20min warmup time before I move her in morning. Heater/defrost warms up pretty fast during its warmup idle mode. Hey and if I am towing it could be 30F @ 65mph and I can have the windows down and heater at less than max!! Man that heater burn your face off!

 

20 minutes burns a lot of fuel and is what I would consider a very long time to warm up.

The heater with my 7.3L definitely works very well once the truck is warm. I guess the differences in answers is probably due to variation in perception of what people considers "warm" and "hot". My truck will get warm air blowing the moment the temp gauge comes off dead cold. That takes about 2 miles of driving on a day around 30F. But it's not sufficient heat to defrost the window or warm the cab. It takes a long time to get warm enough to actually defrost ice off the window, and it takes quite a few miles before the cab gets nice and toasty.

In comparison, when I say my Jeep Cherokee is hot in 2 miles, I mean it is at full temp and HOT air is blowing and the window is defrosting.

 

We just had a week where it was around 10 degrees every morning. It took about 1.5 to 2 miles to start blowing warm air and about 5 miles to be blowing hot air. It wasn't to full operating temp by that point, but the air was still pretty hot. The temp gauge was on the N by 5 miles and it took it a few more miles to get up to the O and R. So I would say no more than 8 miles to be at full operating temp.

 

20 minutes? Wow!

I'm sure you think you're doing your engine a favor by doing that, but believe me you're not! I know most think that you can idle a 7.3 forever because it doesn't have an EGR or a VGT turbo, but there are still lots of negative side effects.

I know it's not a PSD, but my work truck's engine manual specifically states to NOT idle for more than 5 minutes unless it's absolutely necessary. It then goes on to state that if it's necessary you have to idle it up to 1,000 RPMs or higher and ensure that the coolant temp never gets below 170 degrees. My work truck doesn't have an EGR or VGT turbo either.

It's very hard on an engine to let it run below operating temperature for lots of reasons. This is why every diesel engine I've ever had is recommended to warm up while driving it under light to moderate throttle. The engine warms up faster this way therefore it spends less time running cold.

 

My original question was referring to the amount of time and/or miles it takes for your motor to reach a FULL operating temp or around 195 degrees. On the factory Ford gauge this is approx 1/3 or so up the coolant gauge. By that time, the heat should be blowing HOT, oil temperature (for those that have an oil temp gauge like I do) is also within 10 degrees of the coolant temp of around 195. What I have inferred from some of the descriptions is that on cold days (30 degrees or so) this marker does take several miles of driving and at least 10 to 15 minutes of drive time to reach.