I would beg you not to even consider the rapid heat for what you are trying to do. For 2 - 3k you WILL be severely disapointed. IMHO all it is good for is keeping the window de frosted until the coolant heats up. It adds VERY LITTLE heat to the cab. The cab does not begin to heat up until the coolnat temps get up above 100F.

We all do some crazy stuff for our kids but this WILL NOT do what you want it to do.

Like I already said, I didn't even know I had it.

Before you even consider it go to your dealer and start up a cold truck with the rapid heat and see what you think.......

 

I have the rapid heat option and I agree with the assessment above. I have not had to scrape my windows yet, but I still am not warm either. It is better than cold air, but not enough to warm the Cab either. My dealer tried to talk me out of it, but I'm glad that I got it anyway.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I kinda suspected what you just said, which is why I installed the 900w under dash heater. That one is intended to keep the truck warm overnight. I was most interested in the rapid heater to clear the windshield and maintain a bit of the heat inside the cab once I unplug from the house and drive away. It sounds like it at least would have done that much. Man, if my salesman hadn't been fired I think I would have gone and strangled him long ago!!

 

I have the rapid heater as well.

Even with the remote start, 10 minutes before I leave, its not like the truck is warm inside on a cold morning. I do see the windows defrosting, but thats about it.

I would not spend $3k to retrofit one in.

I would probably do the 900w under dash heater option, and put a thermostat on it at say 40F. That way it will auto turn on/off as needed....assuming it can even get the truck to 40F on those -F temp days.

 

The 900w heater I have does indeed have a thermostat that shuts it off at I believe 70F but on a really cold day I also doubt it will ever get there no matter how long it is plugged in.

I am rethinking the option of installing an espar with a trickle charger built right into the truck.

 

High Idle is working great for me. Its a manual set, so the engine temps don't matter for auto on/off as they do with my buddies 05 - 6.4. The factory set high idle is computer set based on engine temps and has I believe a shut off point.

Our outside temps are above 0(f) at the moment, but at 5 above the other day I let it idle with the high temp idle set for about 20 minutes and actually had to take my coat off when I got in.

So for now I'm happy with full padded front grill bra and high idle. The engine temps are going up and I can now run with a warm cab and engine from the get go. Of course the bra helps when I'm moving and keep the RPM's up, but at idle without the high idle set she cools off real quick.

If it still works at -40 f below as she has at the current atmosphere temps I'm golden, if not I'll revisit the 900w heater option.

 

Any concerns with running the high idle in the extreme cold? I was thinking 1200 rpm might not be so good for the truck when oil is super cold. I presume you are using a block heater?

 

Most vehicles are already programmed to idle at a higher speed when colder, not slower. The built in cold high idle I've seen gets up to about 1180 or so RPM immediately after startup, so it's going to happen anyway. Your manual override really just does it for a longer period of time than what it would normally run for.

Although we haven't really experienced proper cold weather yet this season.

 

Good point. How long are you idling for generally? Does the truck ECM believe it's idling when you have high idle engaged? Meaning, does the high idle time add to the run hours or idle hours in the info display?

 

As long as it takes me to clear the windows. It can be variable, I don't actually time it. It doesn't actually warm up until you load it down.

I haven't tested whether it increments the idle hours but it should be adding to engine hours anytime the engine is running regardless of speed (where 'speed' > '0'RPM). Idle hours also count to engine hours since it is a subset.

Anyone want to idle for an hour with SEIC enabled and see if it increments the idle hours?
I think it's purely for informational purposes like an odometer, the truck won't throw a message on the screen saying 'You've been idling me for more than 30% of the time! Drive me MOAR!' or something.

 

Already had the block heater and heat pads and that works fine for warming the oil, thawing the battery, and keeping the coolant lines above freezing (Pretty standard set up for Alaskan rigs), but wasn't sufficient for getting the heat up enough to heat the cab.

True, but on the 6.7 it seems that the coolant heat will still site just above the C mark on the dash temp gauge.

The high idle switch gets the RPMs up to 1600 and the dash temp gauge will be at the half mark after 20 to 30 minutes, normal running levels. So I can let my rig idle and still get sufficient heat going. Once I'm at normal running temps, then the bra helps to keep the temp up while I'm running down the road.

I believe Trent is thinking of a high idle/cold choke, which is programmed in all rigs, but the diesel will run at a lower temp than a gas rig as normal, thus the lack of cab heat when your warming up.

 

Yeah, but then that that point you drive the vehicle and when you do that, it warms up much faster. Especially with your winter front grille covering.

Yeah now that you mention 1600RPM I don't think the built in cold idle-up goes that high. My own idea of 'warm interior' is 'anywhere above freezing' though... it doesn't need to be positively tropical inside the cab when I first get in. The electric heater actually does well for that application.

It also hasn't been that cold outside this year (yet) for me to make accurate comments on true cold weather performance though. I guess I should also figure out what you guys are trying to attain here before I comment further... I'm just trying to get above freezing, but are you guys trying to get room temperature in your vehicle at startup?

In my previous diesel trucks before the electric heater was a feature, it would take about 20 minutes of driving to get the interior room-temp warm, but they still put out 'above freezing' air pretty quickly.

 

I would love to find a way to get into a room temp truck somehow. A bonus would be if the windows were defrosted. A double bonus is if the coolant want up to temp. Espar would be superb if my daily commute wasn't so short that I'd have to worry about dead batteries.

 

bearqst, what kind of oil pan heater are you using on the composite oil pan?

 

Ok, been brainstorming this for months and need some help... probably worth reading this first: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...nt-system.html

So, I have been thinking that one of these 1500W or 2500W circulating (magnetc drive pump) coolant heaters, installed on the heater core inlet, will force coolant through the heater core first, and then down to the lower rad hose and back up through the block, and so on. Of course, you could do the same on the heater core outlet. I think the reason the ESPAR guys were saying that it wouldn't get enough radiant heat to the heater core is that if you install it into the frost plugs in the block, it won't actually be pumped through the heater core and you have to rely on convective heat to get the coolant up in the heater core warm. However, if it is installed on the heater core inlet, then heater core HAS to get heat. The only issue I see with this is that the mag-drive pump might get damaged by the truck's coolant pump. Also, the fan is still not running so you don't really get the heat into the cab unless you can find a way to actuate the truck's blower. So that got me to thinking again (this is getting dangerous)...

Another option is to simply use a typical 1500-2000W tank-style pre-heater. It won't circulate coolant but with a 10-minute idle time, will get the warm coolant circulating through the heater core and with the greater wattage, should be better/faster for getting heat into the cab. AND it would have to as I would lose the use of my little 900W in-cab heater as I wouldn't have enough house circuit to run a 2000W + 900W heater together.

Anyone know how these tank style heaters perform compared to a block (forst plug) heater?

JC