What is main purpose for a block heater on the 6.2 gas engine?

 

Easier turnover in extremely cold weather

 

Up hear in Canada block heaters are standard equipment on most vehicles.

 

The purpose is to keep the engine warm when it's plugged in.

Well, you asked...

Most of the "cold weather" states new cars come standard with block heaters. Mine did up here in ND. I've never plugged mine in one time, and it always starts, but the coldest I ever started it was -40 F, and it started, but it did crank slow.

 

As a practical matter the truck will warm up much quicker and have good heat in the cab right away.

 

Standard issue on the trucks here in Wyoming. My opinion is that on cold nights, below 32 degrees F, it is easier on the truck if you plug it in as it keeps the oil warm. I try to keep mine in the garage when it is that cold but that is not always possible so I will plug mine in, especially when it gets below zero. I just think it is easier overall on the engine when starting it up.

 

requires much LESS energy from the near frozen battery to start in ZERO weather.
oil is thinner heated so oil moves normally in Zero weather.
engine block antifreeze is warmer, so heat in the heater is quicker. also helps deice windows quicker.

 

In other words besides starting easier and being quicker to make you comfortable, it makes cold starts way way easier on your motor and starting system.

 

Yes, as the temps go down, the current demands for starting (amps) go way up. But, at the same time, the ability of the battery to deliver that current is degraded. As the chart shows at 0F the battery is only at 40% but cranking demand is at 200% compared to 70F. All this assumes a serviceable, fully charged battery, good cables, no corrosion, a well tuned engine with good fuel no contamination, etc. A well charged battery is your best friend in cold weather.

In extreme cold it's better to bring the battery inside where it's warm and reinstall when needed. When parking overnight, even an unheated shed will lessen windchill and keep at least some of the latent heat inside the engine for easier starts the next morning.

 

For some reason, my truck came with a block heater here in East Tennessee. We don't see extreme cold very often at all, but when it's in the 20's and I'm running late, at 5:30am, it's nice to have almost instant heat.

 

I had one on my F250 in So. Cal, the coldest I ever saw in 56 yrs that I lived there was 25 deg. Now that I'm in So. Utah and I've seen -11 ...... yes I do plug it in at night, even in the garage.

 

Same here, my local dealer orders almost all the F250/350s with engine heater regardless of engine, I just figured it was a few extra bucks in their pocket. My F350 Platinum 6.2 has one.

 

I had one on my 06' gas f250. When I used it in single digits or below the tach would hardly Rev above idle on start up. That has to be a good thing for an engine. It will use a lot of electricity and I put mine on a timer to come on a few hours before I left for work in the morning.

 

The average block heater is 750-100 watts, the average hair dryer is 1850 watts. Our total electricity cost here is 12.13c/kwh, a 1000w block heater would cost under a dollar for 8 hours' use.

 

Does anyone know the part number and where the heater is on a 2016 f250 6.2L?