Hey All.
First I have to say thanks to all here on the board for their great ideas, advise and humor.. This is a great place for information thanks to all that participate.
My question is on Block heaters.. Not very often where I live does it get cold enough to justify plugging in my truck. But Where I go hunting It get's damn cold. How long will it take my truck to warm up with the block heater? How long should it be plugged in? I'm asking this question because I live off a generator at elk camp. And I'm not too fond of letting to run all night to keep my truck warm? Would it be enough to just plug it in in the morning for about 30 min before i go out and fire it up?

Thanks again for all your advise.

I hope I can provide to this board as much as many of you provide for me.

YMMV
Your Resident Foneguy

 

The benefit of the block heater is generally optimized in about two hours, so 30 minutes might not get you what you want. Some guys leave theirs plugged in overnight, but that would primarily be for convenience.

 

How much juice does the block heater drink? Is it at or under 2000 Watts (16A)?

 

If I'm not mistaken, it's 1500 watts.

 

On a related question....at what temperature should you plug it in if it sits outside overnite? A friend of mine says he plugs his in when it gets below 35 degrees...I question whether that really needed. You guys tell me since I'm new to a Diesel pickup.

 

Diesels LOVE temperature and HATE cold. Any amount of heat they have in them at start-up is for the better. They WILL start at low temperatures, but the big problem is that at low temperatures, the pistons don't realy fit the holes (cylinders). The pistons are made of aluminum, and the block (cylinders) are cast iron. Aluminum expands and contracts at a much greater rate per degree of temperature than iron. When the engine is operating at maximum throttle and load and boost the pistons get very hot, and they have no water circulating through them to keep them cool, (only oil spraying on their bottom sides). To maintain clearance for oil between the piston and cylinder in this maximum load (very hot) condition, the piston must be made quite a bit smaller than the cylinder when both are cold, because of the widely diferent expansion rates. Therefore the colder the start,the more "piston slap" you are going to get.
This above senario also explains why a diesel engine should NEVER be idled for long periods of time un-nescessarialy. At idle there is almost no "fire" occuring in the combustion chamber, and the air intake on a diesel is always "wide open" letting all the cold air in against the piston. The block may be at 190-degrees, but this only serves to make the cylinder bigger. The block heat does not transfer effectivly to the piston. Besides 190-degrees is NOTHING for a piston that is designed to run near or over 1000-degrees! The pistons at idle are too small! This excessive piston to cylinder clearance allows piston slap and wear and contamination of the crankcase from blowby and un-burned fuel and moisture that will form acid in the crankcase and eat up bearings etc. The fact that a diesel WILL idle a long time DOES NOT mean it SHOULD idle a long time.

BobJonesSpecial

 

Big rigs are left running over night, I don't understand.

 

King,

The drivers don't understand either. I spent 39 years selling over-the-highway big rigs before I retired 2 years ago. All manufacturers (Cat, Cummins, Detroit,Mack, Volvo) maintain that diesel engines should NOT be let idle unnescessarialy.

If it is 40-below zero and there is a strong possibility that the engine will not re-start, and the driver's life depends on it, then of course, idling is nescessary. Also, sometimes a driver is in an area that is very hot and needs to sleep and run the air conditioner. A lot of the newer electronic controled engines have built in idle timers from the manufacturers that prevent the engine from idleing over 5-minutes if the temperature is above say 35-degrees, or below 80-degrees outside.

As fuel costs increase and the competitive nature of the trucking increases, there is a greater push towards onboard generators (similar to motor homes) to accomplish cab heating and cooling and also engine pre-heating to prevent idleing. However, these onboard generators are expensive and somewhat heavy, which also affects the bottom line. But, these costs, weighed against engine overhaul costs are starting to show an ever-increasing demand for on-board generators.

Now that modern diesel engines start so well at low temperatures, a good sleeping bag can add tremendously to engine life!

A very commonly stated axiom in the heavy duty trucking industry is that 1-hour of ideling is equal to 3-hours of full-throttle hill climbing as far as wear and tear on a diesel engine. I think that this would probably apply MORE SO to lighter, cheaper constructed pickup engines.

BobJonesSpecial

 

Or an Espar heater. They run off diesel fuel and battery power to generate heat. There are models made to heat the coolant and circulate it through the engine and heater core, and there are also models which will heat air and blow that through the cab. I once saw a brand new Peterbilt being fitted with one of each. The air unit was thermostatically controlled and kept the cab a comfortable temperature overnight while the coolant unit was started by an integral time to come on an hour or so before the driver planned on heading out in the morning. The fuel usage was miniscule, especially when compared to what it would have cost to idle the engine all night.

I had one fitted to a Dodge Cummins that I owned and loved it. Certainly more expensive that a sleeping bag, but also more comfortable and convenient.

 

And much better for the engine too! Yes, there are several brands of engine and/or cab heaters that burn several diferent fuels. (diesel, gasoline, propane)

The air conditioning is a tougher question.

BobJonesSpecial

 

BOB, thank you for the taking to the time to explain this to me.

But with that said, I have to raise this question:

Wouldn't it be equally as bad for diesels to start them repeatedly since it takes more effort (for lack of better term) to start a diesel engine?

 

Bob:

That is, without a doubt, the best explanation of cold vs warm vs idling that I have seen, and I've been trying to figure it out for a while. Thank you for taking the time to explain that to us. I

now FULLY understand....

 

Bob, sorry to here that one shouldn't idle. This is my first diesel and I plow for the state of Ma. as a private contractor. We maintain the ramps.

Sometimes we sit waiting for the salt to do it's job, or when were caught up with the snow and need a cat nap to help get though the nite. With my gasser's we always just let it idle, to keep warm and windows clear of ice. Sometimes we'll sit for up to 2 hrs. if there isn't any snow bands that hit us.

Nothing I can do to help with this? Changing or adding anything?

Capt.