Is there a inline heater that preheats fuel. My dad used to be in trucking industry and says they used to use them on there rigs.(Transcon)

 

Yes,its in the fuel filter head.

 

I do believe that on the big rigs, they used something like the arctic fox heaters that mounted right into the fuel tanks and circulated coolant from the engine through a coil that was submerged into the diesel. I had one in my big truck. Couldnt beat it with a stick when the temperature dropped.

I am not aware of anything like that available for the light duty diesel equipped trucks. I would imagine that with some tools and some mechanical ability, a guy could make the fox work.

 

As stated, all the Ford diesels have them...the 6.9s had them in the fuel line leading to the filter. The 7.3 IDIs had them in the filter head. The 7.3 Powerstrokes have them in the bottom of the fuel filter canister. I imagine the 6.0 Powerstrokes do too.

Racor is a manufacturer of fuel filtration products, especially water separation types. They also sell a full variety of inline heaters and heated filters that can be retrofitted to any diesel engine, large or small. They can be heated either elecrically or with coolant.

Birken

 

How much will fuel pre-heating increase performance and at what temperatures will the most benefit be gained?

 

The heaters in these rigs are for preventing the fuel from gelling,so freezing temps is when there most benficial.

 

I think that heating the fuel actually slightly detracts from performance. Some rigs have a fuel to air cooler on the return line. Go figure. For the most part the stock fuel system on these trucks is adequate.

Birken

 

Heaters are really only needed till the engine gets hot. Once it reaches operating temp the return fuel will keep the fuel in the tank from gelling unless it is real cold like way below zero cold.

The stock heaters are only on till the fast idle kicks off. This may not be long enough to keep the parafin from cloging the filter. Most fuel is blended with a lighter fuel (less parafin) to keep the fuel from gelling at normal seasonal temps. This is why fuel pour point enhancers are needed in the winter when the temp is way down there below normal temps. This is also why the engine does not have as much power and the fuel mileage drops off in the winter.
#1 diesel is more refined, has less parafin, is a lighter fuel
#2 diesel is less refined, has way more parafin, is a heavier fuel.
#3 diesel is even less refined, has tons of parafin, and is way heavier.

#3 diesel will give you way more power and mileage than #1 will.
But when it gets cold it has so much parafin in it that it gells so bad you will be walking.

Diesel and gasoline motors have something in common with fuel and air temps.
The colder the air and fuel are, the denser they are.
The colder the air is, the more that gets sucked in on the intake stroke.
The colder the fuel, the more fuel that gets injected.
More fuel and air is more power.