I have the engine block heater on my truck and have really never thought about whether it should be used or not. Does it do anything besides just keep the block warmer from the cold northern temps? I assume it will not keep it warm enough to blow warm air much faster than just starting normally. My truck is in the garage everynight which is insulated so it never dips below 40 degrees in there.

Anyone else really use the block heater unless their truck is outside? Can it do any damage to leave it plugged in a lot?

Thanks,

T

 

Wheres the block heater located??? I have a XLT supercrew and I'm not sure if I have it or not?? How do I know and where to look???

 

Look under the hood, if there is a 110 volt plug, you have one. I live in CT and most people here have never seen one. I think they are only ordered for trucks in the extreme northern part of the country and most of Canada. As for when to 'plug' in your truck, my dad would only use the block heater when the temp gets below 0 F or
(-20C). The heater is about 1000 Watts, quite expensive to leave on for 8-10 hrs.

 

If you get the chance, look in your electric kettle. The little element at the bottom that heats the water is about the same thing in your truck to keep the oil warm mostly. 5w-30 grade oil, or 5 grade for that matter isn't thin enough for beow -30 celcius, so I buy Polaris 0w-40 synthetic. It's a dream. Hot or cold, its always ready

 

I lived in Northern Ontario, and it droped down to -20/30 F (without windchill). I never plugged my car in. My neighbour has a 02 Scab and he never pluged it in. We both never had problems. As my neighbour says. "The truck is like a woman, you spoil her once, and your done" refering to block heaters. I live in Southern Ontario (rarely hitting 0 F). So I've never plugged my truck in.

Try looking in the lower airdam on the driverside, that's where mine is.

 

Our winters have changed so dramatically in the last 10 years that I very seldom have to plug in any more.Just the same I ordered with the heater, just in case it ever gets cold again.

 

So that's what the electric plug is for on my '94 Ranger! Nope, never used it. Around here, 'cold' means it dips down into the 30's for an hour before sunrise.

 

With the Diesels it is standard eqiupment. I have use them in both my Diesels & my Last '96 F250 w/ an 460. Works great, instant defrost in the very cold mornings when the temps really drop. I leave my defroster on the "on" position & the heaters will keep the fresh snow or most of the frost off of the windshield. The Diesels come with dual heaters {engine block heaters, one on each side of the engine block} go in place of the frezzer plugs, same with the gas engines. The Diesel heaters are wired together as where the 460's were not wired together. It is a option on the Gas Engines & I'm not sure if they even offer it anymore on the '05 Super Duty Gas engines. I have not noticed that much more in $Cost to leave the truck plugged in but I do have it on a timer & leave it pluged in from around midnite to my leaving time in the morning, lately right around 6am. Instant Defroster & Heat, nice and warm on those cold morning drives.

 

I agree, for diesels it's a good thing. But for a gasser, it really is not necessary. Gasser's use internal combustion which creates a lot of heat fast, while the diesels use high compression. (lower levels of heat). That is assuming you don't live in Alaska or Yellowknife in January.

 

If you go to northern towns in ND or MN, you can plug your block heater in while you goto the post office or cafe to eat. Must be needed up there, -40°C is kinda cold.

 

Last year around here we got to -54 celcius. Buses literally froze up while running. Scary stuff. We had the block heater plugged in on our truck and it still wouldn't start. We ended up getting undernesth the truck, scraping ice off the oil pan, knocking as much ice as we could off the block, and letting it sit for another hour. Finally got it started, and it start to idle real rough, the oil was so thick. 10W-30 was still sitting in it. We did an oil change right then and there. Polaris synthetic 0W-40, we warmed it up inside(kept it by the furnace, then dumped as much oil out the truck as we could, and poured the new oil in fast, let it sit about 30 seconds to get to the oil pan, and started it up and drove away.

 

All trucks (most) in Northern WI have block heaters installed. These heaters heat the oil by way of the coolant. So they do not really "heat" the oil per se, but heat the block as a whole.
I use it every night. I can definatly tell the difference if I don't use it. Like someone else said, if I leave it on the defrost setting, the heat makes its way to the windshield and prevents frost from forming. But now that winter has set in, it only makes the truck easier to start. I have never gone a winter here yet without having a vehicle fail to start in the cold. It's better for your engine, battery, and connected parts to spin a 40 or 50 degree engine rather than a 0 or -10 one.
If 40 degrees is as cold as it gets, then don't bother. You won't notice a difference.
I set mine on a timer and have it kick on 3 hours before I want to start it.
I also use it because of my firefighter duties. Needless to say, I don't let the truck warm up at all when I race to town in the middle of the night.
Also having the water 40 or 50 degrees warmer than the ambient air temperature makes it warm up alot faster.
Back in the day, when my old Fords and Chevy's didn't start I would have to take some nice hot coals out of the wood boiler and put them underneat the car. It would eventually warm it up enough to get it started.
Never set one on fire yet, but I am glad those days are over.
MK

 

-54 celcius is -65.2fahrenheit wow. The coldest temp on record here was in 2001 and it was -47 degrees fahrenheit. wow

 

I know I just did three posts in a row, and I know that this isn;t the place for this, so don;t yell at me, but I thought this was cute....
mk

So how tough are we?
+50 F/ 10 C Wisconsinites plant gardens


+40 F/ 4 C Californians shiver uncontrollably
Wisconsinites sunbathe

+35 F/ 2 C Italian cars don't start


+32 F/0 C Distilled water freezes


+30 F/-1 C You can see your breath
You plan a vacation to Florida
Wisconsinites eat ice cream


+25 F/-4 C Boston's water freezes
Californians weep pitifully
Cats insist on sleeping on your bed


+20 F/-7 C Cleveland's water freezes
San Franciscans start thinking favorably of Los Angeles
Green Bay Packer fans put on T-shirts


+15 F/-10 C You plan a vacation to Acapulco
Cats and dogs insist on sleeping in the bed
Wisconsinites swim with the Polar Bear Club


+10 F/-12 C It's too cold to snow
You need jumper cables to start the car


0 F/-18 C Sheboyganites grill brats on the patio, hey!


-5 F/-21 C You can hear your breath
You plan a vacation to Hawaii


-10 F/-23 C American cars don't start
It's too cold to skate
Ice fishers close the door on their shanties


-15 F -26 C You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo
Wisconsinites lick flagpoles


-20 F/-29 C Cats sleep in your pajamas with you
People in La Crosse think about taking down their screens


-25 F/-32 C It's too cold to kiss outside
You need jumper cables to get the driver going
The Milwaukee Brewers head for Spring Training


-30 F/-34 C You plan a two-week hot bath
Pilsner freezes
Bock beer production begins
Wisconsinites shovel snow off the roof

-40 F/-40 C Californians disappear
Wisconsinites put on sweaters


-50 F/-46 C Alaskans close the bathroom window
Green Bay Packers practice indoors


-60 F/-51 C Walruses abandon the Aleutian Islands
Sign on Mount St. Helens: "Closed for the Season"
Wisconsinites put away their gloves and take out the mittens
Boy Scouts in Eau Claire start the Klondike Derby


-70 F/-57 C Hudson residents replace their diving boards with hockey nets
Green Bay snowmobilers organize a trans-lake race to Sault Ste. Marie


-80 F/-62 C Polar bears abandon Baffin Island
Fastest race ever at the Birkebeiner
Girl Scouts in Eau Claire start their Klondike Derby


-90 F/-68 C The edge of Antarctica reaches Rio de Janeiro
Minnesotans migrate to Wisconsin thinking it MUST be warmer


-100 F/-73 C Santa abandons the North Pole
Wisconsinites pull down their ear flaps


-173 F/-114 C Ethyl alcohol freezes
Only Door County cherries are usable in Brandy Old Fashioneds


-297 F/-183 C Oxygen precipitates from the atmosphere
Microbial life survives only on dairy products


-445 F/-265 C Superconductivity


-452 F/-269 C Helium liquefies


-454 F/-270 C Hell freezes over


-456 F/-271 C Illinois drivers drop below 85 mph on I-90


-460 F/-273 C All atomic motion ceases
Wisconsinites allow that it's getting a mite nippy

 

It gets down to 20 or 30 below around here most winters, sometimes for a week at a time. Almost all cars are equiped with a block heater (freeze plug) from the dealer. It's nothing more than a small heating element attached to a replacement freeze plug. They also make in-line heaters that splice into the radiater hose. A few posters were confused in that block heaters heat the coolant in the engine, NOT the oil. The oil still within the engine will be heated, but the oil in the pan will is mostly unaffected. They do make oil pan heaters, usually magnetic, and battery heaters.
My Lariat draws near 2500 watts a I spliced in a cord that runs to the cab and attached one of those little 1500W space heaters. Now when I get in its already 70 degrees and the engine is not far from warming up. My workplace has plugins so it's free!