Hey guys, I'm back again.

I am curious about plugging in my block heater. Sometimes I take my truck to work which is about a 15 min. drive. When it is cold say 32 or below, should I use the block heater so the truck will warm up faster? Otherwise it will never get hot in 15 min. I have heard this is hard on a diesel.

Comments?

Thanks

Frank

 

There's nothing wrong with plugging in your truck, and no harm will come of it. If you drive your truck repeatedly without letting it warm up, the condensation in the oil never gets a chance to burn off, so it's not good to never let it warm up.
My son-in-law has his truck plugged in whenever he's not driving it. He comes home from work, plugs it in, and unplugs it the next morning. Other than using more electricity, no damage is done.

 

I have only had my 97 psd for a few weeks, but I plug it in overnight when the temp is below 40. It makes a big difference in warmup time and since I only go about 7 miles one way to work it feels great to have the truck warm for most of the trip.

 

When I drove big trucks 10 years ago they were just (to my limited knowledge) installing an option that started the engine when the oil temp dropped below 50 degrees. If it's good enough for Cat it's good enough for me. I plug in 15 min or longer before I start the truck when it's below 50 degrees. I know it doesn't heat the oil but I don't need logic.

 

Here in Alaska I plug in regularly when the temp. is below freezing. I also have a magnetic oil pan heater (300 watt), that gets plugged in. My 97 PSD came with a electronic tach. mounted under the dash in the center of the cab. I use it when it's really cold to set the idol speed up to 1200 rpm. This makes all the difference in the world for warm ups. When the ambient temp. is below 0 the engine will not warm up at all while idleing at 600rpm.

 

I'm in Wyoming and I plug in every night now but I have a timer that kicks on 4 hours before I start up. Start ups are easy and the truck warms up quickly.

 

I'm with sundy58.


I got in the habit of using my block heater when my GPR was messed up. I don't live in a cold climate by any means but I did notice that the windshield can be de-iced in about 3-5 minutes after start up instead of 10-15 minutes without it. Temperature on the gauge was already getting to warm before I even started it.
I am an avid fan of warming up any engine before working it. I think that a block heater hooked up to a timer brings the best of both worlds.

 

Get your self a timer and set it up to start about 3 - 4 hrs before you will be leaving for work, just remember to unplug your truck before you leave. I've had to replace a couple of low temperature extension cords already. I wonder what it looked like dragging a 25 ft cord down the road.

 

plug it in

 

KAWIKA;

You might use a magnetic sticker like the ones you get from your insurance agent to stick to the driver's door that lets you know the heater is plugged in. Might save a few extension cords.

I thank all for the advice, looks like plugging in is a good idea, now if I can just find a plug in at work.

Frank

 

Dumb question............

How can I tell if my '99 F250 has a block heater? The owner's manual is somewhat less than useless. Can I get a block heater installed if it doesn't have one WITHOUT taking out a loan at the bank?

 

I believe your truck has one already. Start looking very closely behind the grill and you should find it zip tied to the fog light, drivers side. At least that was where mine was. I really had to look because the previous owner had never used the plug so it was the same color as everything else under the truck. I love using the block heater.

 

After looking around for a timer, I was unsuccessful. All I could find was lamp timers that were not rated to handle 15 amps. Most of these lamp timers were only rated for 600 watts at most, so I thought of another solution. I used an X-10 appliance module (3 pin) which is rated at 15 amps. Then I hooked up a X-10 clock timer in my house next to the bed. One of the nice things about the X-10 timer is that you can set it for multiple on/off times. I have it set to turn the module (heater) on for two hours and then off for three. This goes on throughout the night and keeps the engine coolant warm without having to run up the power bill. The timer also gives you the ability to turn the module on or off manually from the comfort of your nice warm bed! On a really cold night, I can override the timer and just turn it on as long as I want. Vice-versa on a not so cold night. The X-10 appliance module (make sure you get the 3 pin with ground) costs about 13 dollars, and the timer/clock goes for around $20 dollars. Both items can be bought at Radio Shack, but I purchsed mine from an on-line home automation company called Smarthome.com. A pretty clean system with many advantages over a simple lamp timer and it will handle the load.

 

Bingo! Found it and hooked it to my timer last night (set for 4am - 7am). This morning, she started right up and ran VERY quiet. Usually my PSD is loud when it's cold. I need to save the fuel cost too! Now.... where can I plug it in on the jobsite???
CedricR.

 

My previous owner must have not use it either... ground lug was somewhat corroded and cutting that tie wrap was tough... what's that thing made of anyway??

Hey, this is my 15th post... maybe email works now!?!

CedricR.