do you really need a fuel heater?
 

I broke mine while trying to fix a leaking oring. A new one is around a hundred bucks. Is it OK to just plug up the hole in the fuel filter head and run without one?
I live in KY so it really doesn't get that cold here.

Thanks in advance.
You guys have helped me out a bunch of times.

92 f250 7.3

You should be fine without it. How you plan on plugging the hole?

i just bypassed mine as a temporary fix and used an inline filter,that was a couple years ago.lolif your plugging it i would use a nut and bolt with washers and viton washers between those to get an airtight seal

Well, im considering drilling out some threads and putting a plug in there. Might throw some thread sealant on there. If that doesn't work, I guess I could get the welder at work to weld it shut. Think that'll work?

Before I do all that, I wonder, do they make the fuel filter without the heater hole? I know on Mack trucks you have that option. Just thinking out loud.........

I tried doing the same thing a couple of weeks ago, and broke the filter head. I wasn't that big of a deal, I found one at the junk yard for $25. After I put the new one on, I got to thinking that maybe a boat plug in that hole might've worked. You know the plugs that you put in the hole on the back of small boats, and you flip the lever to the side and it tightens down. Put it in there from the inside out, so the pressure in the filter keeps it in. Back to the original question, I've run my truck at -35 this winter and never had a problem without that heater plugged in. We had -25 three days in a row once this winter, and when my truck was idling I could hear it surge, like the fuel was starting a gel up. But it warmed up that day and I never had a problem.Being from Kentucky, you should be alright.

I live in grant county kentucky and have never had a fuel heater on mine. I have never had a problem with gelling even on our coldest morning. The winter blend fuel seems to do just fine.

the heater on my 88 shorted out many many years ago, and i disconnected it. never had problems with fuel gelling.

I have never seen the point of them, unless it was an emission deal. if it gells up overnight or while it is parked, there is no way it will heat the fuel in the ip or lines and injectors, so it will start. If it is bad enough to gell while you are running it will likely gell before it gets to it unless it is barley ban enough to gel.

The filter heater "may" keep the engine from stalling if the outside temps are below CFPP (cold filter plug point) but above PP (pour point).

So that gave you a window of about 3 to 5 degrees at best.

That was with the old high sulphur fuel though.

If you do a little reading on the new ULSD, which has a new thing called WDO (wax drop out) I think the fuel heater is almost worthless.

Best defense against gelling, if you have fuel blended for a warmer climate than you are going to, add antigell to the fuel BEFORE it gells.

If the local temps are going below the average low temps, add antigell to the fuel tank BEFORE it gells.

Modern fuel is blended for the average low temps for each market.
As long as the temperatures are at or above the average local low temps, you should have no problems with fuel gelling.

For regular non blended number 2, 40 degrees is safe.
Once you go below that, either blended fuel or antigell addatives should be used.

Right now we are about 20 degrees below our normal average day and night temps.
Wanna guess what goes in the tank every time I fuel?