Block Heater effectiveness 5.7

[Stavinksi]

Weather getting ugly, supposed to be 4F (-16 C) tonight. My truck has an engine block heater. I plugged it in this evening for the first time ever. It was around 16 degrees F outside when I plugged it in. I understand from the spec it is around 600W. How warm should I expect this to be in the morning? Doesn’t seem like 600W could do much against 4 degree weather to a lump of steel. On the other hand… why do they offer from factory if it doesn’t help?

 

[crash68]

Only 4°F ? That's not that cold for a gasser, just try to face the front of the truck twords a wall or away from the wind. You'll notice the truck get up to temp quicker.
As for the size reference, the EcoDiesel has a 400 watt block heater, the Cummins is 700 watt, both those engines are heavier blocks of CGI/iron.
In an unheated garage with the EcoD block heater on for about 3 hours in single digit temps the coolant temp will be in the mid-high 60°s once started

 

[Stavinksi]

what temp would the engine block heater be intended for on a gasser? It’s cold to me, so if it helps the engine have heat for cabin sooner I’ll call it a win.

 

[crash68]

what temp would the engine block heater be intended for on a gasser?

Difference with a gasser, they doesn't rely on the heat of compression to ignite the fuel/air mixture. The colder it gets the more of a struggle it is for a diesel to light off, with a gasser the fuel/air ratio just needs to be close. Too cold for gasoline is when the temp is closer to -100°.
The block heater will help the engine warm up faster .

 

[Wild one]

what temp would the engine block heater be intended for on a gasser? It’s cold to me, so if it helps the engine have heat for cabin sooner I’ll call it a win.

At 4F you're well with-in the range of plugging it in,it'll start alot easier,and will start giving you heat in the cabin a fair bit sooner

 

[canadiankodiak700]

I wouldn't even consider ******* in my truck at -16c.
Typically we usually start contemplating plugging in around -25 to -30c or colder. -16c is almost still t-shirt weather. Lol

It's definitely not going to hurt anything plugging in at that temperature and you will get warmer cabin air faster.

 

[Dean2]

I have always plugged in my vehicles at 0 C or 32 F. At that temp the timer is set for 2 hours prior to leaving. at -15 it goes to 3 hours, at -25 5 hours, below -35 it runs all night. The gas jobs, with 0w30 or 0W40 synthetic oil, will start just fine not plugged in, at least to -35 or so, and diesels to about -20 C but they warm up WAY faster and it is a lot easier on the motor. Cold starts account for a great deal of wear on any engine, and the colder the worse it is. Electricity is pretty cheap. Even at -40 outside parking, you will see your coolant have temp in it that is above 32F from the block heater.

I also run an in car warmer so I don't have to scrape windows. Basically I start the truck and drive away gently. Let it warm as I drive.

 

[Stavinksi]

Thanks all, we’ll see what happens here in a few hours. Tonight I will try to park with the front against the house and see if it’s more effective. Cold days ahead. Thanks to the actual cold weather folks who chimed in. Most winters we never see negative F, hope this is one of them!

 

[GTyankee]

I just did a bit of searching, it looks like Autozone has a catalog on all of Kats Heaters & cords

Engine block heaters for freeze plugs
Block heater Pads for the Oil Pan
Magnetic pads
In cabin heaters
etc.

 

[Stavinksi]

Update: it only got down to 9F so wasn’t as cold as expected. Started the truck this morning, display said coolant was 73F a few seconds after starting. If did seem to start easily and it for sure had heat quickly. May start using that any time it’s below freezing. It really needs an external plug of some sort. It is cold futzing around with extension cord and that stupid cover under the hood when it’s 9 outside, can’t imagine if it were -9!

 

[Dean2]

Put one of these on your truck and the extension cord is handy all the time. Plug the extension into thw block heater cord and tuck it up behind the front bumper, zip tie it in place.

 

[crash68]

It really needs an external plug of some sort.

See if you can reroute the plug out one of the tow hooks if you have them, possibly use a short extension cord. I have mine zip-tied to the tow hook and use a smart plug that I can program to turn on a couple hours before I have to leave whenever the temp is below 40°F.

 

[Dean2]

See if you can reroute the plug out one of the tow hooks if you have them, possibly use a short extension cord. I have mine zip-tied to the tow hook and use a smart plug that I can program to turn on a couple hours before I have to leave whenever the temp is below 40°F.

Agreed. The tow hook hole is where I ran the extension cord to get it in behind the front bumper.

 

[Stavinksi]

Thanks, this all new to me. I do have tow hooks and will look into routing the plug when the weather warms up again. Supposed to be almost 60 in few days then back down to around freezing.

 

[Choupique]

Update: it only got down to 9F so wasn’t as cold as expected. Started the truck this morning, display said coolant was 73F a few seconds after starting. If did seem to start easily and it for sure had heat quickly. May start using that any time it’s below freezing. It really needs an external plug of some sort. It is cold futzing around with extension cord and that stupid cover under the hood when it’s 9 outside, can’t imagine if it were -9!

Yea, it's always a good idea to use it when convenient to do so. It's not an instantly full operating temp engine when it's that cold outside, but it's WAY better than nothing. It keeps the battery warm, the washer fluid warm, the oil warm. All manner of other fringe benefits from it besides getting heat in the cab sooner.

I use mine on my diesel all the time, even in the summer. It'll get up to 165 in the summertime.

Cold starts are massively hard on reciprocating engines. It's not nearly as big a deal as it used to be with the great synthetic oil we have now but it's still hard on everything.

 

[WY-Dave]

We have had about 4 days of -10° to -23° and plugged in every night. Using Torque Pro app, I can get the real coolant reading and it was in the low 70s.
One time I only had 3 hrs for plug in and on a -15° night, it was 63°

 

[Stavinksi]

I just got home, plugged it in while it was still warm. We’ll see how low it gets down to by morning. I’m guessing 70 since it will be 6 tonight supposedly

 

[Dean2]

I just got home, plugged it in while it was still warm. We’ll see how low it gets down to by morning. I’m guessing 70 since it will be 6 tonight supposedly

It will be pretty much the same water temp whether it is on for 2 or 3 hours or all night. I would suggest putting a timer in it that turns on 3 hours before you leave. But if you just want to experiment and see for yourself, that is good too.

 

[Choupique]

It's good to keep it on all night for keeping the battery and washer fluid reservoir warm. Absolutely not necessary, but it does technically help some. I think the added warmth under the hood helps keep the windshield from frosting over hard as well if it's parked outside.

I like having mine sitting around all warm and toasty under the hood and watching water drip off the hood when it's 20 degrees outside

 

[WY-Dave]

I wish there a "reverse" inverter where the DEF and Diesel tank heaters could be running. For well-digger a$$ cold, I guess the keys could be left in the run position with a heavy duty charger/power supply fon the batteries. I used to have a HD 14vdc power supply when I did sound competitions/showcasing back in the day

Last year had a case of DEF freezing and/or Diesel gelling, I could not go more than 40ft and had to sit with the chugging engine for about 15 min before I could go