patdaly

I was in the same boat, couple of things.

1.) Napa sells two levels of Stats, get the premium one, much closer to Cummins quality than the value line.

2.) Your rad. cap should be fine so long as it is still in good shape.

3.) The last I knew Napa does not have any higher temp thermostats.

jimlj

I ordered a Cummins thermostat on evilbay several years ago. It came with the gasket and arrived in a couple days. You might check there to see if any are listed. It's been working flawlessly ever since installation.

NJTman

I firmly believe that my diesel trucks are supposed to warm up slowly.

Why ?


So, I went out this AM and started my Fuso. I let it warm up for nearly a 25 minutes. When I got in the truck the needle hadn't even moved yet. I drove for about 5 minutes, and it was as usual.

The truck has done this since I bought it back in 08, and we've never seen any temperatures as cold as you guys get them up north. Maybe 0*to 6* F once in the last 10 years ??? Our usual lows are around 15*F, but very few times a year, and they don't last very long as Jack Frost keeps sucking his cold air back up north..

Keep us posted as to how your testing goes.

Ol-dodge 1992

Testing... hummmm... well, truck fired right up this morning (-24C and plugged in all night) and I let her idle for 10min then drove to work .., same as usual didn't get any warmth from heater until almost to work (about 15 min drive ... through town driving)

Plugged the block in to a small (don't know what gauge) ext. cord that was a mile long at lunch and at 6pm she wouldn't start ... my battery is on the older side, fuel filter is less than a year old and less than 5,000kms ... just the repeat I don't have grid heaters at the moment because my ECM is ka-put ... so

I put the shops HD battery charger on her for 15 min (12v30amp) and she finally chugged to life after I thought the starter was gonna spin to death!!

My unprofessional non-electrical opinion is that I wasn't pulling enough juice through the long little ext. cord and she was just really cold.

Things that are in the works (as money, Christmas, anniversary, and time allow)

1. New thermostat (Local NAPA or mail order Cummins)

2. Very possibly gonna plumb in a circulating stock tank heater on the rad hose and see if she's warmer than the block heater

3. Get a known good ECM (I have a few different leads ... just kinda need it quick ) ... OR ... wire grid heaters to a push button until the ECM comes through. I'm not electrical but can definitely follow pictures/schematic if someone could walk me through it

4. Have read and am now seriously thinking about Dual battery setup... I think Jim Lane has a thread on this ... again lots of pictures and help needed if I go that route

But first !!! Find a shorter heavier ext. cord at work and keep her plugged in until I can get some of this stuff done

Sorry for unloading the wagon. Anyone have any good ideas

SD

NJTman

Until you find your ECM,

why not put the grid heaters on a toggle switch ?

Just have to remember to turn them off after 20 to 30 seconds...

deere country

The oem block heater does something that your tank heater will not and that is heating the engine oil that is in your oil cooler directly in front of your block heater. This is an added bonus of the block heater and not something you will get with a tank heater. This is an added bonus that's usually overlooked as it also helps cold weather starts.

It doesn't matter which heater you have if your cord is to long and cannot carry the load that they demand it doesn't do you any good.

maybe368

I think that your battery is giving up the ghost. Before you spend a lot of money on things that are likely not the problem, I think that you should invest in an 1100 CCA (or better) battery. What you might try first is to take your battery inside over night to keep it warm and see if it starts up...Mark

gyman98

A circulating coolant heater pushes hot coolant through the oil cooler, heater core and engine. Your heater blows warm air immediately

patdaly

Yep, but I would use pushbuttons instead.

Really simple to do even, on the 2 small wires at the solenoid, take the one that does not have 12 volts all the time and wire it to ground thru your switch.

Doesn't get much easier than that.

Ol-dodge 1992

Little "testing " update ... -26C last night, truck plugged in all night 25' HD ext. cord ... checked battery with key off thus morning and she read 12.7v ... turned key over and just like normal, she fired almost before I could let the key go! ... let her idle for 10min ... and battery read 15.4v (I know this is high but it has been this way ever since I wires in external VR to alternator when ECM failed... 3 different VRs from NAPA...etc...) ... battery is NAPA brand and is 5 winters old and is 800CA/1050CCA. ???

I still think the circulating tank heater would be good to help truck warm up quicker IN conjunction with OEM block heater (ohms checked at 18.3 on the heater plug this morning)

So the very hard start last night at work has been solved (at least in my mind) and the search for quicker heat builds

SD

j_martin

Sounds normal to me. You have a ton (literally) of cast iron to heat up, and the engine is very efficient, burns little fuel at idle.

I have an engine brake (pacbrake). In the winter I engage it to speed up the warm up. It helps a lot by keeping the exhaust heat in a bit.

Ol-dodge 1992

Patdaly... it sounds simple and I'm sure it is BUT I need pictures and drawings and even then 2 or 3 or 10 tries when it comes to wiring stuff

Thanks to ALL for the suggestions and pointers ... I'm learning some really good stuff from here

SD

patdaly

This will get you started, just use the pre-2001 info.

Ram Diesel Manifold Heater Problems

Ol-dodge 1992

I'll check it out and let you guys know

MrFusion

That'd be 10*F here in the Mid Atlantic States. Trust me: 0*F here is the end of the world. How 'bout it NJTman