What is the best way to disable them, is there a fuse or something I can pull , I don't think I need them and am worried I am hurting my alternator and battries. Thanks

 

Not to worry, they will not hurt anything.

But if they really bother you pull the relay. It's in the electrical box on the driver's side fender, under the hood.

The best fix I have heard of is to install an oil pressure switch and run the grid heaters relay power source through it. They will not work once the engine is running.

 

Mine has over 80,000 miles on it with the stock grid heater.
Hasn't hurt the electrical system.
Dodge & Cummins designed it to work that way.
However, it's your truck and your choice.

 

Personally I would leave the grid heater hooked up! But thaty just me... You in a area where the cold temps would make it impossible to start.

But it's your choice...

If you do unhook the grid heaters... Enjoy the large white cloud your truck will create when you start it in the morning. Also it will miss quite badly till the cylinder temp comes up. It will increase the time it takes to warm up. If you want a sample of it... Just get in and hit the key without waiting for the light.

 

I don't drive the truck in the winter, ya I know pretty gay, the load they make can't be good for the charging system. Just replaced my factory batteries with red tops with only 25 000 miles on her , one was starting to leak . Prob not the grid heaters fault but I'm sure they dont help anything.

 

Shoot, now that you have the Optimas I would definately not worry. If you were in Arizono or something I could understand.

Yes, that is pretty gay. Not too many people using that word like they used to. Sad, because I still think it's the greatest universal descriptive.
Good for you!

 

My 99 has over 105,000 miles with the stock grid heater and the original factory batteries! No problems yet!
16° & 18° the last two nights and she fires right up after sitting in the parking lot all night just like it always has. I always figured the faster it starts,,,,, the less the starter motor has to draw and I would almost bet that the starter motor draws more juice from the battery (if it has to turn more revolutions for a longer period because of no preheat) ,,,,,,,, than the grid does for the short time it takes for the WTS light to go out.

Just guessing,,,,,,

 

I've got 185K miles with the grids hooked up. I switched to Red Tops when the old ones started to leak.

You guys with the lead acid batteries be careful. If they leak they can do some serious damage to wiring and the cruise control module. And they WILL leak.

 

May as well not start the truck if you're worried about using a little juice and having to put it back. The starter draws much more current than the grid heater. And keep your headlights off too. The system is designed for this.

 

You don't have to wait to start the truck. You can just fire it up just like in the summer. Once running, the heaters cycle until you get over 25 mph or so, but the alternator is handling the bulk of the load. They each pull 90 amps.

 

where is a good place to tap oil pressure and intall switch into ground circuit of relays.I was thinking of a toggle under dash,I've seen senders leak.

 

Theres a plug right on top of the oil filter housing,I screwed an elbow in it and the sending unit into that. Cummins engines DO NOT need those heaters comming on once the engine starts,waste of battery,alternator and makes the lites dim when they cycle,someone above said it must be a good system, after all Dodge designed them that way,well Dodge designed the front suspension and steering also and look what we got, theres nothing good about it,whole front end is absolute junk.

 

I would leave them on also, as they will make more engine smoke without it, cause incomplete burn and carbonization, not to mention more engine noise until warm. Electrical system is more than capable of handling the cycling of gridheater, now if you live where it is warm all the time, then it would be ok to disable it. I wouldn't be without it here where I live, and it works MUCH better than glow plugs do on other makes of trucks. BTW I have over 225,000kms and 5.5 years on truck with still original batteries with no electrical issues at all, let them work like they were designed to. .

 

not driving it in the winter can do nothing good for those batts as they need to recharge. and 4 years is fair life for batts