The temp dropped down to mid 20's over night and was about 30's when I started it, I had the timer set for about 3 hours before I went out. I went to start it and the WTS light went out right away, a good sign it was working, but the coolant temp gauge was still at the 140 mark(or lower really) and didn't move until about 5 minutes later of driving. Is this the normal result of plugging it in for 3 hours? I thought maybe coolant temp would be a little higher.

BTW I have the stock block heater and a 60W oil pan heater, as well as battery warmers (I know, not needed in OK, but moving to Fairbanks in a month). I have them all routed to one plug (heavy duty), the total power rating for which is 1200W, so that means it's not being restricted from heating fully correct? Thanks a lot!

 

I think my commander usually reads 107 or 110 something like that and thats pluged in all night.

 

That makes me feel better, I guess it really doesn't need to be hot, if it keeps it room temp, even that's a big difference compared to below freezing liquid. I figured the oil pan heater would boost it.

 

Mine never reads very high, either. I'm not sure what it heats it to but I'm guessing around 80-90. (Somewhere around bathtub temp.) It would take alot of un-necessary juice to keep it operating temp in the winter. You should think about a PacBrake if you're moving to Alaska. It drastically cuts warm-up times and keeps the egt's higher when idling. (Not sure, but I think that probably solves the problem of extended cold weather idling issues as well.)

 

The WTS will go out quickly when engine heater is plugged in. If i plug mine in i never notice the gauge being up when i start it. Get the high idle feature installed if your heading north, it works well and engine warms up quicker.

 

When I used to plug my truck in, even after 8 hours, it would never budge the needle. Even my Espar has to run for quite a while to move the needle. In my 12v, I have a mech. water temp gauge, it will be at 180 before the needle begins to move on the dash. Its very delayed and inaccurate. As long as it starts up and moves some warm air decently quickly, theres nothing wrong.

BTW, if you're moving to Alaska, an Espar or Webasto should be on your wishlist. Much more versatile than a block heater, and no more cords!

 

I'll have the research those, never even heard of one...

 

So the Espar takes fuel from your tank to burn continuously to keep coolant warm? And draws a little power to turn pump? How fast did it burn fuel for you? I am assuming there's no way it could drain your battery?

 

If you run it for a long time without running the truck, it will drain your battery. I hear there is a low voltage protection, so it will shut off the heater before your batteries are too drained to start. I've never had that issue yet, and I ran my heater for 6 hours and drove 300km with a dead alternator, thats including about a dozen starts as well.

Rated fuel consumption is about 0.62L/h on high. I my mileage drops no doubt, but we also get crappier fuel in the winter which drops mileage anyway.

 

And mine reads 85-95 after 90 minutes.

 

13Alpha - Do you have a cold front, too? Reason I ask is that last year during temps colder than you quote, when I, too, had the block heater running for 2 hours before startup, my truck was over 160 after 2-3 minutes of driving. My grill has four sections, I ran the winter with 2 sections blocked off, just fine.

 

If the temp falls below 15 with the block heater plugged in, I get a WTS light also.