hi guys "happy new year", sorry to beat this one to death, but iam stressing over the lack of been able to warm this truck up properly. I have tried all the tricks on this forum,ie plugging in
high idle warm up, and winter fronts etc. my issue is not for cab heat, what it puts out is just fine for me, but the weather up here is very cold now, -28 degrees celsius, my truck is in a heated garage, but my distance to work which accounts for 80 % of my driving, is about 9 miles. and as everyone knows, these engines just dont get to normal temps in that driving distance. the top of my temp gauge "straight up" is 95 degrees celsius, bottom end is 60, with that first line starting about a third of the way up from the 60 mark. iam lucky, no matter how long i warm this thing up or plug it in, to get to the first line by the time i get to work. so the million dollar qustion is, what is the long term damage or effect going to be on this engine,
i take it very easy and dont drive hard at all while it is warming up.....i have asked a similar question before but did not get a clear answer. if alot of your driving is of this type,what exactly does it do to the motor if it is shut down alot of the time when lets say the temps is only at that first line on the gauge? do i need to be losing sleep over this?

 

Why worry? There is not much you can do about it. I'm in the same boat (truck), weather wise; It was -29C here last night. Last year I parked outside and plugged in and my 15 minute drive to work saw a bit of heat as I ulled into the office parking lot. My issue is with cab heat. in this weather, it takes too long to get good heat into the cab. The engine temp almost always makes it to the first line (low end of "normal" which is what you need to be concerned about. You can check the owner's manual on this point.

You do have one option, but it is expensive. You could install an Espar diesel fired engine heater to keet the coolant warm all night, but when I last checked, the system was almost $2,000CAD installed and the dealer wasn't sure it would fit under the hood of a 3rd gen.

When I replace my truck at the end of 2006, I'll be checking all of the truck manufacturer's to see if anyone else has a better warm up/heater system. I find this to be a pain in the ...

 

Make sure you use good oil, otherwise I wouldn't worry to much about it either. My drive is only 9 miles too, but its warmer down here.

If you're concerned about fuel washdown in a cold engine, you could shorten your engine oil drain intervals a bit for peace of mind.

 

With it being this cold here now, I just press the button on my key fob and let the truck warm herself (or at least get the juices flowing) for about ten minutes before hopping in to get to the office. -25 this morning and she goes into high idle right away. My ride to work is about 15 minutes if all the lights (6) are red.

I could park the truck in the garage, but the wife thinks that she deserves the warm van in the morning

 

Add a magnetic pan heater to the oil pan .You can get them a tAcklands for $54.00 or so. A bit of a pain to attach it ever nite and remove in the morning but that will heat your oil.They are thermostatically controlled so it won't over heat, if your really into warming up that is. I have 2 if I really have to go out in this weather I use one on the oil pan and one on the trans along with 2 battery balnkets and the coolant plug heater. It's -29 here in Red Deer too! or an inline heater..I was going to get one installed at the dealership and they siad it might void the warranty unless I installed the recommended one which just happened to be about $2000.00....it must be the one Gord mentioned. . Here's a link to Espar Heaters that Gord mentioned http://www.espar.com/htm/applies/pickup.htm
http://www.espar.com/htm/Directory/T...da/alberta.htm I just called Polar and it's $2250.00 installed

 

I would strongly recommend the use of a Espar heater. Installed one on mine before last winter and works great. Run it about an hour before use and it's nearly at normal operating temp when I start. Oil pressure right away, and heat from the vents. Works great, and it'll stay running while driving to help keep it warm when it's -30C out.

Stay warm.

 

Gord...hi there..Where did you get your heater installed and how much never mind I sourced it out on the net..and posted it in my earlier post...Thx

 

palmtree,

I installed it myself. It doesn't fit so well under the hood, so I made a bracket to mount to existing frame holes just below driver door. My tank already had an existing aux fuel dip tube so fuel hook up was easy. Other than that it was a little wiring and enjoy the warmth. Heater will run until about 1/8 tank left. or until the timer shuts it off. If you have any questions about it let me know.

Gord.

 

It's nice to see a bunch of Alberta boys out there freezing their but off also. If I leave the heater cranked on my new 6.0L gasser company Chev. It won't hit full temp just idling. It will only get to half the full temp. -30C with a wind chill of -40C, What happened to Global Warming

 

Thx Gord.., will do! Just have to pay off the Xmas bills so I can start spending again first. Us "freezing Alberta boys" should form are own chapter!

 

I hear ya on leaving them running, my work truck (F350 6.0 PSD) hasn't been shut off in 2 weeks. Getting called out in the middle of the night is bad enough, never mind a frozen rig! After some seat time in the Ford, I'm 100% sure I made the right choice, I like the Cummins alot more!

 

Wadem
I am from Mandan N.D. I also have a winter front and when its -20F I keep one flap open of the four and I have 11 miles to work 5 are highway miles so when im in town I drive in 2nd to keep the rpms around 1600 to 1800 and it seems to work good,it keeps the guage at around 190.

 

howdy triplenickel.., question...any relation to 555Boilermakers in your past? are you rig welding out of Edmonton? I bought my truck to rig up down here...just curious...!

 

No sir, no welding for me. I'm a field operator in a gas field in northern B.C.

 

I think we need to design a bypass for the intercooler. This would warm up the engine a lot quicker and easier. You just do not need that thing in cold temps. Some tubing, 2 Tees and a butterfly valve with snap on clamps that could be changed back to factory spec in 2 minutes would be okay.