At what temp. should you plug in the engine block heater? We have had a few 20 deg days here on the Oregon Coast. The truck starts pretty easy, but I was just wondering at what temp. should it be plugged in?

Don

 

There's 2 ways to go here , when it starts harder .
What I do , is when the grid heater starts operating , about *40 F , I plug in at around *35 F , the reason being is that the millage is better with a warm engine .
It gets down to -*35 F hear , with cycling the grid heaters twice , the truck will start .
There are 2 large issue's with starting diesels , one is the batteries lose 80% of there capacity at *0 F , and the fuel can gel .
When it gets in the teens , I will put one of the furniture moving blankets over the engine & front grill , then close the hood .
In your climate , I would say the only reason to plug in is millage , with a slight help making less work for the starter .

 

Ok thanks for the reply. It started pretty easy this morning.

 

I set the timer according to how cold it will be. If it is in the 20's, you could plug it in for a couple of hours to help it crank easier and get heat into the cab faster. The colder it gets, the longer I will set the timer to come on for.

You can experiment with the time and temperature to see what you like the best.

 

Also here in Oregon and i have been plugging mine in for a couple of days now. Main reason is the truck warms up faster and honestly the fuel you save more than pays for the little bit of power you use.

DJ

 

Had not begun plugging mine it till a few days ago. Temps had been down to mid-20's and I had no trouble. The automatic fast idle had not even activated. Couple nights ago got down to 20 and she had to crank a little and the auto high idle kicked in. Next night I plugged it in and the temps got down to 13....started so easy and the grid heater didn't even kick in!!! Got to single digits the next night....again no grid heater....easy start...quick warm up. From here out below freezing, I'll plug it in. Probably get a timer to have it kick on a couple hours before I start.

 

where's it at on my 09 ? not sure if i even have one.i can't find my window sticker.my book says it's on the right side of the power control module.i guess thats the fuse box under the hood?if that's accurate,it's on the drivers side instead of the passenger side like the 5.9

 

It's a plug in the block. You need to buy the cord that plugs into the block heater, run that cord out to the front grill, then you can plug your truck in.

I haven't bought the cord yet. I park the truck in the garage, and when I go somewhere and park it outside, well then it's cold when I start it!

It was -6F this morning, but 40 in the garage. The fast idle comes on after the truck sits less than 2 minutes in this cold, and that's after driving for several hours. I set my idle up to about 1200 if I need to let it idle for more than a few minutes.

And you pay around a dime an hour to plug your truck in.....

 

Pretty sure it's same place it's always been. Since 04's(?) the cord is optional.... but the plug is there.

KB7KUH - A mechanical engineer, on another site, mentioned that below 40*F the fricitional wear factor on our engines increases exponentially.
I figure that's a good reason to plug in below 40*. And you can hear the difference... has to help over life of the engine.
I use a timer and set it for 3 hrs before leaving the house.

Cummins publishes no recommended temp level for plugging in.

RJ

 

Can you imagine the repercussions if they told people they had to plug their engine in when the weather gold a little chilly? Sales would plummet!

I suppose wear goes up when oil doesn't flow well. A pre-oiler would help even more, maybe the engine would last millions of miles with a pre-oiler.

 

have any of you noticed when the block heater is on it makes a humming sound? or is just mine.

 

mine does it to. and I was going to ask about it. .

My batteries are getting tired after 7 years. but it was 7.3 degrees the other morning (forgot to plug in) truck started a little slower but fired up and immediately went into 1000RPM high idle.

I plug mine in when it's in the 20's or less. I do not want my land lord at my motel to give me grief SO I just do it if its really cold.

 

good to here. i have never noticed it before or mabey i forgot. 7 years on batteries is along time. i'm on 4 hope i get three more.