Plug in the Diesel?

Delaware · January 10, 2004

Dumb, stupid, but questionable question....

I'll plug ours in when its below 20 for a few hours

before I start out in the morning, but what about

all those trucks on the dealers lot....

k1500chevy97 · January 10, 2004

Wrong section guy .

But anyway I seen them plugged in at the dealer lots around here earlier this week when it was sub zero .

JayMan · January 12, 2004

At the local dealer, if somebody wants to test drive a Duramax, and the temp is warmer than 10 F, they'll start it and let it warm up for 10-15 minutes.

All the Duramax trucks are parked next to the showroom building or the GM sign, so they can be plugged in. The dealer STRONGLY encourages booking a test-drive appointment in winter, so they can plug the thing in for 2-4 hours.

The Duramax starts almost instantly when plugged in, so it's MUCH easier on the motor and especially the starter when plugged in. The block heater is 1,000 watts, so if your power costs 10 cents a kWh, it'll cost 20 cents to plug in for 2 hours.

I know some real penny-pinching beauts out there, but 20 cents to plug in is one HELL of a lot cheaper than a new starter! You know: "Penny Wise and Dollar Foolish."

All my commercial diesel equipment is plugged in at temps 30 F or colder. At 10-30 F, 15 minute plug-in is all you need. From -10 to 10 F, 1-2 hours depending on wind. From -20 to -10 F, 3-4 hours. A HD weatherproof electrical timer is good for this application (About $30 at any big hardware bigbox store). Any temp colder than -20 F, they're plugged in 24x7.

Hope this helps. When in doubt, plug her in.

tmf6902 · January 12, 2004

What about gas engines, I have a block heater on mine, because it came with it, not only do I live in FL, and not need it, but do gas engines benifit from a plug in at cold temps???

JayMan · January 13, 2004

What about gas engines, I have a block heater on mine, because it came with it, not only do I live in FL, and not need it, but do gas engines benifit from a plug in at cold temps???

Well, unless we enter another Ice Age, I doubt you'd need to worry about block heaters in Florida. I'm curious why a Florida registered vehicle would even HAVE a block heater.

Venture to Up North (Dakota's, Minnesota, Wisconsin, UP of Michigan, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, NorthWest Ontario, etc) and you'll see cars and trucks with extension cord wrapped on their grilles.

Gas engines also benefit from block heaters, especially in temps below 0 F. They may still start at -40 F, though I wouldn't count on it, but they would then take forever to warm up.

That sort of extreme cold start is hard on the battery and starter, the extended warm up dumps a lot of condensation into the crank, and generally the motor takes a beating.

The diesel is compression ignition and have a much tougher problem, especially direct injection without glow plugs. You can always inject ether but that is very hard on the motor.

I figure on my gasoline motor, in the unheated garage, I plug it in for an hour if the temps are colder than 10 F. Oh boy, with that 600w block heater, it costs me all of 6 cents. The fuel savings in a quick warm up are MORE than worth it, dontcha think?

With my commercial diesel equipment, I don't even think about it. When in doubt, plug it in. You can also get special block heaters that plumb into the heater hose: they heat up the coolant and automatically circulate it, so the heater core and block are very warm.

So with my commercial equipment, you poke the starter button, the thing instantly starts, and by the time the driver runs back inside the shop for a quick coffee, the thing is warmed up and ready to go.

tmf6902 · January 13, 2004

[Well, unless we enter another Ice Age, I doubt you'd need to worry about block heaters in Florida. I'm curious why a Florida registered vehicle would even HAVE a block heater.

Well, I bought the truck in VA, and when I ordered it I basically got it with everything, and the way I look at it, when you are spending that much money on a truck, what's another 100 bucks??? And at that time I didn't know I would be moving to FL.

LOL I might plug it in tonight, don't want that engine gettin any lower that 70 LOL

Red2500HD · January 13, 2004

It sure doesn't hurt to plug in a gas engine, but it is probably a waste of money unless you are worried your vehicle won't start at all. I have one in my '03 and have had them in all my vehicles for 30+ yrs...just in case. In the days with carbs, it was a necessity up here, but the "newer" vehicles with EFI, I don't feel it is necessary. If you follow the mfg's recomendation and let your vehicle idle for a few minutes on those cold mornings, that is all that is necessary.

BlackSilver · January 13, 2004

True story.....

Back in 1960 I was in the Navy, stationed down south in Norfolk, Virginia. Early January I was going home to Minnesota on leave, so took my 1948 Chev Custom Deluxe to a local filling station to have the anti-freeze level checked. Fellow said it was good to 10-below, so I told him to beef it up a bit because it could get down to -35 back home. He looked at me like I was crazy, but went ahead and drained it down a ways and added a few quarts of Prestone (or maybe it was Zerex or Zerone).

Then he noticed the 3-prong plug hanging over the corner of the radiator and asked what that was for. When I explained it, he refused to believe it and acused me of being a Yankee just pulling his leg.

JayMan · January 13, 2004

It sure doesn't hurt to plug in a gas engine, but it is probably a waste of money unless you are worried your vehicle won't start at all. I have one in my '03 and have had them in all my vehicles for 30+ yrs...just in case. In the days with carbs, it was a necessity up here, but the "newer" vehicles with EFI, I don't feel it is necessary. If you follow the mfg's recomendation and let your vehicle idle for a few minutes on those cold mornings, that is all that is necessary.

They sure do start better.

Remember the "good 'ole days" of having somebody bravely use a long screwdriver to hold the automatic choke plate open while you tried cranking to clear the flooded motor?

WHOOOOOMPHH!

That jet of flame out the top of the carb was almost worth it, hmm?

When I park in my unheated but insulated garage, any outside temp colder than 10 F and I plug in for an hour.

Parked outside, any temp colder than 20 F and I plug in for an hour. Adjust the times accordingly based on temp and windchill.

I figure the fuel savings are impossible to ignore, and I keep careful track of these sort of things. For 13.2 cents worth of electricity (Two hour plug in time with a 600w block heater, electricity 11 cents a kWh), I save almost $1.57 (One gallon) worth of gas due to the motor being partially warm and the much quicker warmup.

So I wouldn't call that a "waste of money." Unless electricity goes up to 60 cents a kWh, but gasoline stays at $1.57, it's always saves money to plug in.

FWIW: HD backup diesel generators have 1000-2000 w 240v thermostatically controlled circulation block heaters that maintain the block at 160 F. This is due to the fact the backup generator will start and immediately transfer to full load. A motor wouldn't last very long if given full load while ice cold.

JayMan · January 13, 2004

True story.....

Back in 1960 I was in the Navy, stationed down south in Norfolk, Virginia. Early January I was going home to Minnesota on leave, so took my 1948 Chev Custom Deluxe to a local filling station to have the anti-freeze level checked. Fellow said it was good to 10-below, so I told him to beef it up a bit because it could get down to -35 back home. He looked at me like I was crazy, but went ahead and drained it down a ways and added a few quarts of Prestone (or maybe it was Zerex or Zerone).

Then he noticed the 3-prong plug hanging over the corner of the radiator and asked what that was for. When I explained it, he refused to believe it and acused me of being a Yankee just pulling his leg.

HAHAHA!

Another true story:

I went for a drive to Disney World about 5 years ago, and decided to take the "long way" and drive through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and finally down to Orlando.

By the time I got to Alabama, I was SO sick and tired of folks asking about the electric cord on my grille that I snapped "It's an electric car!"

Scary thing is, I think they believed me.

bigdogs · January 13, 2004

JayMan,

You want to see a nice flame out the top, a buddy of mine had a 502 rat motor in his boat with a 6-71 blower topped off by DUAL 1150 dominators. One time that thing belched and d**n near lit the garage on fire.

JayMan · January 14, 2004

JayMan,

You want to see a nice flame out the top, a buddy of mine had a 502 rat motor in his boat with a 6-71 blower topped off by DUAL 1150 dominators. One time that thing belched and d**n near lit the garage on fire.

HAHAHA!

Geez, next time take a picture - those moments are priceless!

tfpary · January 26, 2004

I am a lazy slob, and I live in west central minnesota, which means on more than one occasion I have had a frozen radiator. In my old 82 C10 2wd with a 305 the last time it was about 25 below (and thats degrees F not C!) my Cougar had a flat (never trust a ford product!) so I took the truck to work. Boy, the temp gauge showed that she warmed up fast, but there was no heat out of the heater. I pretty well knew it was froze. But I was halfway, so I continued on. By the time I got to work (15 mile drive) she was warm! Exhaust manifolds were glowing a nice Halloween orange, and it was rattling like the dickens. Didn't want to shut off either. Lots of steam. I was about to be late, so I just ran inside, it was still banging and rattling away. It has about 235,000 on it, and is rusted to crap anyway, so no big deal. Went out after work and hit the key, she was stuck tight. No crank. Got a ride home. Let it sit for the weekend, Monday after work went out to grab my stuff out of it and have it towed to the grave yard. Just for the heck of it hit the key. It fired right up. Checked the radiator - no coolant. Filled it up with 50/50, and have been driving it since, but she does burn a tad bit of oil now!

tad

JayMan · January 26, 2004

Boy, if that had been a Ford there would have been a Chain Reaction that would have left a crater where the truck used to be.

My 1984 Ford F-150 was picky from new, and sure hasn't gotten better with age.

Red2500HD · January 27, 2004

As long as we are comparing "true" stories, let me relate x-mas day in 1968 in north central Mn. We woke up to find the temp was -50F w/o any wind. I went out to start my '64 Chevy only to find it would not even turn over. The 20 weight oil was too stiff. My father in law, who wisely kept his truck plugged in, was going to give me a push start. (yup. you could do that in those days). With the tranny in neutral, we got it up to 40 MPH and I slammed it into low gear as I had many times before with other cars. The d**n engine was so stiff, it still would not turn over and I quickly came to a screaching halt with my father in law piling into the back of me at 40 MPH. We wisely decided to just wait it out for warmer weather. We sat there for about a week waiting for the temp to rise enough to start the car and put in some lighter weight oil.