Block heater

[corelokt]

Another option is an oil heater. Dipstick, magnet or epoxied mat onto the oil pan. It is very important to have the oil fluid when it starts.
I have a lower hose heater, magnet heater on the oil pan and a battery mat heater all on my diesel tractor.

When I get my M1009,. likely another month... I plan to go with a magnetic heater on the oil pan, as I have one, and a freeze plug heater. These are about the easiest.
As for powering them off a battery, I've been thinking the same, looking into a power inverter and remote 12volt switch with a heavy duty solenoid and some sort of LED indicator light to run off of a separate deep cycle battery. I'll make the starter 12volt and charge two batteries off one alternator and use the other alternator for the deep cycle side.
I also plan to go with manual glow plugs.
Ah, winter, 40 below.

 

[hobie237]

Would it be possible to run one of these heaters through a dedicated battery? No driveway = no extension cord access.

I suppose you could, but with only a 12v battery, you'd need 10 times the amperage to achieve the same wattage and thus heater output as a 120v unit- so it'd drain the battery that it was hooked to pretty darn quick. Couple that with the fact that the times that the block heater is really useful generally coincide with the times that a battery isn't doing so hot, either (read- it's really flippin' cold out) and therefore it's not a great idea.

Alternative option would be to run one of the fuel fired heaters, either a military Arctic kit or a civilian model- I'm looking for something to rig up myself, but no rush, because the winters aren't all that hard here and even on the coldest mornings, a couple cycles of the glow plugs will fire the truck right up.

 

[Wolf.Dose]

The oil question: With the recommanded oil viscosity range the starter with propper batteries is always able to crank the engine at at least 200 rpm, which is the minimum required starting rpm. The other questions are: Fuel will be pumpable, means not be clogged ? The injection nozzles are still good enough for a propper spraying picture (worn out "pissing" nozzles will not make the engine fire)? Glow plugs are ok? If this all is ok, starting down to -20° Celsius (which is below 0 Fahrenheit) should work to my experience from winter vehicle meetings, where the truck was not moved for three days with nights as cold as below -20 ° Celsius and daytime temperatures not above -12° Celsius. Below these temperatures the batteries lost to much power to crank the engine. Over and out.
Wolf

 

[86M10086.2L]

I guess it all depends on you expierences. My truck stays in the bitter cold the for 3-6 days at a time on my snowmobiling trips. Usually averaging about 20 below at night. I have no block heater, no oil heater, no battery warmers, and the cheapest undersized batteries that the previous owner could find in my truck and I've never had a problem. I've never cycled the glow plugs more than once. It always starts pretty quick. That being said on those really cold trips I start the truck and let it run a few minutes every morning and every evening. At some point I'll be installing a block heater just to have it. Mostly to keep my friends quiet. But for certain if I lived in Upstate New York or the northern New England area for any length of time I'd have the whole shebang in the truck.

 

[carctruck]

Hi there, I was looking at installing the same heater, however I was a little lost as to where the engine block drain was to plumb one of the lines, any tips?

 

[BIG_RED]

Usually the engine block drain on these things is a pain to get out. It's on the Drivers side, under the exhaust manifold towards the front of the engine. I just pull off a rad hose, it's wayy faster. Freeze plug block heaters are BY FAR the best for heating vs power usage. I have two of them. It gets to -40* here - trust me, these work. I had a lower rad hose heater, they are very easy to install but don't work as well. They do work though, so long as it doesn't get crazy cold where you live. The in-line circulating heater ones suck tons of power.. like 1500 watts to heat half as good as a 600 watt freeze plug heater. And they have pumps. Pumps = moving parts = stuff that breaks. Everyone uses frost plug block heaters up here. I'm pretty sure the 6.2 needs a 1 5/8" freeze plug heater. I'm 99% sure this is the same as a chevy small block, and should be super easy to find. Mine cost $30 each and have long cords included. The frost plugs are not terribly hard to take out. I've done 2 of them, on my driveway. If you need help - let me know, I don't mind answering questions. Good luck!

P.S. here is an old thread on this topic: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/cucv/44083-two-freeze-plug-block-heaters.html

 

[BIG_RED]

Oil heaters don't heat the block very well. The block is what needs to be warm to start a diesel. (block + heads, good heat conductivity between the block and heads, heating block heats heads too). Heating oil helps prevent slow lubing at the start, but doesn't help much with starting. I had 550 watt oil heater before my block heaters. Did practically nothing. (keep in mind, it is UNUSUALLY COLD where I live. I imagine that methods other than a freeze plug heater would work fine in other climates, but they do not work well here. Just my $0.02. Not saying other's input is wrong, just saying that if you want it to work in the worst case apocalyptic zombie attack nuclear winter - freeze plugs are what you want. I've tried it all, freeze plugs work best. Put in several if you're really nuts. like me.)