Two Freeze Plug Block Heaters?

[BIG_RED]

Hey guys,
I've looked all over the site (so I think.. I'm computer stupid) and I couldn't find anything too specific about multiple block heaters.

Here's the deal:

I have an '86 M1009 with a stock 6.2. I put in a 600 watt freeze plug heater last year, it works great until it gets stupid cold.. like - 40 or LOWER (welcome to Canada )

I have access to a shop and cheap block heaters and free coolant for the next few weeks.. I've heard of people putting in multiple freeze plug heaters.. and I think I have 6 freeze plugs on the 6.2.

SO: My question is, Can I put a block heater in ANY freeze plug hole on a 6.2?

My mechanic friend told me that there might be oil passages or supports for the fuel pump on some engines right where the block heater would go. He knows nothing of 6.2's. My current heater is in the drivers side, either middle or rearmost plug hole. Can I put one in the passenger side front hole? Where can i put them?

My Reasoning: It's about to be 40 below. I NEED a block heater. If I have 2 and one fries, I can still drive to work. And I think at these temps my engine needs more heat than the 600 watter can give it anyways. Whats the worst that can happen? my truck starts too easy and the heat is warm? Lol.

Thanks

 

[acesneights1]

I have heard of it being done on 6.5TD and they are basically the same block . I would think it would work, just not sure which hole you need. I am in this boat actually this weekend as I am going to install 1 in my CUCV and I was under the impression you could put it in which ever hole was easiest but the part specifially calls out front L/S at either 6 or 12 o clock. Not sure if that is just optimal location for heat transfer or it would physically hit something in another hole. I'm trying to find out form some 6.5 buddys. I'm going to put mine where the factory does but I am certain guys have run duals in these. They supposedly make a 1000w one but I could only find 600w ones.

 

[BIG_RED]

I couldn't find any 1000w ones either.. but with 2 heaters on opposite corners of the engine totaling 1200w - I bet I'd be better off than if I had one 1000w. When you say L/S, do you mean the drivers side? (Sorry, just wanna make sure) I thought the instructions I got with my block heater said to put it in the drivers side nearest the firewall.. but I might've misread. (Or the instructions were just plain wrong.. wouldn't be the first time.) Oh well, it works so far . Thanks for the input, let me know how it goes this weekend. Good luck.

 

[jwaller]

I put 2 in my hmmwv. use the rear most port above the starter and above the oil filter. I had been using 1 and it was nice but now with 2 it's simply hot from the start.

the engine is heated more evenly and you don't get the horrendous sounds a 6.2 makes when it's cold.

 

[1stDeuce]

I'm doing just that with my deuce, as I found two Jeep 600w heaters, and I believe that it's going to take more heat than one can provide!! My 6.5L had the heater in the middle (or middle forward?) hole on the driver's side. No reason you couldn't add one to the pass side too.
So long as you don't have the heating element touching any metal, you can put it in any of the holes. I believe most of them are between jackets, so there should be plenty of room. You just want them opposite to even out the heat, I would think... front left, rear right or middle middle...
C


Afterthought: You might also want to do an oil pan heater at the same time... I have a magnetic one I use on the deuce. at -40, your oil is thicker than peanut butter. Won't take too many cold starts to break pump drives or toast bearings. Could do the tranny too... even ATF is likely plenty thick. Might run one block heater and the oil pan most of the time, and only power up the second and the trans pan when it drops below -20 or so...

Good luck!

 

[JohnFire]

I would contact the folks at zerostart. I had gotten my 1000W block heater from them. and if not they may be able to answer why they recommend certain placement and the best way to run 2 heaters if you really wanted to go that route.

Engine Block Heaters

 

[BIG_RED]

Wow guys, thanks a ton for all the help. Jwaller - your situation is basically what I'm hoping for . 1stDeuce - I agree that even heat would be best. Since I've already put one heater in the rearmost drivers side, I think frontmost passenger side would be best for even heating (so long as I don't have trouble with the fuel pump.. I don't remember how much room I have right there). Also, I like the idea of pan heaters for engine oil and tranny.. I have a 200w magnetic stick-on heater I could probably epoxy to the oil pan (so i don't knock it off on bumps). And Johnfire, thanks for the Zerostart refferal. I'll get in touch with them soon.

 

[acesneights1]

I went by what it said on the NAPA site. I'm picking it up tommorow. One is enough here. Most we ever see is maybe -10/ windchill and that's rare.

 

[joeypushjr1]

ok check this out . say a 600W heater has a shut off temp of 80deg. hypothicly and you install 2 of the same 600W heaters . there not going to shut of at 160deg. its still going to shut off at 80deg. but the othere thing good about 2 heaters is that itll help put the coolent temp up to and keep it at 80deg faster and more regular. now if your wanting more heat due to lower area temp in your regin id just up grade to a bigger block heater. did all that make any sence to you i hope it helped..

 

[BIG_RED]

Made lots of sense to me, Joey. See, when it's cold here.. the thermostat on my 600 watt heater never shuts off (if it has a thermostat.. it might just be "always on". I don't know myself.) I can see that it's sucking lots of power if I check it with a meter. So, hopefully if there are 2 of these heaters and they do shut off when hot, they'll actually get to shut off temperature. Also, say you're right and the heater kicks out when it's surface temp reaches 80 degrees. The coolant touching it will be warm, but even with convection currents moving the coolant around, it probably won't heat the opposite corner of the engine on the other cylinder bank very well. So exactly like you said, having 2 heaters on opposite sides of the engine would probably heat it more evenly. Also, when I first plug it in, I bet (if the heater has a thermostat) that the heater will heat the coolant around it quickly, then shut off as it waits for the heat to dissipate through the coolant before it turns back on. If there is a heater on either end, it should heat twice as fast (well, faster ). I also have access to a shop for the next little while and would like the redundancy of having 2 heaters.. So that if one died while I was on a road trip, I wouldn't be stranded after shutting the truck off for the night. It's just all hinged on whether or not I can put a heater in the hole nearest the fuel pump. I'd love to check.. but I'd hate to pop out a plug, find out the heater doesn't fit there, then have my truck useless till I can get my hands on a new frost plug, that didn't even need replacing in the first place. I'm hoping somebody here knows for sure if I can put a heater in the front passenger side corner or not. I hear the middle plug gets in the way of the starter bracket, and the back plug is right near my existing heater in the other bank. Guess I'll put one there worst case scenario. Thanks Joey.

 

[FireFighterHill]

Id go for one that has has a pump and circulates the coolant. That way you have a nice even heat. That along with a oil pan heater and you should be golden.

 

[JohnFire]

I had terrible luck with the circulating heaters. Personally I would stay away from them, the in block heaters are the way to go. Circulating heaters can only be turned on when the engine is already hot because the thermostat needs to be open. This is per the instructions for them. You also lose a huge amount of heat in the radiator hoses since they are exposed to the cold. My original heater was a 1500W circulating heater, that died and I replaced it with a 2000W circulating heater. That one never died but when I replaced it with the 1000W in block heater, it was like night and day. The truck never started so good in the winter, and my electric bill went down too.

Just my opinion.

 

[rhyne6262]

does anybody know a napa number for a deuce block heater?

Adam

 

[4bogginchevys]

just a couple of things to add here...

.my buddy has 2 diesel pickups and he has said that it raised his bill almost a hundred dollars on a really cold month with both plugged in.....

I think I read a post on this site somewhere that said you cant use the front most freeze plugs on either side for a heater because the motor mount is in the way, I cant say for sure because I never checked, just hopin' I would save someone some time and effort

 

[JohnFire]

That is about what mine raised the bill with the 2000watt heater if not a little more than that.

 

[GoHot229]

I was thinking in terms of a block heater and one in the lower radiator hose, the reason being, the circulation factor. I understand the cold verses hot fluid causes a circulation, however the next post states that a circulating system is no good due to the temp required for the thermostat to be open, A hot motor, fine, but from a cold motor the thermostat would be inoperative ....!...?

Id go for one that has has a pump and circulates the coolant. That way you have a nice even heat. That along with a oil pan heater and you should be golden.

I lived in Utah where it could get as low as 19 below for several days at a time. The usual thing to do in those circumstances was to have a space heater and a couple pieces of plywood to dam the air on the sides and point it back twards the rear of the vehicle, setting it in front of the vehicle at the front bumper, or depending, a couple fiew feet back to prevent melting stuff. But I used a small enough space heater that it seldom needed to be that far back. From dead cold, it sometimes took about 30 minuates to warm enough to have effect, and bring the battery and oil within starting range. There were nights when we kept a tractor running all night, a deisel, so as to go from vehicle to vehicle starting everyone in our little comunity that had a stick shift car or truck, sometimes even another tractor. I now have the canvas front for the radiator/grill but have my eyes open for the hood and side pannel blankets.
I'll have to say that the radiator hose heater worked fairly well there, and seemed to circulate...? but it was on all night and mabe by convection opened the thermostat, I don't know? but I'd imagine that was the case.

 

[FireFighterHill]

The thermostat didnt cross my mind. But Im pretty sure the pump connects between the heater core and the engine that way its heating the motor, not all the water in the radiator. In that case the thermostat being closed would be a good thing less water to heat. Im not expert just throwing some idea's out there. The best thing ive seen for heating up a engine quick is one of these Mr. Heater - America's Most Popular Portable Heaters

 

[BIG_RED]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm not too concerned about the cost of the electricity, power is cheap up here. I had a lower rad hose inline heater in this truck.. It didn't do nearly as good a job as the frost plug heater I have now (same wattage), but it was some foreign brand name. Maybe the good ones work better. Didn't think about the engine mounts.. I'll have to go look at that. Thanks for that. Anybody know if there is anything in the block behind any of the frost plugs that could interfere with installing a heater? The one I put in the rearmost drivers side hole had tons of room.

PS: Mr.Heater = Awesome

 

[BIG_RED]

I know this thread is long dead, but I wanted to give anyone interested an update. I still have my original 600 watt heater in the drivers side rearmost hole. Now I also have a 600 watt heater in the passenger side middle hole. I had to remove the starter support bracket to put it in, but the bracket only covers half of the hole, so the wires get past it fine so long as you put the heater in the right direction. IT WORKS AWESOME!! I highly recommend this set up to anyone in cold climates. Having two block heaters is more reliable in my mind, because odds are they won't burn out at the same time. I also have two levels of heat I can choose to use, 1200 Watt for when it gets super cold, and 600 Watt when it's not too cold to save on energy costs. When my glow plugs went last month, I was able to start my truck without glow plugs after running both block heaters for an hour. That alone makes the heaters worth it. Thanks for all the help guys, good luck with your own projects.

 

[Brad M]

Thanks to this and other threads like it. I used this for reference when putting in my zerostart 600W today and other than fishing the plug out of the block it was an interesting job and then next cold morning will not be so bad. Thanks again.