nippa

hey guys

so i just found a plug for what i think is a block heater in my front bumper. it is getting COLD and i was gonna buy a car starter, but then the one i want is gonna cost me like $700 all said and done. and i already have an alarm so it didnt make sense to me. so luckily for me my truck has a block heater.

it is POURING outside now so i dont want to play around with it, so i was hoping you guys could give me a few pointers...

when it plug it in, how do i know it is actually working??? and is it okay to have it plugged in from say, evening time, until the next morning???

i am a newb to block heaters, the only thing i know about them, is their name and MAIN function haha!!! so will it be the same as having my truck running for ten minutes? minus the fuel wasting...

thanks guys

phan10m

Also wondering the same. I know a lot of people are gunna say get an oil pan heater. But I don't want to spend the extra money, and make due with what I have.

Cheapshot

Personally myself, Its kind of hit or miss telling if its functioning without a tester, sometimes you can hear a low hum, like baseboards or something would make. I personally can't tell that way, so I bought a tester, it plugs in, inline with your block heater cord, it has two lights on it, one indicating your outlet is functioning and one indicating the block heater is working. Mine was about $15 bucks. I would expect an american (because goods are cheaper there) would pay $8. You can also use a continuity tester on a meter if you're so inclined/talented.

A block heater is basically just a coil stuck in a frost plug into a coolant gallery on the side of the block. It warms up the coolant/block in the region of the motor.



I would suspect it would work fine, just by guessing.

Where are you located? either you fine gentleman? Is it cold where you're located all the time?

Nippa I noticed you mentioned its pouring, that leads me to believe either you're getting a freak winter freezing/rain ice-storm, which is a can of worms all its own, or its not that uncommon to get rain this late in the year. If thats the case I'm suspecting your block heater isn't going to make the difference you expect. I would describe your region of the world as more mild than mine if its raining and its not a transportation disaster I mean. A rainstorm here right now would make northeastern BC a skating rink.

In my opinion the block heater just takes the edge off so it isn't an ice-cold start (which is obviously straining on an engine.) The truck does warm up a bit faster but in my opinion its not a huge huge difference maker in regards to warm up time. Like mentioned if you're looking for pre-heating I'd go for a pan heater or a circulating heater to run in conjunction with your block heater.

Also if your breaker blows on the circuit your truck is plugged in on it doesn't always mean that your block heater is pooched, it can just mean the breaker is too light for the load. 3 winters ago I used to work out of town and commuted I would plug my truck in at work, we had a pretty gnarly winter. It was -20 for two weeks, I plugged my truck in faithfully only to find out the outlet wasn't wired in....draw your own conclusions from that, either I'm retarded (which isn't necessarily false) or it doesn't make that big of a difference...

Also, why don't you try it for sport over night tonight? it hardly takes any effort, then you will no for certain. Block heaters are a bit of an opinionated subject.

Tradesman

A block heater should work well enough, believe me as I lived in the Prairie Provinces for many years and I just fine without an oil pan heater or battery heater. A block heater will make a slight humming sound, but it may be difficult to hear at first. Also, make sure it is plugged in with a quality extension cord, preferrably a 15A 12/3. One of the most important things is that it is plugged in for the correct amount of time. You don't need to plug it in right away after shutting off your engine since your car is already warm. You'd be wasting electricity. Having a timer would be ideal. An outdoor weather-proof timer that is set to warm it up anywhere from 1 hour to 6 hours before you leave should be good. This is what I've dealt with and I've experienced -50C winters and my vehicles always fired right up. Be sure that you check your battery before the cold hits. Get the most CCA battery you can fit under the hood.

nippa

i live in Surrey. last week when it was cold, prior to fixing my stupid third brake light leak, my car was full of ice on the inside of the windows, so needless to say i fixed that right away. but usually down here it'll dip down to zero or below, like last night it was minus 2 at 9pm. everything is frozen when 6am rolls around to go to work. you can expect that in nov, dec and jan down here. definitely dont get your temps thats for damn sure, one winter we did though, minus 16 in the lower mainland... so basically all i am using the heater block for is so i can defrost my windows ASAP, also my blend door or whatever is jammed, so i have no defrost. so it takes even longer for my truck to defog/frost the windows. and i dont have the patience to fix it, i will end up smashing my truck with a bat if i start to take my dash apart. so i am hoping this block heater will do the trick.

thx for the help

Tradesman

Ha ha ha! You live in Surrey and you're plugging in the truck? Man, I'd fire that b***h up every morning and just drive to work. I work all around the lower mainland but I'm in south Surrey on almost a daily basis. Hasn't been cold enough to warrant plugging it in. Not unless you live out by Prince George or something.

I can't say for sure how difficult it is to fix the blend door and such, but the dash panels on these trucks aren't that bad. I had the leaking brake light issue as well, but it was due to a poorly constructed aftermarket piece. I ended up cleaning it all off and siliconing it.

Using the block heater should definitely help, I just don't think it is worth your while when it's not that cold here.

Reny28

I live in northern Alberta, like way way north. Average temp in the winter is probably close to -20. So I use the block heater a lot, anything colder than about -10 to -15 and I'll plug it in. On my truck I can't hear if its working or not, no hum that I can hear, so you kind of just find out the next morning. I use a cord with a light in the end, so you at least know you have power till the block heater plug. Your truck won't have temperature when you start it, but it will start easier and build temperature a lot faster if you do have it plugged in. We start our vehicals at -40 here, long as its plugged in and you have decent battery it will start. Without a block heater there is no way it will start once it get down to the -30 range. So the heater helps, but it doesn't eliminate the need for a few minutes of warm up idling.

Cheapshot

I have cold started my truck many many times at -30.

He lives in surrey. If it hits -30 in surrey, hell will simultaneously freeze over. To be honest the block heater in surrey seems like a bit of a moot point, no disrespect nippa.

Where exactly in northern Alberta do you live of you don't mind me asking....

nippa

the main reason why i wanted to use it, because i have no defrost, so it takes forever for the truck to melt the ice and de fog. onces its all warm inside it works fine, i just use the face vents point them towards the windshield. and i dont have time in the morning to sit outside with the truck, i would definitely rather not let my truck run without me out there, after all, i do live in surrey, parking on the street and all.

it might not be cold right now, but last week there was frost a few days. and it definitely will get colder, if you live in the lower mainland you know that it can get cold during winter, and when its not raining, thats when we get all the frost and minus temps over night.

just wait guys, its gonna be a cold winter... dont forget we have gotten -16 down here.