Block heater

[shovelbill]

figures.....Deka makes Harley's batteries....and for the stupid bar&shield on theirs you get the privilege of paying double for it.......almost double. i work at a stealership so my discount is good though.

doubt i'll find a Sears, but $250 is still ok with me if you amortize it over 7 or so years. Sears has been doing that far as i can remember......i grew up a Craftsman kid.

there's only 3 companies in America that make all the USA made batteries too. i don't buy anything made offshore if i can get "made in the USA".........ever.

 

[shovelbill]

my apologies to the OP for derailing his thread......i'm bad like that. i'll go back in my corner

 

[michael hurd]

My electric bill is high enough without adding a block heater. Besides it would be a matter of time till I forgot to unplug it and rip the grille out.

Back in the early 70's the shop I worked at had a 63 Autocar wrecker. On real cold days the temp gauge went down after unplugging the heater and driving down the road

Not sure of your hydro rate, but if you use a 400 watt block heater for roughly 8 hours overnight, and the rate is 17 cents per kw/hr, it will use about 55 cents.

20 days out of the month, 3 months out of the year means if you did this religiously, it would cost you around 33 bucks.

That being said, the additional fuel required, engine wear and oil contamination from cold starts without a block heater will add up to more than 33 bucks for the 3 months in the example.

If a timer is used for the 400 watt block heater example, and cuts the 'on' time of the heater to 4 hours a night, it would cost $16.50 for the 3 month period, or about the same as getting 8 cups of coffee in your drive through.

 

[Bob L]

But since I have been driving since 1969 and have never had a block heater or had a problem from not having one I see no reason to further complicate my life. The oils we run and the engines in these trucks are manufactured far better than 50 years ago also. If I lived in an area with extreme below 0 temps for weeks at a time I would be getting one but we seldom see much below 10 degrees. I do start the engine and let it warm for a minute or so when it gets below freezing.

 

[michael hurd]

Bob, I totally agree that the oils are much better. Compared to what was available in the early 90's ( API service class SG ) today's SN oils are a much better product.

I also agree that the engines are much better in terms of tolerances in manufacturing, and they do have less blow-by, waste fuel going past the rings into the crankcase. Ignition systems are more powerful, and we don't have maintenance items in a distributor any more.

I do live in an area with cold temperatures and when I can plug in, I do. However I do need a vehicle that starts no matter what, plugged in or not. Older / problematic diesels are out for that simple fact.

At work, I have no plug in rail, many a time it has started at -40C without complaint. Simply rock the key and it is running instantly, starts as good or better than many co-workers newer vehicles, with no funny noises. ( like the Ford cam phasers, or accessory belt drive noises )

I do not miss the old days with a Quadrajet and HEI.

 

[GM Guy]

There are alot of bargains on the FB pages, and the new coolant heater for 3 bucks proves that.

IMO those inline heaters are kind of a cobbled mess.

I would buy the heater for 3 dollars, re-sell on ebay for 20 or 30, and put the funds towards a GM or Phillips/Temro freeze plug block heater. Just because you get a bargain does not mean you have to keep it and use it. Re-sell the bargain to get what you want.

Yes, the engine will start fine, yes, the truck will last a long time without it, yes, many folks get by great without one, but IMO if you want to run one, good for you, it will be beneficial to the engine and will give you heat quickly.

 

[tinfoil_hat]

Cobbled mess perhaps. I had a freeze plug style heater in a 6.2 diesel and it worked great. Then again, the place where I worked at the time had the tank style heater on a cummins diesel which ran a $100k genset. The Perkins backup genset on a trailer used the tank style as well, now that I think about it.

 

[Trenton Sauer]

I'm in WI where the highs are below 0 for multiple days on end during the winter. I dont even need to use a block heater. 20 degrees feels like a heat wave to me.

I also live in wisconsin and all you need is a strong battery and you are good. The only Trucks that have them are diesels. I have contemplated getting a magnetic one for my 91 305 because it has troubles when the nights get below zero.