Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Block Heater Temperatures

[ntillm01]

Just for fun, I went out to measure the temperature of the engine to see how warm the block heater actually keeps things. I used a contact probe temperature meter. The truck had been plugged in overnight and I measured things at about 3:00 PM with a high of 20 F that day. Thought some of you might be interested:



Outside temp: 18 F

Radiator inlet: 63 F

Engine hose elbow: 71 F

Head (at four places front to back): 91 F



Not too bad, I thought.

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Wow I didn't expect that much. I allways knew it was warm because I nose mine up to the trailer which is now in the driveway. When I get in in the morning th overhead temp reads a good 20 or so higher than ambient.

 

[ntillm01]

I was curious because The first time it was a "frosty windshield" day, I was impressed because my windshield was clear, meaning the heater core was getting warm too.



RE: Overhead console temps. I read up on that because I thought the same thing. What you are looking at though, is the temperature it read when you shut the truck off the night before. If the engine temp is higher than 60 F (I think), it shows the last temp it had before shut-down. It doesn't update again until you've gone over 30 MPH for 20 seconds. It has this delay to keep from showing 200 degrees on a hot-start because it's out front by the radiator. You might be even higher than 20 degrees above ambient.