Engine NOT heating up

[Dean Upson]

Originally posted by Prairie Dog

You guys that complain about slow warm up must never have owned a first gen. This one warms up in 1/4 the time of my 93!

Or an 86 Ford 6. 9l .



Dean

 

[chessie-system]

Brrrrrrrrrr,

One thing that helps the engine and your interior heat is to set the heater control on recirculate. This warms the cabin and allows the engine not to loose all its heat by running sub zero air over the heater coils. I discovered this last year when the temp was around 10 degrees. If I had it on fresh air I could watch the temp gauge take a nose dive at a long stop light. With the control set to recirculate it made it to 190 and stayed there.

Jeff

 

[rbattelle]

If it's really just plain NOT warming up, I would lay money that the thermostat is stuck open. I've had it happen with gassers, and they just won't warm up.



On a related topic, this morning it was about 16*F out, and there was a line on the highway to get into work. Well, I idled in that line for about 4 1/2 mintues. At the start, my ECT was 187. By the end, it was 161. I should note I had the heater on with the fan at level 3.



Amazing that people sometimes manage to overheat these trucks. Seems to me the only way to overheat one would be to drain all the coolant, or keep the thermostat stuck shut.

 

[Parshal]

With mine plugged in for three hours and a winter front covering the entire radiator my thermostat will open just as I pull off the Interstate near my office. That's 8. 5 miles. If I don't plug in or use the front it will never open.



FWIW, I keep my truck in an unheated garage. The temperature does get below freezing, enough to freeze the dog's water dish completely. I almost never wait for the grid heaters to cycle and the truck starts right up with no hesitation, even when it was -11 the other day. If the truck sits outside for hours when it's that cold I let the grid heaters cycle, though.

 

[Gypsyman]

O. K. guys, wake up. This is a real diesel and if you want it to warm up and run like a V-8 gasser put on winter fronts at anything below 40* and install a smart exhaust brake such as the Jake and this truck will control it own warm-up cycles and give you all the heat you could ever need.

 

[DCaswell]

RGardner

There is a bypass hole in the thermostst housing so that some coolant is always circulating. Otherwise the engine would suffer from hotspots which can cause warpage