First time cummins

[Simms]

I picked up my first diesel Monday night and I have a few questions (by the way, I love the CTD). I live near Pittsburgh so the winter get somewhat cold. Its 30 degrees right now.



My first question is about the block heater. When is it really necessary and how long can I leave the truck plugged in for? The manual says atleast 1 hour, can I leave it plugged in all night?



The other is breakin. I work only 5 miles from my house and my truck never has a chance to really heatup during the comute (140-150). I do start it up for a few minutes in the morning before I leave, (I like how the idle kicks up automatically). Will the low engine temp. hurt my engine at all during breakin?



Thanks

 

[Dean Upson]

Congratulations, and welcome. I bought my first diesel in 86 and have never looked back. I expect that you will feel the same way. I live in Northeastern Connecticut and my truck is garaged (unheated) and I seldom plug the heater in unless it is in the low twenties or lower. The wind outside makes a huge difference. I don't know of any specific length of time that you can leave the truck plugged in for. We used to leave bulldozers and other diesels plugged in for days and I can't remember any problem. The heater doesn't use much juice so the energy used isn't much of a problem. I am retired, but when I used to work, I had my heater on a regular house light timer and I let it run for about 3 hours, the engine does turn over a lot better when it's warmed, also the heater will start working sooner. Diesels don't warm up very fast at idle speeds. In my opinion, lots of short trips aren't particularly good for any engine, it wouldn't hurt to take your truck out for a few longer runs and work it a bit especially in your new vehicle.



Dean

 

[krabman]

I drive a little extra on those short trips to get fully warmed up.

 

[DiTrani]

I usually can't plug my truck in, but when I can I don't unless it's going to be well below freezing. I think 1-2 hours is probably a good length of time to keep it plugged in. Lot's of people use timers to power up the heater in the morning. If you can't plug it in, don't sweat it.



And I too was worried that my short weekday commutes were not good for the engine, and strictly speaking they aren't, but I don't worry about it anymore. The engine will still last forever. I change the oil closer to the shorter of the suggested intervals, since short trips can allow condensation to build up in the oil, and I take it easy on the engine until the temp needle moves.



These trucks aren't fragile, so let it cater to your life, not the other way around.



All of the above is the gist of what a TDR member told me when I asked the same questions a year ago.

 

[OHale]

I bought an outdoor timer from Sears. I plug my block heater into that. I usually set it to come on two hours before I leave for work. When it is going to be below zero I set it to turn on three hours before I go to work.



I also loop the extension cord over my driver's side mirror. In seven years I haven't driven off with the block heater plugged in because of that (knock on wood).

 

[FourBarR]

BLOCK HEATER

simms welcome to tdr .



i have a 98. 5 and use a timer set for 3 hours before i go to work.



i would suggest a winter front , i have a stainless steel one works great. would be good for the engine if you could put a load on it for the first few miles. diesels don't like short drives and not getting up to temperature.



enjoy the ride Oo. Oo.

 

[rbattelle]

Does the block heater have a thermostat? If so, you could leave it on all night without a problem.

 

[Casey Balvert]

No thermostat in the block heater. If it is plugged in it is always on. I think around 600 watts. Best to use a timer. I heat mine for three hours.



Casey

 

[Dean Upson]

It is 9 degrees this morning, my truck is garaged but it is still cold out there. The truck was not "plugged in". I waited for the intake air grid to go off and it started just like it was a warm summer day. This truck starts at least as good as any of my other diesels did. Years back we had more trouble with the fuel gelling, the fuel seems better in that respect nowadays. Also the rpms went to a thousand by the time I got back from the end of the drive with my paper.



Happy Thanksgiving,



Dean

 

[Badunit]

We also have a fuel heater at the fuel filter that comes on when it's 45 deg F (+/-8 deg) or colder to help prevent gelling. I don't know if the older ones have that or not but this seems like a useful feature for those in really cold climates.

 

[amsoilman]

In our School bus fleet, all the 5. 9 L CTD's are plugged in every night and are left plugged in on the weekends and Holidays for extended periods of time. Doesn't seem to hurt the heaters in any way. Mine is a 1997 "Bluebird" with the 5. 9L 12V engine.



BTW, just had the KDP occurence at 97,000 miles, and Cummins did the repair under warranty!







wayne

amsoilman

 

[Prairie Dog]

Congrat's on the new rig Simms!

Just a side note here, make sure you unplug your heater before you start your engine or the life of the heater element will be greatly diminished.

 

[klenger]

... or at least make sure you unplug the heater before you drive off.

 

[dnitzel]

Engine block heater

I plug mine in almost every night in the winter. I've left it out in -10 DEGF before, say over night without it plugged in and it started a little slow, but just fine. I followed the instructions in the manual. Generally, when it gets below 30 DEGF, it's plugged in. I used to use a 115 VAC air cond. timer (15 amp contacts), but now I just plug it in. It does not use much power at all, say 800 watts to 1,000 watts, but electricity is cheap here, and I've left it plugged in for days at a time. It's really nice to have a warm truck and I don't have the wait long for grid warm up. I also place a piece of corrugated plastic board in front of the radiator, between the grill and my bug screen when it stays <30 DEGF ambient. The truck fills up my garage so I gotta plug it in before I pull in, and start it before I can unplug it. This is the first I've heard that the life of the heater element is reduced when the engine is running. Maybe so? I beleive the owners manual suggests plugging in the heater if the engine is left idleing for long periods of time in extreame cold climates (like -20DEGF)?

 

[Simms]

Thanks everyone for all the help. I really appreciate it.