Fuel Heater in 24v's

[ramcam6]

My friend had his 98. 5 jell up and it had to be towed 30 miles and then be put in the dealer's warm shop. He thought he had winterized fuel, but obviously not winterized enough.



He said his 94 had a fuel heater in the fuel filter and that warm fuel circulated back to the tank. He never had a problem with that cummins.



Do the 98. 5 and newer trucks have a fuel heater and if not I wonder why DC eliminated this very valuable item for folks that live where it can get 40 - 50 degrees below zero? Plugging it in takes care of starting, but jelled fuel will happen going down the road.



I'd appreciate any help on this. I did a search, but couldn't determine whether there is a fuel heater on the newer trucks.



Thanks, Charlie

 

[LSMITH]

Charlie, it does have a heater in the filter can, but there are no guarantees that it is working. There has been a lot of discussion about the connectors for the heater burning up or corroding, the dealer he took it to should be able to check it out. Otherwise look in the service manual for specifics.



For a totally unscientific test, I started my truck cold ( I have the exact same filter head as your buddy ) and held my fingers on the inlet line to the filter and the outlet line to the injection pump. After about 15-20 seconds I could tell that the outlet line was definately warmer than the inlet line. My heater works to some extent.



If it is cold enough the heater in the filter can will not be enough, you need to treat the fuel. It really is a shame that there is not a heater in the tank or at least the option to get one.

 

[ramcam6]

Thanks LSMITH

I'll let him read this thread when he gets by Sunday night. He was really disappointed that they changed the filter design. I haven't seen the 94's design so I'm not familiar with the change. He'll be glad to hear that there is at least a heater in the filter on the newer ones. Thanks again for the reply, I was wondering if anyone would. Charlie