Winter Warmup

[Acesinthesky]

During the cold winter months it takes two heat cycles to start, and I am in an area that pluging in is out of the question. I have heard about espar systems.



Does anyone know about the engine heaters from Espar? Are they good at warming up the cab on cold snowy days,(Between 0 and 20 below)? It takes about 7 miles, with or without the radiator partly blocked off, to start getting heat.



I also heard about TDR members getting good prices , someone has said that they have gotten down to approx. $900. 00. How true is this? And where?



Please Help

Freezing my A!! off.

 

[Whitmore]

cant tell you about espar but once you get her running turn on your jake brake , that helps alot . also take your fan off completly , it will help to warm up alot faster. between the 2 deals you can warm up prolly twice as fast Kevin

 

[Wheaties]

Acesinthesky,



I just bought an Espar and they are awesome. Perfect for the application you are talking about.



They put together a kit for the Dodge that provides just about everything you need to install it, from a professionally done wire harness right down to the zip ties.



The heater draws diesel from the tank using it's own fuel line and runs it's pumps and such on 12V. There's a timer unit that lets you set the time the heater starts and the duration. Plus there's a circuit for turning on the cab blower moter so you can defrost the cab while you heat the engine.



The Espar mounts on the drivers side of the engine compartment, down between the fuel filter and the steering shaft. It taps into the heater coolant circuit so its an easy splice.



The heater cost me about $1000, which is considerably better than the $1600 I was initially quoted. I think the days of $900 Espars are behind us, unfortunately. There's also a remote that plugs into the timer for another $150.



I wish I could tell you how great it is, but I haven't had enough winter to tell you how well it works. I did read lots of testimony last winter from other TDR members. It was all I needed to get mine.



If you have any questions, please ask, or PM me.



Matt

 

[JohnE]

Acesinthesky;



If you cannot plug in your truck at all then you have to take the extreme measures.

<ul>

<li>Switch to a 5W-XX synthetic grade engine oil.



<li>Your antifreeze should be on the strong side of 50-50 and more towards 60-40.



<li>Heavy doses of diesel anti-gel additive in your #2 fuel. You should consider using a 20% blend of #1 with a good dose of additive.



<li>If your truck stands for long periods (2 days or more), then add a fuel solenoid shutoff switch. This allows you to crank the engine, circulate fuel, and circulate lubricating oil prior to startup.

</ul>

I bought an ESPAR and am in the process of installing the package. Normal fleet price is around $1,050 from my supplier.



If you have periodic access to a plugin, an oil immersion heater may help, too.



Oh yes, REMOVE THE FAN! Make sure you only use A/C when moving. (A/C runs on defrost mode in the winter. ) I have a 97 and disabled the auto A/C portion of the heater select switch. I'm not sure how much benefit the engine gets in removing the fan, but my ears sure appreciate the quiet.



My 2 reale (bits)



-John

 

[Acesinthesky]

Espar

HEY Matt, where did you find the espar at, and do they still sell for $1050. 00.



This sounds like the better way to get the cab warmed up and engine warmed up,Also is there a temp sensor or temp adjust?



Thanks for your input.

 

[Wheaties]

You can go to www.espar.com for more info, and I

found a guy in Michigan that was the salesman for the group buy a year or so ago. A friend of mine in Connecticut owns an auto parts store and he got mine for about that price. I could connect you two up possibly.



The heater does have a heat sensor, but it is completely automatic and internal to the furnace, so it runs at one of three levels, low, high, or boost depending on the coolant temp.



When it gets to low, it seems to torch on or off as needed to maintain temp.



Matt

 

[illflem]

A friend of mine who has an Espar and no place to plug in his block heater loves it. Only problem he has had, and this major, is leaving the heater blower motor on high when parking. What happens is the Espar shuts down sooner to keep the battery from running all the way down = cold engine + low battery, after having to cycle the intake heaters twice = not enough juice to crank the engine = jump start, if you can find one = better carry a cell phone. If I didn't have a place to plug in I'd buy one.