Plugging in the Deisel

[Sifty]

With the cold coming I was wondering how long you guys plug your trucks in for?

I have a 2001 Duramax and in the past have plugged it in before bed. I was wondering if it needs to be plugged in that long or if it just needs a couple of hours.

Thanks

Sifty

[birdswacker]

I always plug my 7.3 in otherwise it sounds like it's ready blow up the way it bangs when cold.

[snowfighter]

When I had diesels I use to plug them in on a timer that would come on 3 hours before I wanted to start,saved on electricity.

[311Hemi]

When I had diesels I use to plug them in on a timer that would come on 3 hours before I wanted to start,saved on electricity.

I plug mine in the night before, although that is overkill. I think a couple hours is fine...I just need to get a heavy duty timer which I have been procrastinating on.

Anyone know if a good, cheap heavy duty timer?

[Powerstroke]

It really only needs a couple hours. I don't have a timer so I plug it in right before bed, but if you can get a timer for it you will save electricity.

[Sifty]

My wife drives it so I plug it in when I leave and it gets about 2.5 hours to warm up.

It has worked so far on the two cold nights but I did'nt know with these cold temps coming if that would be long enough.

Sifty

[MN Mike]

The dealer I bought my Duramax from told me not to plug it in until it was 0 out, other wise it ' could ' produce some engine code.

When it goes below 0, I usually use a timer unless it's going to be bitter cold out, then it will run all night. The last time I picked up a timer was at Sears on closeout, it was a digital one, works good for about $7.

Mike

[BobT]

What engine code? Sounds like he was misinformed about something. All you're doing is heating up the engine coolant. The same engine code, whatever code he might be talking about, could come up if you started the engine 1 or 2 hours after shutting it off. Doesn't make sense to me.

When I still had my old 1985 Ford 6.9L I used a timer as described above. There were times when I started it at -20 or lower without plugging it in and I ran 15-40 oil year 'round. Admittedly, using such heavy oil during winter months was probably not the best thing for it.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Mine is an 83 chev with a 6.2 deisel. It's an old skool pickup that I only use as a plow truck. When the temp drops below 30, if it's not running it's plugged in. If it isn't, it won't start.

It's an energy sucker but I'll gladly pay the extra electric bill than fight with the truck trying to get it started when I have snow to plow. It's far from the newer technology in deisel engines of today so I can't comment on how long the newer ones need a plug in for.

It sucks having to put the nipco under the pickup to get things started.

[LMITOUT]

Quote:

Bulletin No.: 06-06-04-027

Date: April 27, 2006

TECHNICAL

Subject:

LBZ, LB7, LLY, Service Engine Soon (SES) Light Illuminated, DTC P0116 or P0181 Set with Engine Coolant Heater Usage In Ambient Temperatures Above -18°C (0°F) (Replace Engine Coolant Heater Cord)

Cause

The Fuel Temperature Sensor, Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT), and Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensors are compared to each other during a cold start to identify a concern with any one of the sensors. Engine coolant heater usage in ambient temperatures above -18°C (0°F) may trigger a false DTC P0116 or P0181.

Correction

The diesel supplement to the Owner's Manual advises that the engine coolant heater may be used below -1 8°C (0°F) to assist with cold starts. However, a customer may wish to plug in the heater when the overnight temperatures are unknown. A thermostatically controlled engine coolant heater cord is available for the prevention of false DTCs. This cord incorporates a thermostatic switch that only conducts below -18°C (0°F).

[BobT]

Wow. Learned something today. I can go home now. Oh wait! I am home. Now what do I do?

Thanks. After I posted I figured with today's electronics there could very likely be some goofy possibility here. Seems the programmers of the system need to work on a better diagnostic algorithm. There should be some way around this that would allow the owner to preheat the vehicle at temps above 0 degrees without tripping a false diagnosis. The solution they came up with sounds more like a band-aid rather than a real solution. It works but with a little more forethought there is a better solution.

[LMITOUT]

Well, logical thinking would lead one to believe that using a block heater wouldn't cause engine codes but nowadays nothing is certain with the way they design vehicles. In their defense it probably is easy to overlook the relatively small population of diesel owners that require block heaters in comparison to the rest of the market.

[deadeye]

Well, logical thinking would lead one to believe that using a block heater wouldn't cause engine codes but nowadays nothing is certain with the way they design vehicles. In their defense it probably is easy to overlook the relatively small population of diesel owners that require block heaters in comparison to the rest of the market.

This is sad but true. I work at a Nissan dealer and they don't even offer a engine heater for any of their models (I don't own one or would ) I guess that people still find them but they throw CEL's for all kinds of crazy stuff. Pretty bad that a whole region's needs are overlooked.

Anyway with the diesel I would just leave it plugged in. It sucks some extra energy but then your not trying to melt down a problem vs just keeping it from happening. At the least I would leave it plugged in when its below 10 degrees.

[harvey lee]

I would ask if a block heater is OK. I really like to start my vehicles with warmer oil in the oil pan so ones gets some lub at start up on the colder days. Heck they make them to attach right to the oil pan.

[Wildabeast]

I find that 3-4 hours is usually enough. That will work to 10 below or so. If it's really cold then I'll plug it in for 8 hours. The one that that will get me is fuel gelling in the fuel filter in my LMM Duramax. Once the fuel temperature gets very low I find that the fuel filter will gel if I take off too early. In that case I idle the truck until the fuel temperature warms up a bit (i.e. above zero). Around the metro I haven't had any problem with fuel gelling in the tank so the mixture is ok, it's the venturi effect of the fuel shooting through the filter as rail pressure increases that can be a problem. I guess I should rig up a fuel filter heater sometime - maybe next year

[dougger222]

I have not plugged in my 3 7.3's for a few years now. They are late 99's and 00. If everything works they don't need to be plugged in.

There are a lot of things that need to be maintainted on a diesel or your not starting when sub zero. On the 7.3's it's batteries, battery connectios, glow plug relay, and glow plugs. As far as not starting unless plugged in the first thing to test is glow plug relay then glow plugs.

The 220K mile Excursion and 290K mile F250 fired right up this morning. The 192K mile F350 had to have the wait to start light on for about 30 seconds before she fired up. None plugged in...

[dougger222]

Also all of my diesels run full synthetics which really helped with cold starts.