Plugging in diesel

[MIKE IN lINO III]

My Diesel sits Monday thru Friday and I have it plugged in ALL the time, is that a good thing to do or is it hard on the heater????

Mike

[311Hemi]

Sounds expensive to leave it plugged in if your not using it. Might as well just plug it in 4 hours or so before you plan on using it. Probably not hurting anything but it's costing you money.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Quote:

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Sounds expensive to leave it plugged in if your not using it. Might as well just plug it in 4 hours or so before you plan on using it. Probably not hurting anything but it's costing you money.

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That's my opinion too.

FWIW, I haven't plugged in a diesel since 2001, when I had a diesel that wouldn't start at 30 degrees or below if there was much moisture in the air.

[BobT]

Until recently I usually didn't bother plugging mine in unless it was colder than -10 and then I had a timer on it so it was only plugged in for a couple hours.

After 22+ years and 1/4M miles I'm finding now that I plug it in when it is colder than about 15 degrees because it is getting a little harder to get started. I think if I blew the dust out of my wallet I could have an injector job done and it would be back to normal but the rest of the truck is getting to the point I don't want to invest anymore.

1985 F250, 6.9L. I believe it has 248,000 miles but it could just as easily be 348,000 knowing how it was used in its earlier life. My father-in-law was the original owner so I haven't had it since new.

Bob

[Powerstroke]

I agree that leaving it plugged it is just a waste of money. It does no harm to just sit for days plugged in. I agree that you should give it 2-4hrs before you need it to warm, but otherwise let it sit at outside temp.

Frankly I agree with Bob and Lwn, when I had my diesel, the only time it didn't start was at -27*F and I never had it plugged in. Yes I should've, but I lived at an apartment and didn't have heated parking. Other than that one time, it starts right up with the proper wait on the glow plug prewarmer during the "Wait to start" cycle.