Cold truck

Snow

Well-known member
My 250 6/7 didn't come with a block heater ,has anyone had one installed ? And if so how much and where to get it or is there anything else out there for this truck? it's been around 10 - 20 degrees and I let warm up for 15 minutes and sometimes more and it still takes it another 5 miles to get comfortable ? ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
10 to 20 degrees is no big deal, the truck should start fine. The optional electric heater is great, I have heat in two blocks.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
My Ram diesel started at -10 without being plugged in. I don't like to do that though because the oil gets so thick it takes a bit longer to get it flowing. Not that many years ago when we had cars that wouldn't start when it was that cold! We've come a long ways...Don
 

Snow

Well-known member
This is my first winter with it , I don't think i will have a problem with it starting , my problem is no heat comeing from the heater for a long time , I was told a block heater keeps your fluides warm so you get heat faster , I work just a few miles from home and the truck is still blowing Luke warm air and the older I get I guess the colder I get lol ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️ P.S. what is this rapid heat thing that ford has ? ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
I very cold temps.....diesel engine do not warm up like a gas engine does. You have drive them and put a load on the engine. They have large oil and coolant compacities. In short...nature of the beast.
 

chaplady

Well-known member
I have f 250 diesel and one little trick while warming up is don't turn heater blower on full it pulls heat away from engine till you see gauge start to move. It take a good 10to 15 miles before mine gets to blowing hot air in cold temps. They just replaced thermostat package in mine too. Engine fault code was running hot enough.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
The oil never gets heated by a block heater. The only thing that helps heating the oil is the oil cooler after startup. So never think that the 3 gallons of oil will get heated fast. But hotter coolant will help after startup.

Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
The oil never gets heated by a block heater. The only thing that helps heating the oil is the oil cooler after startup. So never think that the 3 gallons of oil will get heated fast. But hotter coolant will help after startup.

Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
I agree but I think the oil flowing through a heated engine block and head will help thin it out on these cold days..JMHO Do
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I had a VW diesel with 15/40 diesel that never failed to start at -20F while never using the block heater.

I thought i would help it by using synthetic oil 05\40.
The car could not start at the low temperature unless i plugged it in. I changed the oil back to 15/40 and it was back to normal start.
The 5/40 was better for the engine but i believe it did not help the cold compression required. I could not trust my car not starting in real cold temperatures and get stranded,

In the cold north a diesel needs to start in the cold with no plugs or you can get stranded.

Plugging does take the wear of but allow any oil to warm up before hard work. Idling is not the best but steady load can benefit if the transmission is taken care of. I find that the transmission is the one that gets abused in real cold temperatures.

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caissiel

Senior Member
Works great
Used it at -40f and also gained mpg as a result. A diesel will never warn up without it in low temperature.

Sent from my LG-LS720 using Tapatalk
 

dbbls59

Well-known member
Are you sure there is no block heater? On my 2011 I think the heater option was just the cord, the heater was already there.
 

brianharrison

Well-known member
This is my first winter with it , I don't think i will have a problem with it starting , my problem is no heat comeing from the heater for a long time , I was told a block heater keeps your fluides warm so you get heat faster , I work just a few miles from home and the truck is still blowing Luke warm air and the older I get I guess the colder I get lol ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️ P.S. what is this rapid heat thing that ford has ? ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

My 2008 has the Rapid Supplemental Heater installed in the cab heater ducting - Simply it is a 12V electrical heater core inside the truck - heats up to provide supplemental heat to the passenger compartment until the engine coolant gets hot enough.

From the Ford Web page:

The available self-regulating rapid-heat supplemental cab heater helps bring the interior temperature up to a comfortable level more quickly. It raises the cabin temperature until the Power Stroke® V8 Turbo Diesel engine gets warm enough to provide the sufficient heat.

Link.


Hope this helps.
Brian
 

wdk450

Well-known member
As far as heating up the cab, back when I was working for a living, I kept a small electric heater in my car and ran outside and plugged it in to an extension cord from the garage first thing in the morning. By the time I was ready to commute, the windshield frost was gone and the car interior was toasty. I just made sure to put the heater on a small piece of plywood pointed away from directly heating any surfaces to prevent fire.

My 2004 RAM Cummins has a heater cord, but I have never used it.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
I dont know how Ford and Dodge auto air works. GM trucks with auto air have a built in feature that does not allow the blower motor to come on until the the coolant is at 110*. Does you truck have the high idle feature that can be turned on from the DIC (driver information center)? I love my auto air, cause when its cold and started with the remote, it turns on the seat heaters. It may be cold in the truck, but my tooshie is warm.
 

happyappy

Active Member
I just recently learned that my Dodge had a high idle/3 cylinder warm-up mode. It's activated by engaging the exhaust brake, turning on the cruise control and hitting the set speed button. It engages a high idle that works with the exhaust brake putting a load on the engine and warms up very quickly. It warms up quicker this way than actually driving it. When the tempurature drops below a set level (I think 20 degrees...) it drops 3 cylinders adding additional load to the engine.

This feature was activated with my engine tuner, but I understand all recent Dodges have this capability that can also be activated by the dealer.

Its made my truck much nicer on the cold mornings we've had recently!
 

porthole

Retired
My 250 6/7 didn't come with a block heater ,has anyone had one installed ? And if so how much and where to get it or is there anything else out there for this truck? it's been around 10 - 20 degrees and I let warm up for 15 minutes and sometimes more and it still takes it another 5 miles to get comfortable ? ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

The odds are good your truck may already have the heater installed, you just need to buy the cord.
Ford only part as the heater is an application specific connector.

From the Ford Super Duty coffee table book:

Engine Block Heater:
The engine block heater is located on the right side of the engine block. The block heater uses 110V AC to heat the engine coolant in cold weather climates. Use the engine block heater must be used whenever ambient temperatures are at or below -23°C (-9°F). The engine block heater is standard on every engine.
The power cord is an optional accessory.


These are the Sates that trucks ordered for came with the block heater as standard equipment.

AK, CO, IA, ID, ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NH, NY, SD, VT, WI, WY

There are aftermarket kits availbel, the most common being a magnetic pad that you attach to the oil pan.

But, is your 6.7 an early version with the plastic pan???
 

porthole

Retired
The available self-regulating rapid-heat supplemental cab heater helps bring the interior temperature up to a comfortable level more quickly. It raises the cabin temperature until the Power Stroke® V8 Turbo Diesel engine gets warm enough to provide the sufficient heat.

Link.

DC powered and 1800 watts and is not an "after the fact" option. Unless you have a lot of money to spend.

My Ram diesel started at -10 without being plugged in. I don't like to do that though because the oil gets so thick it takes a bit longer to get it flowing. Not that many years ago when we had cars that wouldn't start when it was that cold! We've come a long ways...Don

The Ford 6.7's start quite easily down to 0 (coldest I have tried it) with the block heater.
That said, if the temps will be near 0, I will plug it in.

My Ford warms up way quicker then my 2006 D-Max did. With the GMC, single digit, low double digit days I typically used my gloves at least half way to work (30 minutes approx)

Now I only need to go about 15 minutes before taking the gloves off.

How about a winter front cover on the front of the truck?

Not needed on Ford 6.7's
 

Snow

Well-known member
The odds are good your truck may already have the heater installed, you just need to buy the cord.
Ford only part as the heater is an application specific connector.

From the Ford Super Duty coffee table book:

Engine Block Heater:
The engine block heater is located on the right side of the engine block. The block heater uses 110V AC to heat the engine coolant in cold weather climates. Use the engine block heater must be used whenever ambient temperatures are at or below -23°C (-9°F). The engine block heater is standard on every engine.
The power cord is an optional accessory.


These are the Sates that trucks ordered for came with the block heater as standard equipment.

AK, CO, IA, ID, ME, MI, MN, MT, ND, NH, NY, SD, VT, WI, WY

There are aftermarket kits availbel, the most common being a magnetic pad that you attach to the oil pan.

But, is your 6.7 an early version with the plastic pan???


Ihave no idea about the plastic pan it's a 2013 but I will check it out ,thanks for all the replies
 
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