Block heater

[Whitewhale7.3]

Hey guys, just wanted to know if I can leave my block heater plugged in over night I just picked up a 96 350 dually and am new to the 7.3 scene any info would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[van-boy]

i do all the time. sometimes its not even that cold. just starts better. but anything over 4 hours is a waste of hydro.

[jesilvas]

You can, but no point. Get a timer that can handle the wattage, and then set it to come on about 4hrs before you leave, and that way you don't waste electricity but it has plenty of time to warm up. It's been tested before and after that there's not much warming up.
A 7.3 should be able to start in pretty cold temps.
Make sure your batteries are both good (load test individually), have them at least 850CCA minimum each. Good, clean battery connections, cables, good starter connection.
Then the glow plugs and glow plug relay should be in good order as well as the under valve cover harness that supplies power to the glow plugs as well as the injectors.
Winter Operation, Hard Starting, Hissing Sound Etc...
Troubleshooting GPR & GP's

Also, a thinner oil helps. If you're in very cold weather, a 5W40 diesel oil will do wonders for you. But 15W40 or 10W40 is fine also. Read this and it will explain why oil matters so much on start ups: How HEUI works and best to convert

[Whitewhale7.3]

Ok thanks, I've been wondering about it because my truck has needed to crank about eight times and about 3 tries into it I start getting this thick white smoke and after it finally fires everything is good to go just thinking keeping it warm would help

[whistlin dixie]

the always blow thick white smoke on a cold start just nature of the beast but 8 cranks and 3 tries seems alittle excessive though

[jesilvas]

Always white smoke? No. Mine doesn't. And they shouldn't with proper GPs and GPR operation. They do because they aren't maintained and most have high mileage.

[whistlin dixie]

mines smoked white since i got it which was only a few months ago though it has 181xxx but my dads 2000 has smoked since new and its got 171xxx now. mine only does it after sitting all night in the cold but it fires right up.

[kctyphoon]

Originally Posted by Whitewhale7.3

Ok thanks, I've been wondering about it because my truck has needed to crank about eight times and about 3 tries into it I start getting this thick white smoke and after it finally fires everything is good to go just thinking keeping it warm would help

depending on your situation, i would listen to what they are telling you. if you pay for your own electric- get a timer. the element in the block is 1000 watt.. just think that every hour you have it on, is the same leaving on 10 , 100 watt light bulbs.

something else that might help - the glow plugs do not shut off when the "wait to start" light goes out. they can stay on for up to 2 mintues i belive, so the longer you let them warm up, ( by leaving the key foward before u actually start it ) the easier your starting will be. another thing is this - depending on the tempature in your area, the block heater is more of a luxury then necessity. you shouldnt have alot of trouble starting unless its REALLY cold out. if your having real trouble, you can look into checking the glow plug relay to see if your glow plugs are even being tuned on. one lesson i learned with that is - you cannot SOLELY trust a test light on the relay. when the relay goes bad, it can still pass current to light up a test light, but may not be enough to trigger the relay. its rare for it to do that, but it was a $500 lesson learned when the mechanic decided to replace all my glow plugs but still didnt work cause of a $30 relay. i have a 95 dually ext cab.. trust me you will want to start learning.

[bucwheat]

Mine does it on cold starts also.Been doing it for years.

[elrojo63]

Originally Posted by kctyphoon

depending on your situation, i would listen to what they are telling you. if you pay for your own electric- get a timer. the element in the block is 1000 watt.. just think that every hour you have it on, is the same leaving on 10 , 100 watt light bulbs.

something else that might help - the glow plugs do not shut off when the "wait to start" light goes out. they can stay on for up to 2 mintues i belive, so the longer you let them warm up, ( by leaving the key foward before u actually start it ) the easier your starting will be. another thing is this - depending on the tempature in your area, the block heater is more of a luxury then necessity. you shouldnt have alot of trouble starting unless its REALLY cold out. if your having real trouble, you can look into checking the glow plug relay to see if your glow plugs are even being tuned on. one lesson i learned with that is - you cannot SOLELY trust a test light on the relay. when the relay goes bad, it can still pass current to light up a test light, but may not be enough to trigger the relay. its rare for it to do that, but it was a $500 lesson learned when the mechanic decided to replace all my glow plugs but still didnt work cause of a $30 relay. i have a 95 dually ext cab.. trust me you will want to start learning.

$500 for new glow plugs?