block heater
 

my glowplugs dont work and its about 5 degress outside should i get a block heatewr and is it safe for a 6.9 ford

I'm surprised it starts without plugs or block heater at 5*. Get a block heater and fix the plugs, no harm from a properly installed block heater.

it dose not start at this cold

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so what type should i get

Go down to your preferred parts house and order one up. Nothing to a block heater to make one better than another.

ok ill do that thanx butt i mean like there have freaze plug the weird blancket type or what

Oh, I would go with one that replaces a freeze plug for sure. Blanket ones work good too for warming up the oil pan if you get in to real cold weather (-40, -50) but a regular block heater will do what you want very well.

ok i go and pick it up tomarow

i found out that there is already on there with no cord should i plug a cord in to to check if it works

That's what I would do. You could ohm it out cold and check what resistance it is supposed to be, but I think I would just plug it in and see what happens.

plug that bad boy in! chances are it's still good, someone prolly just ripped the cord out and never replaced it.

or it was a southern truck that came with the heater but no cord

edit: did it really hit 5* lastnight? hmmm

DONT PLUG IT IN!!!!

the 83-84 6.9 diesel had bad castings in the block that will crack if u use the heater. probly why it was unpluged, so it didnt get used.

i installed one in the bottom rad hose. works well enough to start it.




also why dont the glow plugs work?

my guess is the controller broke and instead of a $180 controller they were wired to a switch and burned up? lol that's how I always see em.

and I ran the block heater almost every night in my 86 last winter with no problems. never heard of a block cracking out this way.. I think the issue more related to that is cavitation.

no, 83-84 blocks were the only ones prone to it.

6.9 almost never have cavitation issues. only the 7.3's

every 6.9/7.3 i hav/had i switched to a pushbutton glowplug system. that way they are only on when the button is in.

the factory controller when it goes out 9 times outa 1 will stick on, buring up 90 dollars work of plugs, hopfully not swelling them or breaking off the tips.

http://www.cylinderheadrepair.com/lc...k%20repair.htm

Do you have to keep pluging the heater in if you use it every now and then?

Yes. And don't start it when it is plugged in. I use mine on my 90 7.3 and it works great. It does not work instantly though so plug it in at night so the truck will start in the morning.

Plug it in in the evening before turning in for the night, but use a timer so it doesn't draw current until you need it to. Mine is set to come on at 4:00 or so in the AM and run until nine. So when I go to start the truck, generally at around eight in the morning, she doesn't need the glow plugs to heat up the cylinders. No point wasting money on electricity all night.

They only need about 4 hours to work? I thought that they keep the truck at the right temp all night. I'll have to try the timmer thing. Thanks

I use mine about 4-5 times a year and I plug it into a timer 4-8 am. It normaly don't get that cold.

Why not? The only reason I generally unplug first is so I don't drive off with the cord.

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Unless it's below 20 degrees or so, I generally do okay if I just plug in for a half hour or so.

thanx guys

I really agree with the timer, I run mine from 3a.m-6:30 or whenever I leave. It also makes a world of difference in starting.

I DO need to get a timer.

Mine was about $6 at Walmart

I don't want one of those retarded dial type ones; I want one that you can set like an alarm clock.

just be careful because the 83 to late 85's will crack. go to oilburners.net and read about some horror story. i say if you haven't used it before, don't.

Why not? I typically start my truck then unplug, just so at the very least, it can idle and warm up while I'm unplugging and putting the cord away.