DO YOU PLUG IN THE BLOCK HEATER?

TJ2 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 1:45 am

I'm wondering about how to use the block heater. I'm retired so when I leave the house is optional. That makes it difficult to put a timer on the block heater. Does anyone leave it plugged in all night? I can't find any info in the user manual or the FSM

I'm not concerned about getting it started, it's more of an effort to lessen start up engine wear.

TIA

flman · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 6:38 am

Hi, I never plugged it in before, but a few hours of warm up will work just as good as over night. Back in the day of older diesels with no electronics, we had to plug them in, but never all night long unless you are in Alaska.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:46 am

I plug mine up anytime it's below 20°F. Like you said... just to make starting easier and take some stress off the starter, battery, and engine.

ac5501 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:09 am

LibertyCRD wrote:

I plug mine up anytime it's below 20°F. Like you said... just to make starting easier and take some stress off the starter, battery, and engine.

X2, Although I try to plug it in if its under 30. The engine starts faster and quieter when pluged in. I use a timer now, but used to plug it in all night. Your electric bill will take a small hit, espescially if you keep it plugged in whenever your at home.

MOSFET · **Joined:** Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:40 pm **Posts:** 295

You can leave it plugged in all night and it won't hurt anything. It definitely helps in starting and warms up much faster. The only downside, is that you will be paying a little more for electricity. I think it is equivalent to a 400W light bulb.

ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:37 am

Nope, never.

I live in FL, so it's not usually an issue. I usually spend some time in the NE during the winter though and I have started mine after sitting over night with the temp at -15F. I didn't have any trouble starting it after waiting the ~2 secs for the glow plugs.

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:45 am

I've never plugged mine in.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:25 pm

JL Rockies wrote:

I've never plugged mine in.

Understandable. Pluggin' in is for the true enthusiast.

geordi · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:43 pm

Those of you who have never (or don't believe) in plugging it in may be in for a rude shock someday.

I tend to believe that the underlying cause of my turbo failure (and then the engine immediately after) was that the oil was STONE COLD and not flowing properly through those too-small oil passages. This led to the turbo starving for lubrication, overheating the bearing which seized... Causing the oil that DID flow to now leak past the turbine seal, starving the #1 cylinder for oil, which promptly liquified it's crank bearing, overheated the piston which fractured... And the rod overturned and punched out the oil pan.

Are you willing to risk all that from cold oil that won't flow? I'm not doing that again, so now if I suspect that it will dip below FIFTY overnight, it gets plugged in. Better to have hot oil and not have needed it, than have the temp drop into the 40s unexpectedly and the oil not flow the way it is supposed to.

I have seen the oil galleries and passages with my own eyes. They are TINY. Maybe I am being overly cautious, maybe my old engine somehow had the wrong oil in it (I don't believe so) but that night before, it HAD unexpectedly dipped into the 30s, from the low 50s that was forecast. My engine wasn't plugged in, and it killed the turbo within 3 miles.

Put a timer on it from 4-7am if you are worried about the electric bill, after 7am the sun will raise the outside temps to counter the cooling of the oil if you don't leave until later. Just get past that coldest-before-the-dawn that might risk your engine.

bugnout · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:58 pm

I've never plugged mine in either.

Only once have I wanted to plug it in, when I left it overnight in a hotel parking lot. It was -15 at 6:00am. It started, but took a bit of cranking.

painemann · **Joined:** Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:02 pm **Posts:** 607

mine also gets plugged in on a timer, but my girl friend doesn't have anywhere to plug into at her work so no plugging in there. At least it doesn't sit over night I guess. Like what was already said, better to be safe then sorry. And you will be hard pressed to notice a difference in the electric bill!

CATCRD · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 6:22 pm

I put mine on a timer for about 2-3 hrs before I leave for work, pretty much October through April. I just love how quiet and easy it starts, plus it's just putting less stress on the motor. Having instant heat through the vents when I leave is great. More than 3 hrs doesn't really get it any hotter, it just levels out, and yes it uses 400 watts.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:15 pm

I have a modified Heat Trace Thermostat hooked up to an outlet that turns on the power when it drops below 0 F.
Since my Wife has a TDI, she does not need to worry about plugging and unplugging, just plug it in and forget when it is cold out. Just remember to unplug when she takes off.
When I am home, I plug in my CRD too.

CRD Joe · **Posted:** Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:55 am

I will starting in December. I like the idea of simply making it less stressful on start up.

AlaskaCRD · **Posted:** Thu Nov 04, 2010 3:37 am

I have hurd that the 05 liberty crd is known for catching on fire if plugged in. Is that true?

RJM · **Posted:** Thu Nov 04, 2010 5:18 am

Plugging in for more than 3-4 hours even in extreme cold is a waste of power, the thermal input "levels off" with the thermal loss, a timer is a great investment not only with the power savings, for your antifreeze as well. That element on the block heater gets extremely hot very fast, (similar to a BBQ starter) and extended overuse breaks down and deteriorates the antifreeze along with wear and tear on the element itself. I live in a climate where -30 to-40 for a week at a time are not uncommon, I am constantly amazed how well the engine starts when plugged in for 2 hours at these temps. I have added an oil pan heater as well, i feel it is very critical to get the oil moving asap on a dead cold start :2cents:

Glend · **Posted:** Thu Nov 04, 2010 7:26 am

AGree with RJM, but really an hour is plenty, especially with low pour point synthetic oils. I used to live in northern Alberta and an hour was just right at -35C.

As to wasting power, consider this; in many parts of the world 'carbon tax' (aka greenhouse gas emissions tax) is hitting the cost of producing electricity very hard. We have had 30% per annum increases for each of the last three years and it is going to continue. This money is suppose to be collected to remeadiate the emissions from burning things to produce electricity. Global climate change agreements mean that this will hit the USA eventually and your costs will go up significantly - so look for ways to use less, and plugging the KJ in for the minimum amount of time will help us all in the long run.

ColoradoCRD · **Joined:** Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:25 am **Posts:** 60

I live in a cold climate with night time temperatures frequently below 0F, and colder. I plug in with a timer set to switch on 1.5 hours before expected morning start up. It makes a huge difference in the engine performance especially in the first 30 to 60 seconds. Without the heater, I experience much longer cranking, extremely rough and noisey initial running, and impressive, billowing black smoke. I suspect that that the engine is programmed to pour huge amounts of diesel into the cylinders during this initial period when starting cold.

Others have measured the power draw at 450 watts, so plugging it in all the time will consume a lot of power.

If I forget to plug in the night before, plugging in as little 15 minutes before start up is not enough time, but makes a noticetable improvement in performance.

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:40 am

I don't plug in, and on cold mornings I start up and drive.... true enthusiasts have no time to waste. 110K miles... no exploding turbos and still have the original timing belt... but I do acknowledge that Northern UT is not know to get as cold as GA.

geordi · **Posted:** Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:11 pm

Can the sarcasm, you have been lucky thus far. Its your life and your money, so do what you want. I don't care how cold it gets anywhere that my CRD isn't, I only care about NEVER spending that money to replace the engine again.

DO YOU PLUG IN THE BLOCK HEATER?

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