Fuel heater important?

scooter_scum · **Posted:** Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:18 am

Just did a full service on the CRD. They said the leads to the fuel heater (located at the fuel filter) were some how broken. Only way to fix it is to replace the whole fuel filter/primer/heater gizmo for about $350 in parts. They did not have it in stock, so I passed on the heater.

Car runs great --- it is summer. I live in Boulder Colorado and the car will be garage kept. Do I need to worry about the heater? Figure it only gets to zero degrees maybe 2 or 3 days during a typical winter. In the garage is is usually closer to 25-35 degrees on cold days.

Jeep is for my high school daughter. Worried about her starting the car after school I guess.

ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:29 pm

Many people unplug the heater due fire risk. Some experienced melting and leaking around that plug. A revised part was released by Chrysler along with an adapter for the heater plug, which might be worth checking into. I've seen some posts saying that at any sign of a leak Chrysler will replace the parts at no cost even out of warranty, but haven't verified that myself.

I've had no problem starting mine down to -10F after sitting overnight (heater is unplugged). Just get into the habit of letting the glow plugs cycle and engage the starter after the light goes out.

JDaPP · **Posted:** Wed Aug 19, 2009 3:26 pm

My heater plug started leaking air just like talked about with plug charred and melted. I ended up filling the plug with silicone to stop air leak and left heater unplugged. I was unsuccessful at getting the dealership to do anything (they said the CRD is illegal in California and would not know how to work on it) I live in San Diego so I was not worried about it, but ended up replacing the filter head and the wiring myself just in case I went somewhere where it was cold. Was so easy a caveman (me) can do it and took maybe an hour with parts around $100. the link below was the discussion everyone had for me. http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... highlight=

kccrd · **Joined:** Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:35 pm **Posts:** 267

My local dealer has replaced my fuel head unit 3 times, no charge I just have to take the old part back to them for a credit. The last time it had a new part number and a pigtail connection to replace the old burnt connection to the fuel heater. I have not had any problem since the last one was replaced last November of 08 and they even gave me the new filter with the head unit. Since march I have been running B-100 and no problems I have not even replaced the filter that came with the last fuel head unit almost 20k and counting. My odometer is at 114,000 now and it is running great.

danoid · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 9:24 am

I disabled my fuel heater at the relay Feb 08. No problems starting down to -10°F. You should leave the connector in place to help with sealing.

Cowpie1 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:50 pm

I leave the darn thing unplugged. But for those of us that could use a fuel heater in the winter, this outfit has a heater pad that wraps around the fuel filter and uses velcro to secure it to the filter (better than the OEM fuel filter heater).

http://www.wolverineheater.com/products.shtml

I will be putting one of these on my CRD shortly. I have used a lot of heater pads in many applications and they work great. I would like to just splice in the wiring (12v) from the heater pad to the existing heater wiring and only use the pad. Not sure if that is an option, but will look at it. Else, can just wire up to a breaker in the box.

Fuel heater important?

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