Cant Plug In On Cold Nights

[Bigsmoothe49]

Please help! Im not sure how many people have owned this truck before me or what was done prior to me owning my 94 F450 7.3 Turbo. Where would the plug in be for the block heater? I have looked all over the place and cant find it. Maybe the cord was removed or the entire heater removed? Lets assume the worst, where is the heater itself located not the end of the cord? Thanks with any help.

 

[5.0Flareside]

not all trucks came with a block heater if im not mistaken...

 

[DNFXDLI]

That is my understanding as well Chris..depends on where it was bought.

 

[rjphillips]

Quite common in the US to not have a block heater, but always in Canada especially on a diesel which generally has 2 block heaters.

 

[Bigsmoothe49]

Ok...So can one be installed? And if so, is there a predetermined place where it is installed?

 

[crzybil87]

Yes there's usually a circular plate with a bolt in the center below the head. If im not mistaken its on the passenger side ill have to go out and look. But you unholy that and that's where you'd install the block heater

 

[flareside_thunder]

Yup Passenger side....

 

[crzybil87]

yea, so you can buy one for a 94' 7.3 and itll bolt right in it probably didnt come with one cause its a 450 im finding that most of the 450s easy install tho..

 

[nobodyspecial]

Just how cold does it get in SC? I didnt think a block heater would be needed down there...

It was -25 below this morning and my 302 started right up and it wasn't even plugged in...

 

[crzybil87]

holy crap -25 now thats cold...

 

[nobodyspecial]

That doesn't even take into account the windchill.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Quite common in the US to not have a block heater, but always in Canada especially on a diesel which generally has 2 block heaters.

Not always up here...I've experienced it once on a new truck..it got forgotten at the factory.

 

[crzybil87]

i could only imagine -25 and a wind chill buurrr my truck would just say im not starting

 

[DNFXDLI]

i could only imagine -25 and a wind chill buurrr my truck would just say im not starting

How about -40 with a 50 mph wind?...

 

[crzybil87]

i wouldnt even go outside id stay inside my garage with the woodstove roaring out heat

 

[nobodyspecial]

Yeah, I wasn't complaining. It was actually pretty nice today!

 

[crzybil87]

Ill leave that nice cold weather to my northern neighbors

 

[Fellro]

Just how cold does it get in SC? I didnt think a block heater would be needed down there...

It was -25 below this morning and my 302 started right up and it wasn't even plugged in...

But this is a diesel, and diesels don't tend to be like that in that kind of cold, one of the downfalls. They need heat from compression, nothing else, no spark, and no, the glow plugs do not make it fire... That is why diesels need to be plugged in, while gs engines don't.

I'm not used to diesels not having a block heater, so that is a bit of a surprise, but I imagine it is possible it never had one. If it had one, it would be located in the core plug behind the starter, passenger side. You could put one in there, about $45 when I last bought one from NAPA a few years ago when it blew out the side of the block, on one of the coldest nights on a sheet of ice 3 hours from home... You can also put one in the lower radiator hose, or one other option is to get a tank style and make a loop for it, hooking up in one of the block drains and t into one of the heater hoses. If you are in an area that doesn't typically have block heaters, you will have a tough time finding one though. Even here where it is common to have block heaters on diesels, they are in limited supply.

 

[nobodyspecial]

No, I understand that diesels need a block heater in cold, but I am asking JUST HOW COLD DOES IT GET IN SC? cold enough to need one?

 

[Fellro]

I was referring to the starting at -25 with no heater comment...

With it getting to freezing in Florida, I can about imagine what it was like in South Carolina. These IDI's get temperamental by 0...