fuel line heater?

[anvil]

I am learning diesel by my bootstraps, so i thought this should be another thread.

I have enclosed a pic here of the fuel line and i think the tube with the pigtail is the fuel line heater. this is on the passenger side of my truck and goes into, i think, the fuel line filter? a cannister with a air bleeder on it. My problem is it is unplugged. Perhaps this is part of my hard starting problem. I do not know where this plug's in.

How do i check to see if it is bad,, it is a spade connector(male). If it is bad, how will it affect my truck? blown fuse?

My Kids decided I needed a larger truck and that a diesel would last me a long time,, Its a large step up from my ole '47 and '61 Willyy PU,,One runs,, ya needs at least two to keep from getting a large case of the "Willys"!!

My truck is a '85 f250 crewcab w\ 6.9l diesel.

again,, thanks in advance

anvil

 

[troupp]

Well, have never seen one installed on one of these trucks, but it potentially does look to bee some kind of cold weather kit option.

 

[smokin_stroker00]

I am learning diesel by my bootstraps, so i thought this should be another thread.

I have enclosed a pic here of the fuel line and i think the tube with the pigtail is the fuel line heater. this is on the passenger side of my truck and goes into, i think, the fuel line filter? a cannister with a air bleeder on it. My problem is it is unplugged. Perhaps this is part of my hard starting problem. I do not know where this plug's in.

How do i check to see if it is bad,, it is a spade connector(male). If it is bad, how will it affect my truck? blown fuse?

My truck is a '85 f250 crewcab w\ 6.9l diesel.

again,, thanks in advance

anvil

The cannister it goes into is the fuel filter, my truck has the same heater on it but it is bypassed all together when I installed the electric fuel pump.

I don't see it helping in starting ,because the fuel you are using to start the engine is already in the ip and the filter.

for hard starting check the glow plug, and look for and fix any fuel leak

 

[160k87F250]

My 87 with a 6.9 has a fuel line heater like the one pictured. It came that way from the factory. My 93 with a 7.3 has a fuel heater built into the fuel filter head, eliminating the fuel line heater. I modified my 87 with a 7.3 fuel filter and connected the fuel heater to the wire on the fuel line heater. Don't know if it does any good, but I figured 2 heaters are better than 1.
John

 

[zigg]

I was led to believe that the fuel line heater has nothing to do with starting, but it supposed to help prevent the filter from getting plugged up with the gelling of the fuel.
I run my truck in subzero weather (..click here..) all the time, and I just put the howes anti-gel additive in there...

Zigg

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Right, the line heater has nothing to do with starting. It's just there to keep the fuel a little warmer to prevent gelling. Often the heater line will start leaking and they get bypassed.

The connector for the heater is right by the passenger front glow plug wire. You can check the heater, check the ohms between the connector and ground. If you have zero or very low resistance, the heater is shorted. If you have infinite resistance, the heater is burned out. Somewhere in between indicates it's probably good.

 

[anvil]

Thanks to all,, thats just what i needed to know

anvil

 

[tonkadoctor]

Biggest things that improved the starting on my truck were

1. replacing the fuel return lines, caps and O-rings....This was the biggie and made a huge difference. If your caps and lines are painted grey theres a good chance that they are the 20 year old originals and are way over due to be changed. Fuel systems can have air leaks small enough that they don't leak fuel and make it a #^%#$ to get a diesel started
2. 2 new batteries......the previous owner was running it on one battery.

Good luck and welcome

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Man I went to a tow last week. The guy had a PSD van, and only had one battery in it. I think he burned up the starter or battery from running it without enough battery capacity. I even hooked up the cables to it and the motor would just barely turn over, and only about 1/2 turn.

 

[tonkadoctor]

Man I went to a tow last week. The guy had a PSD van, and only had one battery in it. I think he burned up the starter or battery from running it without enough battery capacity. I even hooked up the cables to it and the motor would just barely turn over, and only about 1/2 turn.

Great way too save money by using only one battery.....NOT

• Savings $65 by buying one battery
• Towing -$65 (if local)
• New starter -$250 (at least)
• Labor -$ 100 (prolly more)
• Total - $400 MINUMUM in the hole by buying one battery and staining the starting system. There's a real bargain

 

[Mr_Roboto]

, I charged him $70 plus tax to tow it about 1 mile up the street. The bigger they are, the more I charge.

Maybe I charge too much, but I wanna make enough money to get a tow truck that isn't a pickup trucks' step brother.

 

[ttman4]

Another version of what you saying.....
I like having friends, but in this hard nosed, short of money & broke world I live in, I figure I've gotten enough friends from giving breaks & favors thru the years.......it's time to start making money now!!!
(at least that's my new creed I try to go by now-a-days.....sounds rufff & tough anyway!)

But sigh......I'm still a softie