Has anyone tried or is running a grid heater instead of glowplugs? Would it even work? Was talking to a friend in class who has a rotary pump 12 valve and he said it could work and just so happens I have a grid heater.
grid heater
- Thread starter 90idi4x4
- Start date
FordGuy100
Registered User
Its been talked about. Some say it will work, others say it wont.
I would only use one in conjunction with the glow plugs if I lived in a cold climate.
I would only use one in conjunction with the glow plugs if I lived in a cold climate.
Black dawg
Registered User
It will help alot with the plugs, in my experience it wont work by itself
Please forgive my ignorance, What is a grid heater and how does it work?
Think of a radiator heater that u by for ur house and it heats the intake air as it passes through the element. I was thinkin about tryin it because there's a lot of cummins ppl in my nieghborhood and they start a lot easier than powerstrokes and the idis do and it would cure a lot of the glowplug headaches ppl run into with these engines.
A Cummins starts easier without any heating assistance. Trav with he Nanny Goat has started it below freezing with no grid heaters, or being plugged on. None of the IH Diesels start without Glow Plugs, even my 6.0 used the plugs in the warm weather....
Yea I started plugging mine in last month and have to start every break I have to keep it kinda warm so I don't kill my solenoids.....again. I got plugs for mine today to install I'm just a little hesitant cause of all the horror stories and with this being my DD gota have it going.
rhkcommander
Full Access Member
Cummins can also cold start without the grid heater, many Cummins guys remove it since it is a restriction... Direct injection versus indirect I guess 
. I thought about trying it but the heating element I had was dead 
Make sure you follow the - half pedal start normally, full pedal start when cold - and it should start alot easier.
. I thought about trying it but the heating element I had was dead Make sure you follow the - half pedal start normally, full pedal start when cold - and it should start alot easier.
vegas39
Full Access Member
Cummins starts easier because of the direct injection.
I should specify that he is talking about the light duty V series engines, the old six bangers (IH non turbo) that I used to play with started fine and didn't have any heating aids.
I would think it would help, but if everything is working properly they will start fine at almost any temp. To start well in the cold they need:
-Good fully charged batteries
-Clean tight battery connections
-Good starter that will crank fast enough
-Good compression
-Properly operating glow plug control module (I am partial to OEM Motorcraft parts)
-8 properly functioning glow plugs (OEM Motorcraft seem to be best)
-Properly blended and treated fuel
If all of the above are there they start very well in the cold. If even one part of the equation is missing they won't start well. My pickup has 200K + on it and is stock with the exception of a faster revving starter that was installed before I bought it. I have started it without being plugged in and without any trouble at -25F. I realize you would rather not start it that way. I only had to do it once and was very impressed that it started as well as it did. It's nice to know that it will start if I need it to. Normally I plug it in. I have a oil pan heater in addition to the OEM block heater. With both of those plugged in I think mine would start no matter how cold it got as long a the fuel was in liquid form. I just run the winter blend at the pump and dose it with Stanadyne additive when I fill up.
This being said. I think the intake heater would be a nice addition but not necessary and not worth the trouble.
-Good fully charged batteries
-Clean tight battery connections
-Good starter that will crank fast enough
-Good compression
-Properly operating glow plug control module (I am partial to OEM Motorcraft parts)
-8 properly functioning glow plugs (OEM Motorcraft seem to be best)
-Properly blended and treated fuel
If all of the above are there they start very well in the cold. If even one part of the equation is missing they won't start well. My pickup has 200K + on it and is stock with the exception of a faster revving starter that was installed before I bought it. I have started it without being plugged in and without any trouble at -25F. I realize you would rather not start it that way. I only had to do it once and was very impressed that it started as well as it did. It's nice to know that it will start if I need it to. Normally I plug it in. I have a oil pan heater in addition to the OEM block heater. With both of those plugged in I think mine would start no matter how cold it got as long a the fuel was in liquid form. I just run the winter blend at the pump and dose it with Stanadyne additive when I fill up.
This being said. I think the intake heater would be a nice addition but not necessary and not worth the trouble.
flareside_thun
Reviving The General Tao
Because of the direct injection? PSD's are DI and they can have issues starting. The Cummins starts easier because it's inline.
FordGuy100
Registered User
I think it has to do with several different factors.
Here are some 6.7 PSD's starting at -18*F, and -26*C respectivly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKjQfTx0rE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6zrNCO52o&feature=related
Sounds like nothing even faces them.
Here are some 6.7 PSD's starting at -18*F, and -26*C respectivly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKjQfTx0rE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD6zrNCO52o&feature=related
Sounds like nothing even faces them.
