Worstenemy453
Full Access Member
Do you guys leave the block heater plugged in for a few seconds after you start your trucks or do you unplug it right before you start it. Will it hurt to start with it plugged in or leave it running for a few.
Procedural Question
- Thread starter Worstenemy453
- Start date
ghunt
Full Access Member
Ahh it won't hurt anything. Hell I've tried to drive away with my block heater still plugged in a couple times.
I usually unplug mine right before I start it but it really doesn't make a lot of difference.
I usually unplug mine right before I start it but it really doesn't make a lot of difference.
always unplug before starting. that way u dont forget to undo it. also if long enough drap the cord where u can see it. on my work truck and every truck here at work i drape the cord either over the mirror of the bumper light sticks.
Worstenemy453
Full Access Member
Is it bad to leave it running with the block heater plugged in for longer periods of time. like 30 minutes. I usually unplug it on my way around the truck to start it up but i always start it and then get out and do stuff while its warming up.
icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
Interesting thoughts.... Out here in view of the west coast we don't use block heaters but... I still have a new one in place on my engine. We do get a freeze here sometimes but it never causes a problem. I wonder if we are running the "other" diesel now....
My last combined freeway and city mileage was 16.8 mpg....
My last combined freeway and city mileage was 16.8 mpg....MIDNIGHT RIDER
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2005
- Posts
- 4,639
- Reaction score
- 38
Leaving the block-heater plugged in while the truck is running will not hurt a thing, even for long extended periods of time.
It will keep putting heat into the system and help the engine make heat quicker.
The radiator, fan, and thermostat will prevent the block-heater over-heating anything.
As for forgetting to un-plug, just about all newer big trucks now have the block-heater plug either under or just behind the driver's door; I figure they were located there for just that reason.
We can do the same simply by firmly connecting a plain old out-door cord to our existing cord and routing it wherever on the truck that would be most convenient.
In many situations, having the cord hanging out the rear would actually be preferred to having it at the front.
Also, it would be best to have the truck end of the cord rigid and un-movable, such that should one forget and drive away, the extension cord would separate cleanly without dragging the truck cord across sharp edges, possibly creating an electrocution hazard.
I notice that the newer big trucks also have the male plug mounted rigid, instead of a floppy length of cord hanging over a sharp-edged bumper.
Diesel_brad
Dunce
Leaving the block-heater plugged in while the truck is running will not hurt a thing, even for long extended periods of time.
It will keep putting heat into the system and help the engine make heat quicker.
The radiator, fan, and thermostat will prevent the block-heater over-heating anything.
As for forgetting to un-plug, just about all newer big trucks now have the block-heater plug either under or just behind the driver's door; I figure they were located there for just that reason.
We can do the same simply by firmly connecting a plain old out-door cord to our existing cord and routing it wherever on the truck that would be most convenient.
In many situations, having the cord hanging out the rear would actually be preferred to having it at the front.
Also, it would be best to have the truck end of the cord rigid and un-movable, such that should one forget and drive away, the extension cord would separate cleanly without dragging the truck cord across sharp edges, possibly creating an electrocution hazard.
I notice that the newer big trucks also have the male plug mounted rigid, instead of a floppy length of cord hanging over a sharp-edged bumper.
We got some medium duty Fseries at work w the plug right into the drivers cab corner.If you for get to unplug that you shouldnt be driving
94turboidi
Full Access Member
I like the sounds of that right at the drivers cab corner. I could see making a special body mod with the heater wired right up there where you just shove the cord onto it and maybe a weather tight closure when its removed. I always unplug before I start. Mine is a circulating heater.
I've had my block heater plugged in for two days once...
It was freezing and the top of the radiator was warm to the touch (had to change out a lift pump), actually felt great not having to wear gloves...
It was freezing and the top of the radiator was warm to the touch (had to change out a lift pump), actually felt great not having to wear gloves...
MIDNIGHT RIDER
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2005
- Posts
- 4,639
- Reaction score
- 38
It is not un-common at all to see farm tractors and such sitting plugged in for days at a time. 
towtruckdave
Resident Nutcase
I have left the block heater on my old 93 F450 7.3 idi for weeks.
If you do this, it is a good idea to pop the hood and check for cats.
If you do this, it is a good idea to pop the hood and check for cats.
Willie Two
Retired Firefighter
I'd unplug it first, there is always a slim chance you could become a path for the electricity to flow to earth ( ground ) if your cord has gone bad overnite. Maybe that cat ate the cord and it is now touching the frame or body.
MIDNIGHT RIDER
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2005
- Posts
- 4,639
- Reaction score
- 38
I have left the block heater on my old 93 F450 7.3 idi for weeks.
If you do this, it is a good idea to pop the hood and check for cats.
That was spoken like someone who has had a cat caught in a fan-belt sometime in their career.
Many many too many years ago, way back when I was a wee lad, one sub-zero morning my father, who had already been to town and got the filling-station opened for business, returned home to have breakfast and haul us younguns to school.
We all loaded up in the cab of the already warm truck and he proceeded to back down the driveway when all
broke loose.The engine slammed to a halt and the tires skidded in the gravels.
Just as he was jumping out to see just what on earth could have happened, an old yeller Tom-cat dropped onto the driveway, staggered out from under the truck, ran straight into the brick mail-box post, jumped the rock-wall, and disappeared amidst the Japanese yews.
Under the hood, there was the hair of a thousand cats, splatters of blood and worse cat-stuff, and all the fan-belts knocked off all the pulleys.
That old cat disappeared for a couple weeks, returned, and lived many more years.
94turboidi
Full Access Member
That was spoken like someone who has had a cat caught in a fan-belt sometime in their career.
Many many too many years ago, way back when I was a wee lad, one sub-zero morning my father, who had already been to town and got the filling-station opened for business, returned home to have breakfast and haul us younguns to school.
We all loaded up in the cab of the already warm truck and he proceeded to back down the driveway when all
The engine slammed to a halt and the tires skidded in the gravels.
Just as he was jumping out to see just what on earth could have happened, an old yeller Tom-cat dropped onto the driveway, staggered out from under the truck, ran straight into the brick mail-box post, jumped the rock-wall, and disappeared amidst the Japanese yews.
Under the hood, there was the hair of a thousand cats, splatters of blood and worse cat-stuff, and all the fan-belts knocked off all the pulleys.
That old cat disappeared for a couple weeks, returned, and lived many more years.
When I was a kid I had an orange cat. One night we got home in our van and my dad went to start up his chevy truck to move it. We heard a cat screech but didn't know what it was until the next day. We found my cat out in a shed pretty beat up. We kept him inside our bathroom for about a month and basically nursed it back to life. I bet it wasn't 2 weeks after we let it back outside it got ran over.
Another idea for a block heater cord, so that you do not forget to unplug it. Get a "shore-line" connection from an emergency vehicle. On the back of all of our Ambulances, there is a plug, under a door to plug the box in to keep the batteries charged and etc on the ambulance. There is a pin inside the 3 prongs of the plug, and when the ignition of the ambulance it turned on, the pin pops, and ejects the cord from the truck. We have one that is strong enought that you can hear the plug on the drop cord bang the wall on the way out......
Similar threads
