Engine Block Heater

[Giddyup Buttercup]

I'm really proud of this forum right now. Facebook is full of fools saying it's only useful on a diesel and if you put one on a gas engine you're wasting your money...

As someone who lives in interior Alaska I will tell you that a block heater is a necessity on ALL vehicles here. Regardless of whether or not you have a heated garage at home. You will kill your engine if you don't plug in during the winter months here. One of my coworkers had his brand new ram truck kill itself because he didn't plug in and tried to cold start the truck after being at work for only 8 hours. Long story short, the oil was so thick it couldn't flow well enough to where it was needed and the engine ate its own bearings. I understand that most people don't live where it gets -60F in the winter but a block heater is a very useful piece of hardware that I recommend on all vehicles if you live where it gets below 10F. It reduces wear quite a bit, it makes your vehicle warm up faster, and reduces emissions if you care about that.

Don't you also put heaters on everything in a vehicle (maybe even the exhaust)?

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[JPOPS5]

I don't have a picture because I moved mine. Yes is under the hood on the passenger side, kinda high up near the air intake.

but:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082VYB1MF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Put it wherever you want.

Where did you locate this? I'm hesitant to core out a 2" hole in my bronco, but I do have plastic bumpers...

 

[amccue90]

Where did you locate this? I'm hesitant to core out a 2" hole in my bronco, but I do have plastic bumpers...

It's just barely secured by a zip tie to a aux light on the bumper. Basically dangling.

Maybe one day I'll properly mount it

 

[MTDewX8]

I added it as I Live in Montana. and it surely doesn't hurt the engine. It does help warm up fast in the cold.

located under the hood passenger side by the hoot sights.


for those concerned about power usage. you can always use an outdoor timer. so it basiclly comes on a few hours before your going to start your rig. I generally did 4 hours for my diesels. that way it wasn't running all night long. this smaller motor ill probably do 3 and see how it goes. but only used it when it was really cold.

 

[JPOPS5]

Decided to go for it in the bumper

 

[ForFoxSake]

Decided to go for it in the bumper

How do you go about extending the cord? I've never had a vehicle where the block heater cord was only accessible with the hood open.

 

[JFelty]

How do you go about extending the cord? I've never had a vehicle where the block heater cord was only accessible with the hood open.

Why not inside one of the wheel wells? It has a plug on it.

 

[ForFoxSake]

Why not inside one of the wheel wells? It has a plug on it.

I have not had a chance to look as im away, but is there enough slack? Or do I have to hook up an extension cord to it and run that to the wheel well/bumper

 

[4xFord]

Not sure if General topics is the correct location for this but what are people's thoughts on the engine block heater? I know my father and brother both have F-Series diesel pickups and use the engine block heater in the winter. Wondering if it makes sense in a gas engine and if its will prevent wear in the winter months for those that don't park inside a garage.

I'm heading into my second Colorado winter with my block heater so I can add some color to this thread.

Regarding oil temperature gains from a heat element in the coolant. I garage my rig so it's not the best example but I can give some real numbers. A sub-zero night usually has the thermostat in my garage reading in the 40°s and my oil temperature will be reading in the 120°s (F) when I startup. I have a heavy duty timer set for 3 hrs.

As mentioned, the plug is under the passenger side trailsight so your hood will be cracked open or you'll need to rig a short extension cord to hang under the bumper.

Thanks to Ford's nanny chimes your bronco will tell you the hood is ajar reminding you to unplug. Even so, I did forget once and it just unplugged without hurting anything.

In hindsight $100 well spent. Not a necessity like a cold climate diesel but my commute has me barreling down the freeway three minutes after leaving the house so I'm OCD about wear at startup. I also switched to full synthetic (GF-6) oil at 5k as further protection.

 

[JPOPS5]

How do you go about extending the cord? I've never had a vehicle where the block heater cord was only accessible with the hood open.

Yeah I didn’t want to open the hood to plug in or unplug. I added a short (36”?) extension cord I had and ran it basically straight down to the area in front of the tire, behind the bumper. Secured with a couple zip ties. Very easy.

 

[Gnomad]

Don't you also put heaters on everything in a vehicle (maybe even the exhaust)?

when we lived in AK, we bought a vehicle that had been in FBX. Engine heater, transmission heater and battery blanket. We found it needed the heaters when it got below 0 or so, otherwise the cold oil created a starter draw that dropped the starting voltage below the critical level needed to properly initialize the ABS and TC systems, which controlled the power brakes and steering. The heaters assisted more than merely the engine.

 

[NVCowboy]

The only time I would experience cold enough to maybe need it would be out of town and off grid, so start the Bronco, finish making coffee, hope the windshield is defrosted, and go.

 

[FerkinBlonco]

Decided to go for it in the bumper

Same here, thanks to inspiration from this post - good looking mod! This is my version, I used a NOCO branded extension with a built-in receptacle. Wiring at the stock plug is kind of nasty looking but it seems I've achieved my goal of having it not move around much.

 

[redone17]

Nice work! That looks clean.

I’m pretty annoyed at myself that I didn’t tackle this project at any point in the last 8 months…now it’s in the teens each morning. I’ll have to do it after the holidays. I gotta figure out where I’ll mount the plug since I have the modular bumper.

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