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Glow plugs vs block heater in a North Dakota winter, I finally know
Tbh I always ran my 7.3 in the morning plugged in, but the cord melted on the shop floor last week and I had to rely on glow plugs alone at 12 degrees. Turned over slow but started after a few cranks, no white smoke cloud like I expected. Now I'm wondering if the block heater is even worth the electric bill for daily use, or if I only kept using it out of habit. Honestly the truck sounded fine either way, just took maybe 5 extra seconds of cranking. Anyone else skip the cord when temps stay above zero and live to tell about it?
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harper_singh188d ago
Does your 7.3 even have a working block heater anymore if the cord melted? Real question. Because the thing you're missing is those two systems do totally different jobs. The block heater warms the coolant and the whole block, so your oil is thinner and the cylinder walls are warm when you crank. Glow plugs only heat the combustion chamber for a few seconds so the diesel can light off. That's why you got no white smoke and it still started, the glow plugs did their one job fine. But at 12 degrees the oil is still thick as syrup and the starter is pulling way more amps, which is where the extra cranking time comes from. That extra wear on the starter and batteries is the real cost, not the electric bill, so above zero you're probably fine but on a -20 morning you'll wish you had it.
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