Cold weather diesel operation tips?

[fish78]

Hi!
I've got a couple questions in regards to winter operation of diesel engines. This is my first experience with a diesel, and i want to make sure i'm not doing anything harmful to it driving in the cold.

With the recent -10 cold snap here in Calgary, my truck ('90 LJ78) seems to start up pretty rough. I've got to turn the engine over a lot before it'll start. I certianly wait until the glow plug warning light turns off before cranking the engine, but it still takes a lot to get her to go, and a ton of smoke out the back when its warming up. After about a min of driving, the smoke goes away. Its sort of a whiteish blueish smoke, i'm guessing its unburnt fuel, not a serious problem.

I'm thinking i'll need to get a block heater installed. Is this a hard install, can i do it myself? Any idea of costs?

Any cold weather operation tips would be a big help! Thanks a lot guys!

[crushers]

block heater forget it. go with a lower rad hose heater. 1 1/2" is hte one you want.
hint, the glow light sucks, if you listen for a bit after the light goes out you will hear a very faint (to me with hard of hearing it is anyway) click. crank it now.
sometimes you will need to glow more than once.
best for these rigs is to plug them in o install a wabasto...

[fish78]

I'd love a webasto, but they're like $2500, right? A bit more than i can swing!

Are there lower rad hose heater kits you can buy? Do they plug in the same as a block heater would?

[Gold Boy]

my 13bt came with a factory block heater, it works well, easy starts at -25C.

however the lower rad hose heater will work great and is a simple install, crappy tire sells them.

[crushers]

Originally Posted by fish78

I'd love a webasto, but they're like $2500, right? A bit more than i can swing!

Are there lower rad hose heater kits you can buy? Do they plug in the same as a block heater would?

the hit is cheap and works well. plugs in the same as the block heaters
CT, Napa, parts source, auto value... about $35

[crushers]

Originally Posted by Gold Boy

my 13bt came with a factory block heater, it works well, .

agreed, when i said forget them i meant to say they are a PITA to install in the 2LT/E so go with something else...

[crushers]

i am picking up a wabasto this weekend and will be isntalling it either sunday or next week. do you want a install progress thread?
the cost is about $1800.
cheers

[fish78]

awesome, looks like i have a project for the weekend. Thanks guys!

[Gold Boy]

Originally Posted by crushers

i am picking up a wabasto this weekend and will be isntalling it either sunday or next week. do you want a install progress thread?
the cost is about $1800.
cheers

ummm

yes please.

[Gold Boy]

Originally Posted by fish78

Hi!
Any cold weather operation tips would be a big help! Thanks a lot guys!

synthetic oil for easier starts.

change from 15 40 to 10 30 dino oil.

[fish78]

wayne, a progress report on that would be great, i'm sure i'm not the only one who could benefit from seeing it, either.

[M John Galt]

Synthetic engine oil and synthetic lube in diffs, trany and xfer case.
Rad hose or block heater 1 - 1.5 K Watt
Battery blanket heaters 65 Watt
Fuel filter heater 85Watt
IP heater 85 watt
Injector line insulation
Injector line heaters for extreme cold.

The 13B-T uses a glowscreen air heater, unpluging it's temp sensor at the tharmostat housing lets it work whenever you want it, because the heat from the coolent heater warms the sensor so the glowscreen won't come on. One can install a switch or just unplug the sensor.

[widewestcruiser]

Originally Posted by crushers

i am picking up a wabasto this weekend and will be isntalling it either sunday or next week. do you want a install progress thread?
the cost is about $1800.
cheers

I would be most interested in your installation report...I installed a espar heater in my BJ74 last summer and wasn't 100% sure about the water circulation. I installed a smaller hose between the cold and hot heater hose so that if the cab heat is off and you accidently turn on the espar heater, it doesn't over heat the espar unit.
Does that make sense?

[nickw]

Originally Posted by widewestcruiser

I would be most interested in your installation report...I installed a espar heater in my BJ74 last summer and wasn't 100% sure about the water circulation. I installed a smaller hose between the cold and hot heater hose so that if the cab heat is off and you accidently turn on the espar heater, it doesn't over heat the espar unit.
Does that make sense?

How much was the espar?

[widewestcruiser]

I bought mine used on ebay for 220 dollars without the istallation kit. Don't be fooled by that price, the fuel pump,water pump,wiring harness,fuel line,filter,water hose , fittings, and 7 day timer,will add up over 1000 dollars new.I recommend to buy the whole thing new.Most marine stores carry espar or webasto heaters, both are made in Germany and are of equal quality and price.The espar unit comes with a inline water pump, if space is a issue. Roton enterprices on Granville Island is the main dealer, there's a guy in Vernon that deals with Webasto, i can't think of his name right now.

[widewestcruiser]

one other thing,you can get either 12 or 24 volt systems,big rigs ,boats and heavy equipment often use 24 volt heaters

[OILERSrule]

Espar and wabasto are convection heaters? sorry little new to all of this, still learning. Does synthetic really make that much of a difference? thanks

[crushers]

semi synthetic engine oil 0/30 Rottella is very good oil. on an older engine it is common to see full synthetic leak past the seals.

wabasto or espar is a huge investment but if you are going to be in areas where a plug in is not accessable they are priceless on a cold day.
cheers

[OILERSrule]

Cool thanks

[zaxxon]

Originally Posted by crushers

i am picking up a wabasto this weekend and will be isntalling it either sunday or next week. do you want a install progress thread?
the cost is about $1800.
cheers

Wayne

Who are you buying from. I found Cool-it in Abbotsford. They are selling an espar coolant heater for around $800. Dose the one you are installing heat the cabin as well?

Zach

[champjack]

hi guys . can some one tell me how the inline rad hose heater work.?
i have a 90 prado with a 2l-te engine with one installed, im not sure what kind it is. ...i pluged it in tonight and found it to get quite worm i was thinking i may wake up in the morning with coolant all over the ground. I was allso told that you can hear them work but i could not hear this one but it got hot enough to produce smoke but that may have just been residue on it i don't know. any info would be great i thought that they some how via pump or something moved the coolent through the engint?...

[crushers]

Originally Posted by zaxxon

Wayne

Who are you buying from. I found Cool-it in Abbotsford. They are selling an espar coolant heater for around $800. Dose the one you are installing heat the cabin as well?

Zach

is this just the heater or complete with in cab control blah, blah... i bought mine from Bruce Lowen, i don't know what his mark up was but i highly doubt it was $1000...

i will give the company above a call next week and see what a kit is worth...
cheers and thanks for the lead...

[crushers]

Originally Posted by champjack

hi guys . can some one tell me how the inline rad hose heater work.?
i have a 90 prado with a 2l-te engine with one installed, im not sure what kind it is. ...i pluged it in tonight and found it to get quite worm i was thinking i may wake up in the morning with coolant all over the ground. I was allso told that you can hear them work but i could not hear this one but it got hot enough to produce smoke but that may have just been residue on it i don't know. any info would be great i thought that they some how via pump or something moved the coolent through the engint?...

do you mean the big hose at the bottom of the rad or one of the smaller heater hose?
if it is the lower rad hose heater it is convection and "might" make a bubbling sound although with my great hearing <sarcasim> i have not heard anything...

[champjack]

lower rad hose . but i can't hear it but i sure can feel it verry hot looks like it could melt the hose

[Gold Boy]

Originally Posted by champjack

lower rad hose . but i can't hear it but i sure can feel it verry hot looks like it could melt the hose

unplug the heater.

sounds like you have an air bubble in your cooling system. you need to run your engine and let the air bubbles pass out into your coolant overflow tank, top up with coolant as needed.

[Mattse.cx]

Originally Posted by crushers

hint, the glow light sucks, if you listen for a bit after the light goes out you will hear a very faint (to me with hard of hearing it is anyway) click. crank it now.
sometimes you will need to glow more than once.

Yep. There are two clicks that come from the left side of the engine bay after you turn the key. The plugs are still glowing until the second click. On cold mornings, it seems to take around 10-15 seconds before the plugs are done and the relay clicks, and the light goes off after only 5 seconds.

Where I used to glow cycle 3 or 4 times according to the light, I now just wait for the second click.

[crushers]

Originally Posted by champjack

lower rad hose . but i can't hear it but i sure can feel it verry hot looks like it could melt the hose

it is similar to the heating element in the bottom of your kettle. it gets very ot, DO NOT TOUCH. this is normal.
BUT as gold boy says, make sure there is not air trapped.

being mounted in the lowest part of the cooling system and because it works from convection there will not be a air bubble down there.

the smaller heater hose convection heaters are more prone to air trappage due to piss poor design...

[champjack]

thanks guys after work i will plug her back in and see how she gose

[champjack]

it works great , im not sure what kind it is but it sure keeps the water hoses nice and toasty. Was just a little scared at how hot that little unit gets but its all good . Thanks for the peace of mind.

[Whistler74]

Just to add my .02 - the lower rad hose heater was an easy install for me, although the "professionals" that did it the first time seemed to have a bit of trouble as I discovered two weeks later when I noticed the growing leak. Just make sure that the hose has no scale on the inside - if in doubt, replace the hose.

A couple of hours plugged in gets it toasty-warm inside.

If your memory is better than mine, remember to use the hand throttle knob to increase your idle speed to about 1000rpm or so before you shut down the engine for the night. That way you can just turn the key in the morning and it should start right up with a steady idle.