Why I Never Plug The Truck In During Winter

Yep, I have to agree with this one. I have never run across any heavy duty engine with glow plugs in it. You will find them in lighter duty trucks, and some use other systems, like the intake manifold glow heater that is in the Dodge/Cummins pickups, but I have never once seen a glow plug in a heavy duty on road engine.

As for hiding the ether, that would be an issue depending on where you work. if it's a problem, then keep it a low profile item. But used properly, there is no problem with the engine "igniting" in any way. the biggest issue that can occur with overuse of ether is that the ether wipes the lube oil off the walls of the cylinders and could potentially cause scorign of the cyliner walls. But if you just use a reasonable amount, not flooding the engine with it, you will be just fine with it.

As for the idea of installing one of the heaters as a window mount, I don't know of any way that could be done. All I have ever seen in the permanent mount types, and i think at this time for the warranty to be vaild they would have to be mounted that way.

But, you might be able to talk the bossman into buying one for a tryout on your truck if you point out how much fuel it will save on idling. Instead of burning 10-12 gallons for a 10 hour break, at 3.25 an hour, the unit will heat the truck that entire time for about a buck and a half. Wouldn't take too many nights of winter to pay for itself. You can also pointmout that Schneider has been speccing this unit on all their new trucks for at least the past 4 years, implying that this isn't some new, untested technology. I've seen the unit advertised for about 800 dollars, plus 3 hours time to install, which would make the payback time about a month of nightly use.

 

I'll watch for it. The place selling them was in Pennsylvania. I posted their address somewhere about a year ago, probably at TN. I'll have to do some searching over there, but if I answered by PM, it's gone now. There's a truck paper I see from time to time that carries the ads for them.

 

To my knowledge, it is not a standard item, and has to be specced when the truck is new. There are some companies that do not feel the need for them when the buy the truck, due to their parking indoors, or their location in warm areas, so the block heater has to be ordered. However, in your case, you could go to a good truck parts dealership, or an agricultural equipment dealership, and they could order one for you suitable to put on that size engine. They can be installed in radiator hoses, or in a coolant hose, and you probably would be under 100 dollars in cost at the very worst.

As for my truck, I parked it this morning, done for the year after making my sat morning delivery. And I set the timer on the heater to go off next Wednesday at 2:10 in the morning. When I come out at 4 am, the engine will be warm and I'll start it up for the new year.