Fuel filter heaters

You really don't need them on these late model trucks. The fuel return is already heated up from flowing through the fuel rail in the engine.

 

All I ever done is run howles anti gel in sub zero temps and cover filter that hangs on the frame with an insulated tube sock and plastic bag to keep the wind from cooling the fuel in the filter. Never gelled up.

 

A preheater is good it heats fuel if ing key is on. my davco heats fuel at filter. just turning key in on position for a few min will get fuel hot.

 

Preheated that runs off batteries now that would be the way to go if your truck hasn't been running. Fuel heater that has coolant running through it is a waist of $$ unless you have an old b model cat. In my opinion.

 

That's what I've installed this fall on my DAVCO 382. On the left is the old bottomplate and on the right is the new heaterplate. I have it hooked up to the coolant lines between the engine and the APU. As soon as the APU runs it provides heat to both, the engine and the filter. I had no issues ever since running with southern fuel into the cold. I don't give much on fuelconditioner. The most important thing is buying propper fuel for the area you're running.
Just an example. On boxing day, I left Winnipeg heading for Dallas. We get trip related fuelprices on every trip. That day the cheapest fuel was in Ardmore, OK the second was Sioux City, IA. Tanks were not full when I left Wpg and I had to top up 50 gal in Sioux City. In Ardmore I put in 138 gal. My reload brought me back the same way. I put in 40 gal in Ardmore and put another 90 gal in in Sioux City.
At this point I had pretty much pure southern fuel in the tanks. On my way back I did monitor the forecast very closely and put half a can of Power System Antigel (not 911) in the tanks. In northern North Dakota I hit temps of 0 F and there was no sign of gelling, no loss of power.
At this point I knew about my next trip already. The cheapest fuel would be in South Beloit for this trip. There was no need to put fuel in in Wpg. I just drove home and parked the truck at my day off and never spent a thought about my fuel.
It's keeping me going and I don't have to go past the cheaper fuellocations anymore just to put winterfuel in the tanks.

 

Well, after a truck sits overnight at 0F shut off, not a lot of heated fuel returning to the tanks for a while. Heaters are primarily for initial startup before engine warms up, as this is the time when the highest risk of fuel filter plugging is when the fuel is ice cold. One can use a heater in the Davco if they have one, or they can get a Arctic Fox inline 12v fuel heater that replaces the primary line from pickup tube to fuel filter. Flip the switch on a cold morning, wait a few minutes, and start up. Leave it on until the engine is fully warmed up and putting warm fuel back into the tanks, or on longer if one is really in some serious nasty cold.