Engine block heater question

May I ask how well it performs when it's quite cold like colder than -20? And do you have anything to heat the oil or should this be good enough to protect the engine? This is my first winter with my truck and am not sure what to expect since my company truck had an APU but I don't want to go that route with mine. And now that I'm paying for fuel I also don't want to be idling all night haha is it true that it's not good to idle the truck when it's that cold anyways?

 

Idling a truck is very hard on it.
-20 is nothing for model 90 i like and use, start right up at -40.
Use a good winter weight synthetic oil if running in -20 and colder. A 0w30 or 0w40 will do well.
When spring comes, switch it back to your usual oil.

What year and engine?

 

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Thank you for the recommendations, I have a 2019 Cummins ISX. Do those block heaters run all night or just a couple hours before you get started in the morning? And have you ever had trouble with freezing fuel filters when it gets that cold too?

 

They do not run all night, they run part time to keep the water temp at the preset temp.
At -20 you need winter fuel, at -40 you need arctic fuel. If your fuel is correct for the temperature, you will have no fuel gelling problems.
You can also use an additive if not sure about your fuel, to lower its gel point, and even raise its lubrication quality.
If you are buying fuel in the area you're hauling, it should be able to withstand the temps.

If you fill up in Florida, and drive to Ohio in the winter, well have fun, its going to get ugly.

 

Appreciate the advice! Ill be using winter fuel but there are times on the Canadian prairies where it will drop to -40 for a couple days so just want to be prepared for that. I guess I'll just use additives on those days to be safe

 

If you are running in those cold temps, and top off the tanks there, you should be getting arctic fuel.

Downside to arctic fuel is that it has less natural lubrication properties for pumps, injectors, and also less btu of energy, so you do burn more fuel.

 

In Canada what we call a block heater IS a 120 volt plug in element that is submerged in the engine block coolant passages directly. With household power you can leave it plugged in indefinitely, but it has no thermostatic controls.
An engine coolant heater that you are looking for are all designed to only run for two hours. So they generally have a timer on them that you set for them to heat up the engine two hours before you intend to start them. Because they have a pump that circulates the coolant, they use a lot of battery power. Another reason for the two hour timer.
The bunk heaters only use a bunch of electricity during the initial startup to heat up the glow plug, once running you can easily go all night and keep the cab warm.
I have used the engine coolant heaters down to -34C and started the truck fine while I was at home. On the road I usually only used it down to -30C then left the engine running if it was colder than that as I parked in some remote locations and didn’t want to be stranded at those extreme temperatures.

 

Thank you for the input. I'm going to get one installed this week after hearing the good reports from you guys

 

Fuel we got up in the north wouldn't even start clouding at -37°C. Additives, what additives?