For what cold temperatures do you suggest installing and using a block heater?

Answer 1

3O degrees and below. a block heater will keep the coolant in your engine warm and allow easier starting of your engine on the coldest day. hope this helps

usually whenever your driving a diesel in a normally cold climate, such as northern states that see longer, colder winters

block heaters improve cold weather starts by keeping the engine coolant warm on cold winter mornings.over time this will also help extend the life of your engine by cutting down on "cold starts". it will also increase fuel milage by cutting down on the engine warm up time. block heaters are a must on diesel engines that are operated in the winter months. you must remember,although block heaters do keep a diesel engine warm,and improve starting on the cold winter mornings,most do not heat the fuel and keep it from "jelling". be sure to allways use a good fuel additive or anti-jell like howes or power service in your diesel fuel and keep your fuel filter clean as water likes to settle in the bottom.

If you are in the USA the additive is already in the fuel. It started back a few years ago when there was a really BAD winter and no body could GO due to jelled fuel.I am now in the UK and am trying to find out if it is in the fuel here.

answer

if vehicle is diesel block heaters should be used in temps lower than 50 degrees. unless on a big truck block heaters are not proper block heaters, they are heaters installed in oil cooler and keep oil warm, when engine is not running. using a block heater will assist in engine starting easier, oil will circulate qicker as it is still warm and engine will get to running temp a lot faster. diesel "gells" or freezes up due to the water and wax content that is in diesel fuel most diesel purchased has additives added by the distributor.but it is a good practice to add your own additives as this is not always done due to the cost this is also not added by distributors in the warm months and believe it or not, i have had diesl gell in dallas, Texas, diesel engines do not use all fuel that is sent to engine , and have a return line which takes unused fuel back to fuel tank.engine is at running temp, the unused fuel returned to the tank is hot from going thru engine. this will heat fuel in tank and eventually fuel will be hot before it reaches engine this stops fuel gelling in tank