6.2L Block Heater Timer?

[mikes47jeep]

hi all

its not a CUCV but still its an 83 chevy C30 with the 6.2 so same family

but i was wondering if there was any harm in puting a timer on the block heater on a 6.2

the heater would kick on at about 4 AM so by time a walk out the door to start it up at 7 AM it would be a nice warm and happy engine


do you think there would be any issues with the block heater turning on in the coldest part of the night? cracks are my bigest fear

regards

Mike

 

[3dAngus]

If it's not already cracked, it shouldn't be a problem. A cold start on the engine with the pistons firing is going to be a whole lot more of a problem than a block heater. And they're built for that. No worries...

BTW, a light timer won't work. You will need one that is at least as high in wattage as your heater.

 

[CROM]

I've been plugging mine in at 5am or so when I get up for two years now. Saves some green.

 

[Asgar]

I installed the NAPA freeze plug block heater in my 1008 5 or so years ago and use it for every cold morning to lessen wear and tear on the motor. I use a timer, hardwired torx timer in gray box to control the plug. I usually run it for 4 hours or so when the temp is 20-35 or so. When it gets below 20 I leave it on all night. The reason is i found a funny spot were the block was warm enought to not cycle the glow plugs for enought time but not so warm that it started right up. Your not going to hurt your block with these heaters, the wattge is too low and is acting on the coolant and huge mass of the engine. When it is really cold I sometimes also put a magnetic Katz oil pan heater on as well to help the engine oil flow a bit better at startup.

 

[mikes47jeep]

Thanks for the advice; I was just seeing if there was a definite NO DONT DO THAT!! Scenario

I was looking at a 15 amp timer in home depot, that should be more than enough to take care of a little block heater

Mike

 

[jwaller]

I put 2 in my 6.5 and run them all night. A warm diesel is a happy diesel.