M35a2 block heater

[73X]

TM you are the man well said. Carry on.

 

[greenjeepster]

I think it would be a pretty lame forum if all we ever did was slap each other on the butts and say good job every time anybody posted anything

TM: FYI I had enough room so I moved controversial nipple to top of controversial tank..thanks

 

[roscoe]

I think the thread ends rather nicely. And the heaters still heatin.
(guess I spoke too soon)

 

[Biggles]

westfolk's video made installing this block heater look real easy. When I tried to get my valve for my cab heater line out I cracked the water pump jacket. I guess it has been in there for a while. God my luck just sucks.

 

[rideni]

I have one on the upper 3/4 NPT plug just because that one was wicked easier to remove, with a torch and a big 5/8
wrench. Today I plugged in four hours before I started up also have two 200 watt heaters on the oil pan. Temperature was upper 30's
Test started with fuel cut, cut fuel back in, hit start button fired up right away

 

[Biggles]

yeah that plug came out no problem on mine too.....maybe i shoulda just stuck the heater in there instead of braking **** trying to put the heater in down on the lower port.

 

[wldrbob]

hummm any body put one of those elements in a pail of water and a thermostat at the same time maybe it gets the water hot enough to open it up i know the 1500 watt circulating heater i have certanly warms up the rad coolant to. all the hoses are hot to touch .the heat gauge comes up to about 1/4 normal when you turn on the key.and water is always through the block even if the thermostats closed.so ya it will heat up good from the water pump . if you never had one apart look on google (how things work) if more ppl use that we would have a lot less what some would call dumb questions.hey if you dont know ask away sombody on here will probly know the answer, this is a great site.

 

[LiqTenEXp]

what's everyones opinion on the oil cooler plug being used vs. the lower or upper water pump plug?

 

[Divemaster920]

..................

 

[tm america]

i used the plug just above the water pump it works great .i didnt have to move my heater hose that way

 

[greenjeepster]

what's everyones opinion on the oil cooler plug being used vs. the lower or upper water pump plug?

Hey....go for it...
Have you read the thread?
I think not.

My oil cooler has two more drain plugs on the very bottom. Mine have thread locker on them and I have been unable to remove them, but I imagine that one of them is coolant. I don't know why they would put two oil drains side by side.

 

[greenjeepster]

i used the plug just above the water pump it works great .i didnt have to move my heater hose that way

This triggered my curiosity so I went and fired my truck up and let her come up to temp for 20 minutes. I took a IR reading at my defroster and the temp read 168 F (ambient temp is 52 F.)

I then shut down and moved the intake for the personnel heater to the upper port above the water pump and fired back up and took the same temp reading at the same location in the cab. within 2 minutes I lost 28 degrees to the heater.

The personnel heater needs to be at the water pump location so that the impeller is forcing hot water through the heater. If you move it up it stagnates the water going through it and the fan blows the heat right out of the slower moving water before it can regenerate with fresh hot water.

I suspect that at lower temps the heater would loose more heat with the intake moved up.

Good call on that TM.

 

[Biggles]

This triggered my curiosity so I went and fired my truck up and let her come up to temp for 20 minutes. I took a IR reading at my defroster and the temp read 168 F (ambient temp is 52 F.)

I then shut down and moved the intake for the personnel heater to the upper port above the water pump and fired back up and took the same temp reading at the same location in the cab. within 2 minutes I lost 28 degrees to the heater.

The personnel heater needs to be at the water pump location so that the impeller is forcing hot water through the heater. If you move it up it stagnates the water going through it and the fan blows the heat right out of the slower moving water before it can regenerate with fresh hot water.

I suspect that at lower temps the heater would loose more heat with the intake moved up.

Good call on that TM.

I hadn't even thought of that. I think i will install my heater in that upper plug and leave the cab heater hose where it is supposed to be. Too bad you hadn't posted that yesterday morning it would have saved me work. Thanks for the info!

 

[greenjeepster]

I too wish had posted that earlier and saved you the trouble. Didn't ocure to me until you mentioned that you were going to move the heater line.

You may not have the clearance behind the upper plug for the heater, My understanding is that you need about 3 inches, my truck does not have that much room there.

Check the bottom of your oil cooler and see if you have a drain plug there on the coolant side that can be removed.

What type of cold weather starting aid did the truck come with if any?

 

[Biggles]

The truck has a manifold flame heater that doesn't work and I don't know anything more about it than the placard on my dash. I haven't read how it works in the TM or anything yet. I think I will have room to put my heater either place it is the shortest I have ever seen in a 600W heater it only sticks in an inch or inch and a half. I'll probably fix that manifold heater eventually too. Redundancy is my thing.

 

[greenjeepster]

Well for what it is worth you would be doing well to get a freeze plug heater and put it in the block. The farther back the better.

I am doing some measurements on the heater in the water pump and trying to get an accurate measurement on the heat lost at the radiator and so far it has been significant. It has been pretty warm here and I am measuring between a 15 - 26 % loss out the radiator depending on wind conditions.

I am hoping we get some colder weather over the next month or so so I can see if the loss increases with colder weather.

If you want to go all out put an oil heater on her too.

 

[tm america]

does anyone read the posts or do they just say things to say them . greenjeepster i have my block heater in the 3/4inch hole just above the water pump it fits and works great no need to move the heater hose no need to guess .and furthermore the thermostat blocks coolant from going to the rad untill the t stat is open. which is not gonna happen with any block heater go .look at the video greenjeepster did on how the deuce thermostat works it shows it clear as day .a block heater will work the same wether it is in the waterpump ,block or anwhere else in the cooling system as the coolant is all connected .guysdo your reseach there are ss members that are giving bad info and they know they are but they still wont edit or fix this . before you spend your money doing what they say you might want to think about that as they are not going to be there working on your truck when something goes wrong
also there is a tm about moving the heater hoses up to the intake .if you do this it will cause the thermostat to bypass and can cause the engine not to warm up properly so dont do that either or it will take forever for your engine to get up to opperating temp. as far as putting it in the oil cooler as far as i know it wont fit there as there is not enough depth in the hole.if you have a hard time getting a pipe plug out all you have to do is heat it up with a torch till it is red hot then let it cool.it will come right out evertime.this is an old mechanics trick that we use

 

[tm america]

the temp at the rad doesnt show heat loose it show the lack of heat going to the rad as the rad is not getting coolant flow to it because the thermostat bypasses the rad until it is open. it forces coolant to go from the waterpump through the tube that goes to the driver side of the block then it flows through the block up through the head into the intake then back to the waterpump and the cycle starts over again there is coolant in the rad but no coolant flow unless the thermostat is open.look at the flow chart in the tms that were posted in this thread.

 

[wldrbob]

dosent realy matter as long as it starts .thats y my heater is 1500 watts and i have battery blankets and two 300 watt magnetic heaters on the oil pan. because if you need your tractor or truck and its 40 below it has to go.put a tarp over the whole cab and 6 inch pink insulation on each side of the motor then it will fire right up.and that pencil heater can be added into a t in the heater hose anyplace darn sight simpler than breaking a waterpump and before you say it wont work thats where my circulating heater is bottom heater hose.

 

[tm america]

people can break anything. do what works for you .pipe plugs are easy to get out .if you have a heater hose fitting that is corroded to the point where it is gonna break off it probably needed changed either way so you dont end up with a leak . any block heater will work the same wether screw in type, freeze plug type, or recirulating type . it's up to you. the heat looses are the same with all of them they all do the same thing in the end.........i would be interested in seeing someone take one of the plugs out of the oil cooler to see if one would work there or not .not that it would do any better there just another place that might be possible to fit one .