Personal heater for m35a2

[ramashkaus]

I'm a MV newb, but a long time lurker here. Hopefully starting this thread in the right place. I acquired a crew cab deuce and I'm slowly going over it finding all kinds of issues as I drive and addressing them one at the time. At this point I would like the heater to work right since the temperatures are getting lower and lower and deuce will be my winter transportation. I figured out that my heater box isn't connected correctly. Looks like I'll need another fitting and possibly a hose to reroute it the correct way. I am kinda scared starting this job since I really don't want to end up having to flush the coolant. With that here are the questions I got.
Can someone please let me know which hose in the pic is the return and which one is an inlet?
Can I easily source the fitting somewhere like Napa?
Can the whole thing be done quickly enough not to leak too much coolant and having to burp the lines?
Is there a procedure somewhere in the tm that I missed for burping heater/coolant lines.
I'm in far NE Philadelphia in that matters.

Thanks in advance.

 

[runk]

some threads-

Deuce heater box install

I am installing a heater box on a deuce that has never had one before, I am going to mount everything in the cab. I thought by doing that it will be more efficient. I have a couple questions with pictures of the questions because i cant explain my self very good. :p 1. On the electric part of...

www.steelsoldiers.com

Personnel cab hot water heater installation instructions needed

Hello All I bought a cab heater for my deuce. A search of tm's & posts did not give me installation instructions. Can anyone tell me where to find them? Thank you Rodger

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[ramashkaus]

some threads-

Deuce heater box install

I am installing a heater box on a deuce that has never had one before, I am going to mount everything in the cab. I thought by doing that it will be more efficient. I have a couple questions with pictures of the questions because i cant explain my self very good. :p 1. On the electric part of...

www.steelsoldiers.com

Personnel cab hot water heater installation instructions needed

Hello All I bought a cab heater for my deuce. A search of tm's & posts did not give me installation instructions. Can anyone tell me where to find them? Thank you Rodger

www.steelsoldiers.com

I've been through both of those before posting. As well as all branch outs. Still have same questions. I even looked at every engine bay pic of m35a2 on Google and saw heater hooked up every darn way on the planet.

Can you maybe just answer which one of the hoses is inlet? If you know. I'll try to figure out the rest somehow.

 

[Guyfang]

Why would it make a difference? its a heater core. More or less a radiator. Hot fluid in, hot fluid out.

 

[tie6044]

Are the valves open? First place to start if your not getting heat.

 

[runk]

PS magazine says top is inlet.

 

[fleetmech]

I'm a MV newb, but a long time lurker here. Hopefully starting this thread in the right place. I acquired a crew cab deuce and I'm slowly going over it finding all kinds of issues as I drive and addressing them one at the time. At this point I would like the heater to work right since the temperatures are getting lower and lower and deuce will be my winter transportation. I figured out that my heater box isn't connected correctly. Looks like I'll need another fitting and possibly a hose to reroute it the correct way. I am kinda scared starting this job since I really don't want to end up having to flush the coolant. With that here are the questions I got.
Can someone please let me know which hose in the pic is the return and which one is an inlet?
Can I easily source the fitting somewhere like Napa?
Can the whole thing be done quickly enough not to leak too much coolant and having to burp the lines?
Is there a procedure somewhere in the tm that I missed for burping heater/coolant lines.
I'm in far NE Philadelphia in that matters.

Thanks in advance.

I cant say for sure, but in your picture it almost looks like the heater supply and return valves are at least partially closed. Those things where the hoses attach to the engine look like petcocks, but they are actually valves. Make sure those are threaded fully out so you get flow through the heater core. The core itself should be non directional, so the in and out shouldn't matter.

FWIW, consider that its still a drafty old truck, and the heaters were not spectacular, even when new. That heater core is in a basically bare metal box, in the draft of the rad fan, a long way from the cabin, with uninsulated ducts, so it has plenty of places to lose heat before it gets to you. I have seen some guys cut and shrink down the heater box and relocate it into the cab in a more conventional mounting. If I were planning for my deuce to be winter transport, I would definitely look into that, and with a crew cab you should have plenty of room for it!

 

[Guyfang]

When I was still on active, I saw these heaters hooked up in the cab. Having spent thousands of klicks underway in the 2.5 and 5 ton trucks in the winter, there are other things we did to help keep somewhat warm. But If you think you are going to be toasty warm, better start thinking again.

 

[ramashkaus]

Let me start by saying that I fully understand this things limitations. I'm also going to mention that I already did a metric tonne of insulation and hole plugging to this thing. Another thing I'll say is that I got a Mr heater propane little heater for the cab and a big boy one for the back part of the truck when that gets ready. With all that being said, truck is getting COMPLETELY COLD air out of the heater and I know that's certainly not ok.
Would opening those valves mean I have to burp the heater box somehow as well? I'll try to kroil it tomorrow and see if I can get them to move. Are my hoses hooked up "correctly enough"?

 

[ramashkaus]

PS magazine says top is inlet.

I mean inlet and return on the heater box itself. I saw that PS mag picture.
I think when this is done and actually working I'll post a pic somewhere on this forum of properly hooked up box and explain the issues I had. This info shouldn't be that hard to dig up. The struggle is real lol.

 

[ramashkaus]

Why would it make a difference? its a heater core. More or less a radiator. Hot fluid in, hot fluid out.

According to that famous pic it somehow does. I'm not sure either. I didn't think it would.

 

[M37M35]

Can someone please let me know which hose in the pic is the return and which one is an inlet?

It doesn't matter which hose goes where on the heater box itself.
It does matter on the engine.
It looks like one of the hoses on your engine needs to be moved.
Make sure the two valves on the engine are open.

Can I easily source the fitting somewhere like Napa?

Yes, the fittings are standard pipe thread - NPT.
You can get them from Napa, Amazon, or other auto parts/hardware stores.
You should just be able to move your existing fitting.

Can the whole thing be done quickly enough not to leak too much coolant and having to burp the lines?

Yes, just have some appropriate plugs ready to plug the hoses/ports. Or a helper to stick their fingers in the holes. Just get all the fittings broke loose first and some thread seal ready before the switch so you're not fiddling with it while the lines are off.

Is there a procedure somewhere in the tm that I missed for burping heater/coolant lines.

There shouldn't be any reason to burp/bleed anything. Just top the radiator off when you're done, and again after it's been up to operating temperature.

 

[frank8003]

The valve above the alternator is difficult to get at. I had to cut it out and replace it.

 

[Guyfang]

Thats what I meant when I asked why should it mater. On the heater itself.

No purging needed. Just open the petcocks and see if anything leaks. M37 has it covered from front to rear.

 

[frank8003]

There exists in SS a wealth of information about the heater hoses hookups, (many of them wrong). Look under coolant filter hookups, also under heater hoses.

Heater hoses

I am trying to validate my heater hoses against the PS article below. Is my top hose where it should be? I can't really tell from the quality of the picture.

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[Mullaney]

I'm a MV newb, but a long time lurker here. Hopefully starting this thread in the right place. I acquired a crew cab deuce and I'm slowly going over it finding all kinds of issues as I drive and addressing them one at the time. At this point I would like the heater to work right since the temperatures are getting lower and lower and deuce will be my winter transportation. I figured out that my heater box isn't connected correctly. Looks like I'll need another fitting and possibly a hose to reroute it the correct way. I am kinda scared starting this job since I really don't want to end up having to flush the coolant. With that here are the questions I got.
Can someone please let me know which hose in the pic is the return and which one is an inlet?
Can I easily source the fitting somewhere like Napa?
Can the whole thing be done quickly enough not to leak too much coolant and having to burp the lines?
Is there a procedure somewhere in the tm that I missed for burping heater/coolant lines.
I'm in far NE Philadelphia in that matters.

Thanks in advance.

Another option is a " Universal Box Heater" that would allow about a 12 inch square box with a water in port and a water out port. Has a fan on the box that you mount inside the truck. Quick web search comes in around a hundred bucks and as high as two fifty. That gets the heat IN the truck rather than thorough paper ducts that leach away your heat. Not factory, but not awful.

In a past job I had, we installed those in every truck. Dodge Ambulances got two. One in the cab and one out back since their primary objective was moving people.

Definitely nothing to the heater box about "in" and "out". Just a circular path to pass hot water through a small radiator, with air pushed by a fan.

.

 

[cattlerepairman]

I am keeping my Deuce away from winter road salt, but that's just me. If I WERE to drive it in the winter, I would immediately start searching for a diesel fired coolant or air heater similar to what you see on semi trucks. Usually made by EBERSPAECHER or WEBASTO. I'd start at a place where crashed semis go to die. Why would I do that? These units are very small and their main purpose is to bring the coolant temperature up so that one can run the fans and get heat without the engine running.
Alternatively, there are also those Eperspaecher/Webasto units that heat air instead of the coolant and pipe it into the cab and you may want to consider those as well for your use because you could use this and forego the whole original heater setup altogether. They are called "airtronic" and the coolant heating type is called "hydronic" if I am not mistaken.

Today's units are far smaller than the venerable Southwind monsters from yesteryear. There are also Chinese knockoffs of both that are reputed to be working. Can't testify to that. Go to eBay and search for 24V diesel air heater and be amazed. I know a guy that installed one in his semi and it worked out for him. No endorsement, just sayin'.

The multi, like all diesels, warms ...up.........very...............sloooowwwwly...in the winter. The clutch-less fan doesn't help. That means, the stock heater box will get lukewarm coolant and blow cool or lukewarm air.
So, the diesel fired heater helps in that department, you can have the coolant toasty before you start and keep it that way, even when the engine does not want to warm up while driving, maximising the stock heater box output.

As always, a matter of time and $$. Maybe I'm old but before I would freeze my behind off in a Deuce in the winter and drive it with a wooly tuque and mittens on, I would either fit it with the best heater I can afford or (more likely) park it and get a winter beater that has good heat and I can drive without a coat on!

 

[fleetmech]

Assuming the hoses are not bypassing the t-stat, its possible the t-stat is stuck open, or the heater core or fittings could be plugged. OP, does your rig get up to running temp ok? If it does, once at temp, check the temperature of the hoses going to the heater. since there are no shutoff valves other than the two already mentioned, both hoses should get nice and hot while running with the heater off. If one stays noticeably cool longer, it could be that the core is plugged.

 

[ramashkaus]

Ok. So quick reply to everyone. I originally tried to open those little valves before posting this thread. When everyone here told me that they look closed I kroiled the snot out of them and wiggled them into compliance this morning.

My truck does get to operating temperature but before the air coming out of the heater duct would be completely cold. It is now nice and luke warm. I consider that a win since this is pretty much what I was going for. I knew it will not blow super hot air, but it should work for defrost and those 40 degree mornings. For anything else propane heater should easily take care of business. On top of that I'll continue covering all the gaps in the cab, so I should be good to go as long as the hose attachment is a proper one and I don't actually need to drop it to the port on that PS pic.

Oh, and the box took a bunch of coolant after driving it for a while and sweating in it with heater on in 50 degree weather. I added a bunch, but I think I'll need to buy some more, since it's not 100% full.

In any case thank you everyone for your help!

The only thing left is for someone to confirm that my hose attachment locations are OK and not going to blow head gasket or something.

 

[ramashkaus]

So according to frank8003 I should still move my other valve as well as the hose to the other location. Is that the consensus here? I'd rather not mess with it since heat now works and I bet twisting it off and on would be a b&*ch. But if I have to do it, I'll get it done.