Block heater installation question
 

I'm going to install a factory type block heater into the block. The directions say to use a thread sealant but doesn't list what I should use. Any suggestions? I was thinking of using high temp teflon tape. I think its good up to 500 degrees F.

Do you already have the block heater?
in your other thread, you state that the cord on your bumper goes nowhere. make sure you don't already have one in there... and buy the BEST tools and the largest 3/4 or 1" drive breaker bar you can get to turn this sucker... TIGHT!!!
John

Good luck.......... thats all I'm going to say here. I've seen what it takes to break those loose.

Why not use a lower radiator hose heater and save yourself the headache of trying to get out the plug?

I agree with Kerry. Get a lower a lower radiator hose heater kit from dieselgiant.com. Costs about $75 and take about 30 minutes to install. I put one in about a month ago and love it. Best $75 I spent during these cold winter months.

OK that's great, but it still doesn't answer the question of what to do when you can't plug it in.

If you can't plug it in then you don't need it.
 

AFAIK they need to be plugged in to work correctly. :D

Teflon tape is NOT a thread sealant; it is a thread lubricant. Helps you make the fitting tighter. If you want thread sealer, buy thread sealer. All the automotove chemicla companies market one. Any will do. Or, if you can find YELLOW thread tape, that has a sealer in it, along with thread lube.

I would tell you to use Expando, but I am not a mean person. So, do NOT use expando, unless you never ever want to get the heater back out of the block.

I agree with everybody else too - a 300 watt Zero-start is what I have between the block drain and the heater hose leading to the driver's side of the block by the IP. I did not usee one for the radiator hose. Along with an electric battery wrap,starts everytime, and I get heat right away. Got the block heater hoioked up to a full voltage Intermec timer set for two hours before I get up, and the battery heater is on all the time.

I thought you asked about non-electric heaters on another thread???

I did, sorry, I'm posting late at night and am a bit loopy

hmmm
 

Couldn't you rig up an inverter from the battery that would power the heater in a pinch when you are not near juice?

Certainly a good battery could heat things up and still crank it up once ready.

I was thinking of something like that. I'd have to do some testing to see if it drained the battery. I also thought that maybe a second battery but I'd also have to rig up a way to charge it but not draw any other systems off it. Also, I would want to be able to turn it off in the warmer months.

A block heater powered by a battery and inverter would drain the battery before the block warmed up enough to do any good. It's simply a question of "economics." (You can't spend a million dollars out of an account that has only a thousand in it.)

A 400 Watt block heater, assuming an 80% efficient inverter (that's a guess on my part), will draw approximately 40 Amps from a 12 Volt battery. The better Mercedes diesel batteries are 100 Amp-Hour units but that doesn't mean that you can draw 100 Amps for an hour. That capacity is at the "20 hour rate," meaning 5 Amps for 20 hours = 100 Amp-Hours. No way such a battery can supply 40 Amps for an hour or two and still start the car.

The only way to heat an engine without line voltage is one of the little diesel-powered coolant heaters. I've never seen one but have heard that they are good but expensive.

Jeremy.
You are corrcect with the calc's, but mfr's of batts recommend to only deplete the batts to 1/2 AH, so they will not be damaged. They will certainly loose life going beyond the 50% mark.
I have a Webasto coolant heater in the bus conversion. Works great fires off of diesel and heats the coolant for the interior of the bus. Runs thru a heat exchanger to the coolant in the engine, so the block stays warm thru the nite as well.
I asked an electrician who works for me about getting a 24 yr old freeze plug out to install a block heater, His suggestion was to freeze the engine.... Which would get the plug out....