Getting things warmed up...

[NotMatt]

Alright, here's my problem: I daily drive my Dodge CTD, but I don't drive a long ways to get to work. I figure this is a typical problem for some of us. I plug it in every night, but it still takes forever to warm up in the morning.

Starting it ahead of time and letting it run for 10-15 minutes does no good, it never even registers on the temp gauge after idling for 15 minutes. The only way to get it heated up is to drive it.

Anybody have any suggestions for getting it warmed up a "little" more in the morning, so I at least have some heat and a little less wear and tear on the rig on my way to work? I drive about 10 miles to work and on cold mornings, the temp gauge is usually not even in the "operating" range by the time I get there.

Grill covers? Different t-stat? Is this normal for the CTD, or do I have a bad t-stat? Once it does heat up it stays there a little above or below 190 depending on what I'm doing with it.

Also, along these same lines... am I assuming correctly that the heater I'm plugging in at night is not a block heater per-say, but simply the intake manifold heaters? Would adding a 2nd block heater do me any good?

 

[Lucky Jeff]

it is a block heater.. if the grid heaters were left on all night long it would cause a fire. Leaving it idling for 15 minutes isn't very good for these things either unless you plan on changing your oil more often then normal. I'm not aware of any tricks to get it to warm up quicker, never had to worry about it really because my commute is so long. Rip on the bombers has such a short commute, that he takes a short drive in the morning untill his truck warms up and then pulls into work.

 

[Jay1]

Maybe you should check where the heater for the engine is.

 

[crash2]

Cardboard over the rad matt to keep the airflow down to zilch. as for idle---let it idle for about 10 minutes with the heater plugged in and go. Your not going to hurt that motor. And just check your oil weekly--you will smell fuel in the oil if its going to be any issue...

 

[PORTER]

I plug mine in overnight, and it warms up pretty quickly in the morning. Not to mention I have heat right off the bat.

 

[KarlVP]

What about installing a high idle switch?

I know on Tom's 05 GMC 6.6 it idles high in the mornings when it is cold. When the motor finally warms up, it idles normal.

We are told to to this on the Diesel buses we drive here on the navy base too.

 

[NotMatt]

Well, I built a nice little airflow restrictor for the radiator... we'll see how this works out.

 

[~JM~]

Normal idle speed is too slow to warm it up. Extended idle will just wash down the cylinder walls.

You need to get the idle up around 1100 to 1500 RPM.

Your plug in block heater is on the passenger side of the block. It's up high enough & towards the front enough that you can see it fairly easy. (At least my '95's is)

I had to replace my block heater. Are you sure yours is working? When I plug mine in. It will bump the temp gauge needle most of the way to the first mark instead of sitting off scale low.

Reducing the air flow through the radiator will help. Slide a thin piece of plastic or aluminum sheet (cardboard will work unless it gets wet) between the inter cooler & the rad. Cut a hole in the middle of the sheet & experiment with the hole size until you get the right amount of flow. Make sure you monitor your temp gauge.

 

[NotMatt]

I had to replace my block heater. Are you sure yours is working? When I plug mine in. It will bump the temp gauge needle most of the way to the first mark instead of sitting off scale low.

Well, I know it does something at least... when it's plugged in, I don't have to wait forever for the "wait to start" light to go out, I can turn the key to on, wait a few seconds for the light to go out, and crank it over as if it had been running 10 minutes before and was all warmed up. BUT, it does not actually make anything better temp-wise. The temp gauge is not even on the register when I start it in the morning after being plugged in all night. Takes about 5 miles of driving before it starts visibly rising, and another 5-10 before it hits the bottom tick on the "normal operating range" part of the guage.

 

[Jay1]

Thats about how long it takes for my dodge but with gas motor.

 

[Lucky Jeff]

if you don't plug it in.. you can hear the difference. The engine is a lot louder when you don't plug it in.. I thought 24 valves had a high idle? A lot of the guys on the bomber board are talking about their factory high idle for cold weather.

 

[NotMatt]

Doesn't seem to idle any higher when it's cold.

 

[skrause]

I thought 24 valves had a high idle? A lot of the guys on the bomber board are talking about their factory high idle for cold weather.

Nope, not on my '06.

 

[4xjunkie]

Starting it ahead of time and letting it run for 10-15 minutes does no good, it never even registers on the temp gauge after idling for 15 minutes. The only way to get it heated up is to drive it.


Also, along these same lines... am I assuming correctly that the heater I'm plugging in at night is not a block heater per-say, but simply the intake manifold heaters? Would adding a 2nd block heater do me any good?

The block heater only heats to about a 100*. depending on how big of a heater you have. I have a 1500 watt heater in mine.

Not warming up at idle is normal on a diesel, they don't produce much heat at idle. You need to work a diesel to produce some heat. So some diesels are better then others.

 

[pbmcauliffe]

I thought 24 valves had a high idle? A lot of the guys on the bomber board are talking about their factory high idle for cold weather.

I was told that the factory can reprogram the computer on the 24's so when you start it, tap the cruise control button on and that sets the high idle you can then hit accelfor 100 rpm increases. Haven't asked the dealer yet though.

 

[PORTER]

I was told that the factory can reprogram the computer on the 24's so when you start it, tap the cruise control button on and that sets the high idle you can then hit accelfor 100 rpm increases.

Absolutely true as when mine was at the dealer they programmed the ecu to let the high idle function work. I use it quite often, and what the dealer told me is the How To is also in the owners manual if you want to do it yourself. Mine as well as Pats is an 06 so I do not know when this function was first offered.

 

[NotMatt]

Now that's good info to know. I'm going to go see if I can find more info on doing that today.

 

[Jason C]

Idle with exhaust brake on will cut the warm up time in half.

 

[82toyomud]

Idle with exhaust brake on will cut the warm up time in half.

x2, when the truck does come out, that's how we heat her up

 

[NotMatt]

Yeah, I read lots about that while researching this little thing. Guess I'll put exhaust brake on my wish list.

BTW... Lithia... (I know watcha mean now Crash... heh)

I called the dealership today to inquire about the supposed 24 valve idle control feature and they flat out told me it's only on the '06's. My understanding is that the '06's (and some other 3rd gens?) have an automatic idle up feature when it's cold out, but that all the 24 valves can have the "idle control" feature enabled with the ECM so the idle can be controlled with the cruise buttons as long as the park brake is on... but the "CTD guy" at the local dealership says no... (or he's too lazy to look up how to do it).

Can anyone else confirm if they have this feature "enabled" on an '02 or older 24 valve? All the searching I did ended up leading to the newer 3rd gen's automatic idle ramping in cold weather, not this supposed feature that can be controlled with the cruise buttons?

Guess I'll have a look-see in the FSM when I get home and see if there's anything in there about it.