Diesel Engine Block heaters

A question like that would indicate that, you are too damned dumb to operate a vehicle. Take a cab.

There is additional information required, if you would like a sincere answer.

1. Is the electricity turned on at the receptacle that the heater is plugged into?

1. Is the vehicle parked in the garage or outside?

2. Are you going to leave the engine running?

1. Is the wind blowing? At what speed?

2. What is the ambient temperature? 110, 50, 10, minus 40, or minus

Let's put it this way, parked outside, engine off, block heater on, you will not be able to perceive a difference between the temperature inside and outside of the vehicle without a thermometer. I have to agree with the other poster that said you are too dumb to operate a vehicle. Call senior services for your transportation.

I suspect you mean, "When I start the engine, how warm will the air be at start up if the block heater has been plugged in all night?" Is that pretty much what you meant? If so I can tell you from my experience that it won't be much better than having nothing plugged in at all. The heater keeps the oil above freezing and not too much more.

I think that I read your question right, you want to know when you start the engine will you be able to tell the difference in air temp that is coming out of the vents, right? Well if that is right I will go with that and tell you that a lot will depend on the temp outside. I find that with mine not a huge difference, so little that I worried if the block heater was working. I waited for the cold morning and then climbed up under the truck to see if the block was warm, was working fine. hope that helps..

the same as the air outside the cab. the block heater only hkeeps the motor warm. it has nothing to do with the reest of the truck

Same temperature as outside air....doesn't have a thing to do with cabin temperature... why do you think they call it the ENGINE BLOCK HEATER??????

I'd have to agree with the rest of the group's replies with one exception. IF you leave the heater control in the defrost position, and the temp lever in the hot position, you will get a small amount of convected air up through the defrost vents. This will sometimes keep the windshield warm enough to prevent frost. BUT you will not notice the cab temp being much different from outside.

I suppose on a big V-8 like a power stroke, a block heater raise the water temperature enough to make a difference difference in the heater operation. However back in the 80's I added a block heater to a Ford Fiesta that I drove to work. On nights when I left the block heater plugged in, I almost immediately got warm air out of the heater after I started the car the next morning. My farm tractors all have dual block heaters, and the cab heater will start blowing slightly warm air almost as soon as you get them started. And in even moderately cold weather (32 F), they are almost impossible to start without either the block heaters plugged in, or with some sort of assist (ether in one, an intake warmer in the other).

Ed

My very first encounter with a block heater came in 1976 when I was assigned in late November to Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls MT (I'm a CA boy). I bought a tank heater and taped it into the heater line. It worked but not too well so I swapped it out for a lower radiator heater. That did the trick and my car functioned perfectly right down to -20. In 77 I was shipped up to Tatalina AFS in central Alaska. We used freeze plug heaters there. The truck assigned to our weather unit was a 1968 Dodge Power Wagon 6 pack with a small block V-8. We plugged it in dutifully each night only to discover in the spring that the cord was severed at the block. So, at -40 we were starting that truck without plugging it in. Amazing. Back in MT I used a variety of different trucks and cars, all with freeze plug heaters. The coldest I ever had to start a car in was Christmas day 1990. We were at Henry's Lake near West Yellowstone and the temp at 7:00 AM was -53. The Aerostar was a tad slow on the battery but the engine turned over and fired up. Still, the cab was cold for a very long time. In AK, for what it's worth, we never shut down the diesel trucks or cats unless they were garaged. Otherwise, we ran them idling 24/7