Its cold outside!

[crown14]

Its cold! And the 300 Tdi takes FOREVER to warm up, what can I do? Block heater? Block up the grille like dumptrucks do?

[mdmccallum]

I put an remote starter in my truck 2 yrs ago. Not sure if it will run long enough to warm up a Tdi. It runs for 15 min then shuts off. You can restart it if need be. I start mine from my shower in the morning.

About $50 from autozone.

[TDI Guy]

The TDI does not warm up well when Idling... Def. get a Rad Muff from RN. It helps. The temp was 26 this morning..

[newfD90]

True enough. It was 17 when I started my 200Tdi the other morning. It never warmed up until I started driving it. Time to start plugging in the block heater and perhaps put that muff on it.

[JFD]

75º F here, no warm up issue :sunny

[ECR]

It doesn't take that long. From when I leave my house it takes 2 miles of 45-50 mph driving to get good heat (prior to that you just suck it up), and that is in Maine where the real cold is. I run a muff in the dead of winter and it helps, but not really for initial heat, but it does help to keep the heat up once it comes.
You'd need to get a secondary heater (block heater, or other) if you want a faster cabin warm ups.

My truck will loose heat when it idles. It can be toasty and then if there is a trail traffic jam or something it cools off to virtually no heat again. They need load to build heat.

Follow-up Post:

75º F here, no warm up issue :sunny

A little snow this morning and about 25 degrees. Windy and they say the wind chill is -1 (F).
Brrrrr

[DaveG]

Its cold! And the 300 Tdi takes FOREVER to warm up, what can I do? Block heater? Block up the grille like dumptrucks do?
I have a heater that's installed in the coolant hose that heats the fluid. Makes a huge difference on cold days. On days that It's been sitting I'll just plug it in for 20-30 mins before I'm ready to go and it does a nice job of warming things up.

[Antichrist]

Radiator muff or block heater.
Remote starters, which start your car and just let it idle are worse for an engine than starting and driving off, no matter how cold it is. Plus, engines warm up faster under load than at idle. Not to mention that if you lose oil pressure, or have a fire, you don't know it until it's too late.
On a Tdi the risk is even greater. If it decided that day to blow a turbo seal, not as likely at idle, but possible, the engine would probably self destruct. A runaway diesel isn't pretty.

[JimC]

I have an Espar. Its a thousand bucks, but I like it.

[130Tdi]

Cold in NC ????

Joel I know you are used to 30ft tall camp fires but ....

[Overlander]

On the subject, where is the best place to put a block heater on a TDI exactly? I have one I installed on the frame, with splice ins on one of the heater lines, and then into the line that runs down the right side of the radiator, but I'm not sure if it's optimal. I want to hear about setups that are proven, and the points that they are tied into the coolant system.

[dave_lucas]

I have been in GA all week and it was really cold, I had no idea it could be that cold in GA :(

Glad I am back here in Colorado where I do not need to wear a coat today :sunny

[Lindy]

I put a RN muff on my defender and it seems to have made a difference. It's snowing here in Des Moines today.

[xrover]

You should order the proper block heater that goes in the engine block. I live in Toronto and it did a great, in fact barely had to warm up the glow plugs. I bought a extension cord that has a built in switch that comes on below x degrees (I don't recall what it was). I picked it up at a place that sell truck stuff. But once on the road, if it's 0 degrees f the air ingress will overpower the highest heat coming from the 300tdi. I ended up going with a webasto cabin heater, installed under the seat box (110 rhd). I had the outlet in the second row and provided excellent heat up through the back. Espar or Webasto is the way to go.

[TDI Guy]

It doesn't take that long. From when I leave my house it takes 2 miles of 45-50 mph driving to get good heat (prior to that you just suck it up), and that is in Maine where the real cold is. I run a muff in the dead of winter and it helps, but not really for initial heat, but it does help to keep the heat up once it comes.
You'd need to get a secondary heater (block heater, or other) if you want a faster cabin warm ups.

My truck will loose heat when it idles. It can be toasty and then if there is a trail traffic jam or something it cools off to virtually no heat again. They need load to build heat.

Follow-up Post:



A little snow this morning and about 25 degrees. Windy and they say the wind chill is -1 (F).
Brrrrr


I found out about it loosing heat when Idling on the trails last winter wheeling at RC. We were nice and toasty until we got onto the trails and then my feet froze the rest of the day. I guess there is no cure for that other then a secondary heater.

Have any of you guys with Muffs made holes in the intercooler area? I never did but wondered about it.

[artm]

Noone's mentioned...recirculating the interior air by replumbing the intake. A chance to also plug up that useless fender vent which just collects snow and ice in the winter.

[pendy]

On the subject, where is the best place to put a block heater on a TDI exactly? I have one I installed on the frame, with splice ins on one of the heater lines, and then into the line that runs down the right side of the radiator, but I'm not sure if it's optimal. I want to hear about setups that are proven, and the points that they are tied into the coolant system.


The 2.8l has a different freeze plug size. I have not been able to match it up here in the states yet.

[Overlander]

I have the RN muff and cut out the intercooler hole. I think it helps with power if you've been on the highway a while, but I made my hole a bit too big, and it lets a lot of cold air spill over to the radiator. I'm thinkin gof getting another, cutting out a smaller hole that is clear of the radiator (I think about 2" wide would be plenty, and then having a velcro rolldown flap available, so i can use the muff when fording to protect the radiator. that would be the setup right there.

Also, I had seriously been pondering replacing my clutch fan for electric Kenlowes to optimize fording capability with a cutoff switch, and I'm wondering if switching to the kenlowe and controlling the relay for them with a thermostat switch in the block might be an effective way to stay warm as well? Anybody using electric fans with TDI's? I'll bet the lack of a fan running might warm that engine up on low rev. Question is, will a Kenlowe keep my TDI's cool enough in desert/jungle conditions?

[cbass]

A webasto has been mentioned, and it seems like that is the best option if you can find one (may have to look in Canada). It seems the best because it doesn't need a cord or electricity to heat up, it just burns a small amount of diesel fuel like a mini-furnace and uses that heat to warm both the block as well as the cabin. The ones for VW's have timers so that if you always leave the house around 7:30am, you can set the timer to always come on at 7:15am and then by the time you get in the truck, it's toasty warm and ready to start.

Here's a link to start the search: http://www.webastoshowroom.com/blueheat/

[Retrofit]

That is what I installed in mine and I also took the remote and timer so you can start it remotely or with the daily timer. The Webasto has an internal pump that circulates the coolant and also has a an option to turn the cabin fan on if you want. If you take the later option keep in mind you will need a dual battery setup or else you might not have the necessary battery power to turn your truck on after.

Pat

[xrover]

I picked up my diesel webasto cabin heater used for $400. Did not come with the fancy timers, but worked great since it is instant heat. Very little battery draw as it only needed it for the glowplug and small blower fan. Easy to pipe into the fuel line. The only issue is where to put it. Like I said earlier, I had an '83 110 RHD, so under the drivers seat was the tool box area, which fit the webasto perfectly. The output was about a 1 1/2" diam tub which i mounted to the lower floor bulkhead behind the driver seat. It also had an air diverter to postion the flow from there.
Check the used market, and of course buyer beware when buying used.

[Red90]

A Webasto or Espar coolant heater can be had on eBay for around $600 to $700. It is the cat's pajamas. Wonderful. On mine, I added a $15 wireless relay to start it. Even better.

Next would be a block heater. Temro part number 3100087 for the 200 or 300TDI. Much cheaper and work great as long as you can plug it in.

[crown14]

Cold in NC ????

Joel I know you are used to 30ft tall camp fires but ....Yeah you are right in the aspect that it usually dosent get cold enough here to warrant block heaters and $600 Webasto heaters, but this past week or so has been abnormally cold here for this time of year. Its usually not like this until January, then by the end of Feb its nice and warm. I can deal with it, just worried about the engine/trans always running so cool. Another diesel trait Ill have to get used to I suppose.