Anyone use an engine heater??

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DenaliAK

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Huh. Sounds like you may have some other heating issues, because mine pumps out hot air after about 10 minutes of idle even when it's -10. It gets a little hotter when I'm driving because the RPM's go up. You should not need to go 20-30 minutes to just barely feel heat, especially if it's not even below freezing.

My first guess would be bad thermostat, but you already checked that. You may need a new heater core itself. Check the air-flow with different settings on your heater/AC controls, too. There may be a simple fix like a clogged air filter in there that needs replacing. Bottom line is that something ain't right, though. I get a lot of heat both front and rear on even the coldest days.
 

Narco

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damn its cold where you guys live. im going mtn biking in shorts and t shirt in a few minutes. its a nice 62 degrees =)
 

puckhead

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Its funny in the spring when it starts to warm up, when it gets to 0 it feels real nice lol. Its actually not too bad though, it seems like once it gets cold enough you cant tell if it is any colder
 
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odie301

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Is there a cabin air filter on a 2004 tahoe?? i have looked before and not found anything, unless there is different location than under the glove box. I do get great air flow out of the vents on a/c and on heat. It just takes a while for the heat to get there and then you can heat yourself right outa the truck if you leave it turned up. I tried the thermostat with no luck. Is there a chance that because i have a flex fuel truck that something is set up different?? Or is there a valve or solenoid that opens up the heat?? I have the dual digital climate control system if that matters
 

DenaliAK

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Its funny in the spring when it starts to warm up, when it gets to 0 it feels real nice lol. Its actually not too bad though, it seems like once it gets cold enough you cant tell if it is any colder

Yeah, I seem to feel the coldest when it's around 20 degrees and a little humid. Once it goes below zero it doesn't feel as bad. No idea why, since that is totally counter-intuitive....lol.

Is there a cabin air filter on a 2004 tahoe?? i have looked before and not found anything, unless there is different location than under the glove box. I do get great air flow out of the vents on a/c and on heat. It just takes a while for the heat to get there and then you can heat yourself right outa the truck if you leave it turned up. I tried the thermostat with no luck. Is there a chance that because i have a flex fuel truck that something is set up different?? Or is there a valve or solenoid that opens up the heat?? I have the dual digital climate control system if that matters

I wish I had an answer for you on this one, but I'm barely familiar with my '03 Denali. Don't see why a flex fuel setup would be any different, but who knows...maybe there's some efficiency feature kicking in that's limiting your heat? That seems counter-productive, though, since a cooler engine is a better running one, generally speaking, and the heater takes the heat from the engine. That's why if you're over-heating you should crank the heat all the way up...it actually cools the engine down some.

damn its cold where you guys live. im going mtn biking in shorts and t shirt in a few minutes. its a nice 62 degrees =)

Pssshhh...hasn't even started really getting cold yet. Today it's a balmy 27 and snowing...lol.

At least you aren't complaining that it's "cold" because it's only 62....I used to hear that in SoCal all the time and it drove me nuts. What a bunch of whiners.

;)
 
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withac

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damn its cold where you guys live. im going mtn biking in shorts and t shirt in a few minutes. its a nice 62 degrees =)

Has anyone told you how bad you suck? I've had lows of 16. In January I can get -20 or less.

---------- Post added at 03:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:59 PM ----------

Huh. Sounds like you may have some other heating issues, because mine pumps out hot air after about 10 minutes of idle even when it's -10. It gets a little hotter when I'm driving because the RPM's go up. You should not need to go 20-30 minutes to just barely feel heat, especially if it's not even below freezing.

My first guess would be bad thermostat, but you already checked that. You may need a new heater core itself. Check the air-flow with different settings on your heater/AC controls, too. There may be a simple fix like a clogged air filter in there that needs replacing. Bottom line is that something ain't right, though. I get a lot of heat both front and rear on even the coldest days.


I think DenaliAK here hit it on the head. If you're heater isn't warming up it's not the block heater. It should run warm when the engine warms up. I had a mini van years ago and when the heater ran cold at an idle I found it would warm up if I upped the RPM's a little, had a bad thermo. Replaced the thermo, got my heater back. If you replaced the thermo and still have problems it's like Denali said, you got other problems, or maybe the new thermo was bad. I've been told that lower radiator hose heaters don't work well with rides that have A/C. I had one on an old '73 Power Wagon, worked great but I didn't have A/C. I have a '98 Ram with a soft plug heater. It really does make it start easier. It doesn't heat the oil as someone infered, it heats the water in the system and really does make for easier starts on cold mornings. It started to leak a month ago. I could have just put a soft plug back in but I put another heater in. Cheap way to help it start on cold mornings. I'd recommend one.
 
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odie301

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my heat works great...but only once my truck is up to operating temp.. which is like 210. So my thought is, if i can use a block heater, tank heater, lower hose heater..to keep my coolant (and engine oil) warmed more so than if my truck sits over night at -20*..then it should warm up faster once i go down the road and hence create "instant" heat for the cab. The tank heater i am looking at will keep the coolant between 120-140..so once the truck is started it shouldn't take long to reach 210 and have optimul heat.
In the past using the factory block heater, i have not seen any improvement in engine warming.

my truck just currently seems to not "warm up" say to 210* w/o being driven. Maybe this is common?? It does warm up with exteneded idle(which is bad for gas mileage) but not up high enough to really heat up the inside. So i have heat, i dont lose heat if i stop and park..it just takes a while to heat up the first time.

Anyone know the factory block heater watts??
 

withac

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my heat works great...but only once my truck is up to operating temp.. which is like 210. So my thought is, if i can use a block heater, tank heater, lower hose heater..to keep my coolant (and engine oil) warmed more so than if my truck sits over night at -20*..then it should warm up faster once i go down the road and hence create "instant" heat for the cab. The tank heater i am looking at will keep the coolant between 120-140..so once the truck is started it shouldn't take long to reach 210 and have optimul heat.
In the past using the factory block heater, i have not seen any improvement in engine warming.

my truck just currently seems to not "warm up" say to 210* w/o being driven. Maybe this is common?? It does warm up with exteneded idle(which is bad for gas mileage) but not up high enough to really heat up the inside. So i have heat, i dont lose heat if i stop and park..it just takes a while to heat up the first time.

Anyone know the factory block heater watts??



Gotcha, I didn't quite follow you the first time. The soft plug heater in my Dodge wasn't factory installed, it was aftermarket and I could tell a definite difference when I used it. As far as the wattage I don't know. Is it possible that yours is burned out or something? I just would really think you should be able to tell a difference. My '** heats up at idle. You're right, it's not fuel efficient, but if I'm taking the family somewhere I'll start up the Tahoe and turn both heaters on full bore about 15 minutes give or take, before we leave. It's always nice and warm when we get in. I don't know a lot about these rides but I still have to wonder, as someone pointed out, that if you aren't getting much heat at an idle it there isn't something else going on.
 

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