My new-to-me 2014 Silverado 2500HD questions

[Dcel]

Hi friends!

I am the proud owner of a new-to-me 2014 Silverado 2500HD.

I have a couple of questions.

1) Is the 2014 2500hd an odd year, since the 1500 was all new in 2014? 

2) Living in Montana, i will be plugging in the heater. Is this a water, oil or block heater? And why does the tag on the cord say to plug in when it is 0°F ?? Will it not work when it is freezing (less than 32°) ???

 

Thanks!

[jhplak325]

2014 HD trucks aren’t an odd year, HD’s for the GMT900 trucks ran from 2007.5 to 2014 with a chassis change in 2011.

 

the block heater is for the coolant.

 

i have never plugged my Duramax in and the coldest it has seen was -5 this past winter in upstate New York

[newdude]

1 hour ago, Dcel said:

Hi friends!

I am the proud owner of a new-to-me 2014 Silverado 2500HD.

I have a couple of questions.

1) Is the 2014 2500hd an odd year, since the 1500 was all new in 2014? 

2) Living in Montana, i will be plugging in the heater. Is this a water, oil or block heater? And why does the tag on the cord say to plug in when it is 0°F ?? Will it not work when it is freezing (less than 32°) ???

 

Thanks!

HD was carry over from 2013 as jhplak mentioned. 

 

I do believe that there is a thermal switch on the heater or the heater cord that prevents it from operating above a certain temperature. 

 

Quote

You may wish to use the coolant heater to improve ease of starting at temperatures between −18 °C (0 °F) and −29 °C (−20 °F). Keep the coolant heater plugged in for a minimum of four hours. At temperatures below −29 °C (−20 °F), the coolant heater should remain plugged in for at least eight hours.

 

[Dcel]

Hrmmm,

So i shouldn't even bother plugging it in until 0°F ? Even at +10degrees, my old car had a hard time starting.

 

Thank you all for the replies.

[carkhz316]

Do you have a diesel or gas?

[davester]

My '04 Sierra 6.0l gas 3500 starts fine, without being plugged in, at -25C/-13F.

 

Older vehicles with carbs had more problems starting when cold, fuel injection made a big difference with cold starts.

 

Now it's more about how good the battery is, that it can crank the engine when it's really cold out.  Plugging in the truck does help with this as well, as it's easier to turn over the engine when it's warmer.

 

And plugging it in also helps with getting the cab heated up faster...

[carkhz316]

9 hours ago, davester said:

My '04 Sierra 6.0l gas 3500 starts fine, without being plugged in, at -25C/-13F.

 

Older vehicles with carbs had more problems starting when cold, fuel injection made a big difference with cold starts.

 

Now it's more about how good the battery is, that it can crank the engine when it's really cold out.  Plugging in the truck does help with this as well, as it's easier to turn over the engine when it's warmer.

 

And plugging it in also helps with getting the cab heated up faster...

Agreed as I've had a few of the gassers now. I don't think I ever have plugged them in, even when it gets down to -40* here. They just crank over slower is all.

[HawkScot]

Block heater has a thermostat in cord that does not trip until 0F, so you can plug it in, but it will not do anything unless it is colder than 0F. This is done because of the diagnostics checking ambient and coolant temps after being off for xx hours. If a sensor fails, the temps are different and it sets a code expecting one of the sensors is bad. So rather than figure out how to bypass when block heater used, they made it so it doesn't work unless it is really cold. I have never had an issue starting down to -10F with my 2011 6.0 gas.

[Dcel]

Thank everyone.

It's the gas 6.0l.

 

I once started my old car below zero Fahrenheit. It sounded so terrible, like rod-knock for about 20 seconds. Made me cringe.

 

[Dixon700]

Idk about Chevy's block heater as I haven't had one with a block heater, but my current and last ram with Cummins both have and I love plugging them in. Instant heat, easier on engine, starter, and batteries.  The block heater in both my trucks and backhoe all work when you plug them in no matter the temp. ?