archibaldtuttle
Active Member
It is a little tough to know where to put this thread. most boom lift threads are here, although this is really an industrial engine question. This B3.3 is a 2006 manufactured replacement engine from a factory rebuilding. Ser #68048575. It's up to about 1300 hours.
The manufacturer seems to specify a block heater in a small (about 9/16") freeze plug high in the block in the very center left side of the engine between the middle two cylinders.
unlike most freeze plugs that are larger but next to the cylinder wall this would require a long narrow straight heating element rather than a larger short element with a bend which is the standard generic on offer.
despite specifying this location for block heater, i can't find any reference to what after market heater they had in mind when they made this provision. It seems quite particularized. there is a tapped bolt hole next to the this plug that is apparently intended to hold the heater in so it would have a flanged plate that goes over the freeze plug hole instead of into it. given that it is only a single bolt hole, and not several to hold the plate throughout the circumference I would guess that the heater has an o-ring or expansion of some sort to seal.
cannot find any forum that really covers these engines (although they are apparently popular diesel converisons for jeeps.). And I assume but am not sure that they may have been used by Snorkel as original equipment in some years although the situation here is a retrofit. . .
The other concern I have with the specified hole, besides having trouble finding a heater that fits it, is that it is quite high on the block and I usually expect a heater to be lower so that the thermal circulation is better enabled. But maybe the heater would still displace colder water causing it to sink and creating thermal circulation effectively.
There are no heater hoses or takes offs that would facilitate an external heater that takes 5/8 or 3/4" barbed fittings. The radiator hoses are aftermarket accordion style, but i could replace the lower hose with two pieces and place a heater for 2" hose in that line, but both of the hoses go to the water pump housing which is high on the engine so i'm not sure, whether this would really warm the block that well.
Don't know if anyone has messed with these engines and not sure why cummins doesn't make better provision or their own part # heater, esp. where no glow plugs are fitting. What's the difference between paying 50 bucks for a heater and 150 bucks compared to being dead in the water . . . already had one cold morning where we had to charge it and wait for weather to warm to start it. And, even if I could reliably start it by topping the batteries in the winter, i think it is kinder to the engine to warm it up before you start it.
So appreciate anyone who has specific or generic ideas for approach to this.
brian
The manufacturer seems to specify a block heater in a small (about 9/16") freeze plug high in the block in the very center left side of the engine between the middle two cylinders.
unlike most freeze plugs that are larger but next to the cylinder wall this would require a long narrow straight heating element rather than a larger short element with a bend which is the standard generic on offer.
despite specifying this location for block heater, i can't find any reference to what after market heater they had in mind when they made this provision. It seems quite particularized. there is a tapped bolt hole next to the this plug that is apparently intended to hold the heater in so it would have a flanged plate that goes over the freeze plug hole instead of into it. given that it is only a single bolt hole, and not several to hold the plate throughout the circumference I would guess that the heater has an o-ring or expansion of some sort to seal.
cannot find any forum that really covers these engines (although they are apparently popular diesel converisons for jeeps.). And I assume but am not sure that they may have been used by Snorkel as original equipment in some years although the situation here is a retrofit. . .
The other concern I have with the specified hole, besides having trouble finding a heater that fits it, is that it is quite high on the block and I usually expect a heater to be lower so that the thermal circulation is better enabled. But maybe the heater would still displace colder water causing it to sink and creating thermal circulation effectively.
There are no heater hoses or takes offs that would facilitate an external heater that takes 5/8 or 3/4" barbed fittings. The radiator hoses are aftermarket accordion style, but i could replace the lower hose with two pieces and place a heater for 2" hose in that line, but both of the hoses go to the water pump housing which is high on the engine so i'm not sure, whether this would really warm the block that well.
Don't know if anyone has messed with these engines and not sure why cummins doesn't make better provision or their own part # heater, esp. where no glow plugs are fitting. What's the difference between paying 50 bucks for a heater and 150 bucks compared to being dead in the water . . . already had one cold morning where we had to charge it and wait for weather to warm to start it. And, even if I could reliably start it by topping the batteries in the winter, i think it is kinder to the engine to warm it up before you start it.
So appreciate anyone who has specific or generic ideas for approach to this.
brian
