Grid heater delete on 6.7 Cummins

untchabl

untchabl

On the rocks
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Location
Bear Creek, NC 27207
Heard a few horror stories about the grid heater bolt falling out and damaging the engine. Was curious if anyone had any personal experience with a 6.7 Cummins without a grid heater. How is cold start during the winter? My truck is a 2015 that does not have the block heater harness.

Was looking at the Fleece Performance or similar billet plate that does not have a grid heater. Rather not spend $1k on the Banks setup unless a grid heater is really necessary.
 
My first gen motor fires up just fine down in to the teens. It was a little grumpy for a few minutes because I didn't have the block heater plugged in, but it made it.

I took the toaster oven out of mine and stuck some bolts back in the holes of the spacer to seal them up. With red loc-tite, of course :D
 
Not sure about the grid heater, but I added the block heater to mine. Heater is there you just have the buy the harness and plug it in. I bought one from Mopar but I think there were after market ones as well.
 
It's nice to be able to plug in the block heater and crank the truck when it's already at operating temp. I did it back in '15 when he had some snow/ice storms down here and it melted everything off the hood of the truck.
 
Where the truck is normally parked, I don't have an outlet to plug in a block heater. And if we're off somewhere on a ride during the winter, I may not be able to plug in a block heater.

Guess I'm just wondering how cold starts are without the grid heater and without a block heater.
 
Not a 6.7 but my 05 has a wilson intake and manifold on it, cranks fine in any NC weather I've encountered. In 2020 I was in ND hunting and its high single digits or low teens over night. Started every morning. Coughed and spit a little but never cut off
 
I think that's pretty much what you'll find. It'll crank if you've got good battieres, but just be cantankerous until it gets a little heat in it.
 
In popular fashion of referencing engines that aren't 6.7s, My 03 still has it's OEM one equipped and functional. It's there for a reason.

Diesel engines need Heat, Compression, Air, Fuel and Timing to run. The thermal efficiency of the engine has a larger role to play with a cast iron block and head.

If you're only concerned about the bolt dropping in your manifold couldn't you just remove the manifold tak weld all the bolts, clean out the manifold while you're there and then put it back together?

My pre canbus 03 HO 5.9 uses lamp out indicators as it measures the voltage draw in the circuits, a 2015 6.7 ECU is going to know the grid heater is missing. My advise would be to look up how the grid heater is used and the different systems that interact with it before removing it all together and developing indirect problems from it.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I think that's pretty much what you'll find. It'll crank if you've got good battieres, but just be cantankerous until it gets a little heat in it.
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I'm convinced starting speed has more to do with it than anything. My 12 valve in the dodge would start just fine in any weather. My 12 valve in my FL60 was stubborn as hell to start anytime the temperature was under 30 degrees. The main difference was the speed the starter turned the motor. The FL60 had one of the big 1:1 starters and the dodge had one of the little mini starters that turns the motor faster.
 
NCJeeplover said:
My 12 valve in the dodge would start just fine in any weather. My 12 valve in my FL60 was stubborn as hell to start anytime the temperature was under 30 degrees. The main difference was the speed the starter turned the motor.
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Again... Op is asking about a 6.7 not a 12v.

I've said my piece.
Darkbloodmon said:
My pre canbus 03 HO 5.9 uses lamp out indicators as it measures the voltage draw in the circuits, a 2015 6.7 ECU is going to know the grid heater is missing. My advise would be to look up how the grid heater is used and the different systems that interact with it before removing it all together and developing indirect problems from it.
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Exactly...not talking about a 12 valve, so it'll fire up even better!

It'll start. You know how much Cummins guys love to post a cold start video on YouTube :D

That said...if it's single digits or in the negatives, I'm doing to do my best to plug it in so I can get some heat quicker. Also, idling doesn't build up as much heat as people assume. 5-10 minutes, hop in, and drive. Of course, be easy on it, but you gotta put some load on it to build up some heat. Then again, yall do have them fancy computer controlled turbos. They close the vanes up some and use that to build heat quicker as well. Nice feature!

That first video is painful for me to listen to. Why can't they just have a regular damn key?! I'll let it quit cranking when I'm good and ready because 'Merica!
 
NCJeeplover said:
I'm convinced starting speed has more to do with it than anything. My 12 valve in the dodge would start just fine in any weather. My 12 valve in my FL60 was stubborn as hell to start anytime the temperature was under 30 degrees. The main difference was the speed the starter turned the motor. The FL60 had one of the big 1:1 starters and the dodge had one of the little mini starters that turns the motor faster.
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The 6.2 in my CUCV fired up real quick with a 24 volt starter! You're definitely on to something there.

Although, it was a turd and didn't want to fire off in 70 degree weather if the glow plugs didn't cycle 🙄
 
Damned if I know. If it's -15, I'd imagine everything is slow to move. Even the gauges.

Halfway between 8 and 14 is 11, so without it running, that could have been pretty close. I'd imagine cranking it over is what sucked it down so much.
 
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