making the heater more efficient

[Lynn]

I wrapped the hot side of the water hoses to the heater, with hose insulation that you can get at any hardware store, This keeps the water hotter as the cold air can't cool it down before the water gets to the heater. I also sealed the top and sides on the heater so cold air doesn't go around the heater and into the cab, but has to go through the heater. There are area's on both sides in the fender wells that can be sealed up as well. I used dense foam and cut it larger than I needed installed it and let it expand to seal it'self in place. The foam gets wet but doesn't seem to affect it any, it dries out when I'm done. When it gets colder and it's just snow it should work even better.

 

[Admin]

 

[Lynn]

 

[Lynn]

 

[kylesayer]

Thats the cool side of the heater you wrapped

 

[Lynn]

Sealing off the air coming through the shifters helps too. I used 1/2" dense foam insulation. I cut the size to cover the opening and then made a slit to go around the shaft and glued to the shaft with GOOP. (great stuff) So the seal moves with the shifter when used. See the photo's.

 

[Lynn]

Finished shifter seals.

 

[Lynn]

Thats the cool side of the heater you wrapped

Yea I know I wrapped both sides, but took the photo before I was done, Nice job of catching it though. I don't think most people would catch it.

 

[Lynn]

The last thing I did really improved the heat output of the heater. I put a restriction in the upper radiator hose at the radiator and clamped it in place so it can't move. The factory heat gauge reads the same but forces more water through the heater core. There was a min loss of fluid when doing it because it's at the high point on the radiator. I do however plan on removing the restriction when spring comes and the outside temperature gets to 50F or so. I looked for a heater control valve that could be installed but couldn't find any the right diameter. But this was easy and works great.