My block heater does not seem to be working so I check the resistance at the two prongs of the cord to see if there was an open in the circuit and it appears there is. Next I'd like to check the block heater itself to see if it is the cord. Can someone please tell me where exactly the block heater resides? I'm having trouble following the cord to it.

 

The block heater is located on the passenger side of the engine, in a freeze plug hole under the exhaust mainfold, in front of the oil filter.

 

thanks Baja, about how big is it, and what is a freeze plug hole?

 

the size is about 1 1/2" -2 ", from what I've heard over the yrs., is the hole in ? was for the perpose of casting the block and now everybody calls the sheetmetal plug that is pressfit in a frost plug becouse they would pop out when the coolant frooze. there should be 2-3 on the passange side of the block the ones without the heater look like they have a galvanized sheetmetal plug in a raised spot in the side of the block.

 

thanks guys, I found it last night. I unscrewed and pulled out the cable and put a meter on the block heater itself, had resistance there, so the heater is still good. The female end of the cable that plugs into the block heater on the other hand was corroded. So looks like a new cable is in order. Now just have to figure out if it's a Dodge or Cummins part number...

 

Both.
Last time I checked both had them for close to the same price.

 

thanks Infidel, just called Cummins, its $15, that works for me.

 

Cummins P/N 251919 for the engine block heater cord. Around $16.00

 

got the new cord yesterday, plugged it in last night, works like a charm now. Thanks for the help.

 

Just as a precaution you might want to keep the old one and put a new male end on it for a back up. 90% of the time its the male plug end that fails (broken wire) due to us pulling on it, driving off with it plugged in, flopping around in the wind, ect. The end that goes into the heater rarely fails. IMHO.

I put my bill in the mail to ya!

 

You admit to that?
It took my wife a year to fess up that she did a drive off.

My plug looks terrible. The cord bundle slipped out of the cable tie and it dragged on the road a couple days. I normally use the Espar so don't bother plugging in or looking for the cord on a regular basis.

 

Hmmmm...... okay....... your wife drove off in my truck and left it plugged in?

 

My wife won't even drive my truck, but she drives yours......?

I'm chuckling because all the fire trucks around here have auto eject plugs.
"Boots, pants, coat, hat, gloves ... Hey did anyone remember the plug in?"

 

I've got bad ones in both my older straight 6's. I'll hitch a ride here, if I may, and ask what's the best way to remove them? When I loosen the hex screw that holds the heater (backer bracket wings) in the block's water passage, they still feel like they're frozen in place. Has any one had to use a slide hammer to get one out?

 

So if I find that the actual heater itself is bad, what all do I have to do to get it out? Do you have to drain the coolant? I tried to get the nut off of it today, so I could look at that end of the cord, but the nut is very tight and I cant get it to turn?