Ol-dodge 1992

Evening gents... bitter cold here tonight (-26C) ... I've been plugging my old beater in at night for several months now because I don't have the ECM in her for the grid heaters so ... plugged her in at lunch today at work and at 4:30 quitting time she was HARD to start and belching smoke ...

Is there a way to check the block heater to make sure it is good? I do have a lighted end on the cord side so I know I have power to the block heater ... ???

SD

edwinsmith

I just put an ohm meter on mine and it measured 18.7 ohms on my digital meter. It should be a resistor heater element not unlike those in an electric water heater. I live in SoCal now so I doubt I'll need it again.

Ol-dodge 1992

Thank you sir ... I'll check it in the morning... would there be any benefit of 2 block heaters or is there even 2 frost plugs in the engine block?

edwinsmith

Maybe if you lived north of the arctic circle. My blood has been thinned by to many years in a warm climate so I wouldn't call that living.

However I don't have enough experience with these engines to give you an intelligent answer. I just saw your post and I jumped up and went out and checked my truck. Maybe somebody else will jump in.

Stay warm.

Edwin

thrashingcows

Been plugging mine in...-25*C and colder here as well. The single block heater does a pretty good job, it's the rest of the systems that take a while to warm up....PS and Hydro-boost especially.

But if you wanted to add another block heater you could probably use one of the frost plugs beside the current block heater....think there is another one or two. I would probably add an electric oil pan heater, and battery warmer, before I added a second block heater. Been looking at this seriously though.

maybe368

What a coincidence, I couldn't get the old girl to crank the other day on a cold (for me ) morning, so I thought that maybe the block heater would help. It had never been used and the factory plug cover was a bear to get off. I wondered if it was even working, but I saw that the temp gauge was going up, even with the ignition off, soooo, maybe that is one way to check it...Mark

gyman98

When it's calm you can usually hear the block heater when you first plug it in. Crackles and pops about a second after plugging it in.

Instead of a 2nd block heater look into a circulating coolant heater or better yet a webasco/proheat/espar

1972RedNeck

Yup, a 500W circulating tank heater will get your engine much warmer than a 1000W block heater.

ofelas

Ol-dodge 1992 - if your ECM is non functional, you could wire the grid heater solenoids directly to a push button switch on your dash.

diesel402004

x2. It will make noise at first. That being said over the 20+ years ive been plugging my boys in the actual cords have been the only item ive needed to replace.

1972RedNeck

Same here. Speaking of which, I think it is time for a new cord for the '93 as I jet a little tingle in the fingers if I'm not careful...

Ol-dodge 1992

Tcow... good idea about the oil pan heater (magnetic I presume) ... the oil pressure needle is much slower to come up during the winter months than in the summer ... could this be a sign of a sending unit that is failing ???

Mark... I let my piece idle in neutral for 15min before driving in the morning/evening... I also have a winter cover for the grill with the small center squares open ... after driving apx.15 min to or from work the temperature needle is just coming up and she is just starting to blow good and warm as I pull in my driveway!!! Watching the needle rise is out of the question... could this mean I need to check in to a new thermostat???

Ofelas ... I'm not sure I want to bypass the ECM ... I do have an external VR to the alternator but I have no idea about bypassing the OD on my auto transmission, the speedometer, and how to wire the grid heaters on a push button??? Seems way easier to just plug in a known good ECM and run it the way Chrysler built it (although nit the best engineering that ever rolled off the line in my opinion) ...

Not sure how to rig up a tank heater ... would if just plumb into the return line to the rad.?

Thanks for the ideas fellas ... I'm on days off so truck will be sitting for a bit maybe it will warm up a little

SD

ofelas

Ok, so I think I'm getting this. All PCM functions work except the grid solenoids?

You might check your fusible links/battery voltage at solenoid (+ve) first.

If good, disconnect IAT & test for solenoid function when the truck is cold.

ofelas

Check the attached pic

Ol-dodge 1992

Ofelas... let me clarify. My ECM is faulty, no good, toast!!!

I wasn't clear on that, my bad. I have run the check on the ECM found in the sticky that wannadiesel posted ... my ECM checks bad by following that thread, the transmission was always kicking in and out of OD, WTS lights and Check Engine lights would flicker, grow brighter, then sorta pop on full brightness (at that exact moment the alternator would finally kick in and the battery needle on the dash would come up to normal) ... then the lights would finally go out

My speedometer and grid heaters were working ... just not the OD on transmission and the alternator ... I'm just not speculating I've checked grounds, tested this and that as best as I can and my unprofessional decision is the ECM is ka-put!!!

I do greatly appreciate the info though thank you very much

SD