where is the grid heaters at

 

Right on top of the intake at the air inlet.

 

ok why does the wires coming off the solenoids going to the heater grid have a negative charge shouldnt they have a positive charge to heat up the heater grid

 

Define negative charge?

Unhook the two red wires, measure them to ground via your dmm, should get 12v. The single black is a ground, seeing the horn is rubber hose on one side and a gasket on the other.

 

when i hook a volt meter up to the negative side of the battery and positive up to the heater grid it comes up with nothin but if i do it opposite it comes up 12v should it have a positive charge coming since it comes off the solenoids

 

u gotta disconnect the 2 red wires and check them, if nothing check the solenoid, make sure it's asking for 12 volts, they only are on for a short bit. I'm sure someone has a way to fool them into turning on. Man, I know mine are on because my headlights dim and voltage drops, and I have new batteries!

 

but shouldnt u have power on both side of the solenoids

 

You should only have constant power on the supply side of a solenoid. Once the controll signal (either + or -) call for it, the solenoid will switch on the power and feed the load (ie, heat strips) I've read a ton of people having to switch out the solenoids. Mine look like crap, but as long as they still work I'm not touch'in them.
Remember, the computer or whatever only calls for the strips to be on for a little bit, and only when the intake is cold, I think below 45 or so.

 

it is always negative even when i try to start it first thing in the morning so could the solenoids be bad

 

If the solenoids have power on the supply side, but never to the strips, then I would guess yes. First I would try the signal wire for voltage. I think it calls for + voltage to turn the solenoids on. I'm sure someone will speak up with the right info, but like I said I hear tons of folks replacing them. Try a search on this, I know I've read this before.

 

patdaly
Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Streator Illinois
Posts: 663

Check on the door for the build date, might even be 2001 when the 6 speed came out.

It is an overvalver, but I won't hold that against you, not all of us can have the perfect amount of valves!
Should have the block heater, so far as I know all did, somewhere in the last few years the cord was an extra cost option. It will be behind the oil filter on the side of the block, funky plug if it does not have the cord. Living in Florida, I am sure he never had it plugged in, so hopefully it is still wrapped up like it came from the factory.
Grid heaters: The actual heaters are under the air horn, and the leads come from it up towards the drives side inner fenderwell. You will find a dual solenoid setup just behind the battery. There the grid wires will hook to one side, the other side will go from the solenoid up to the battery with 2 fusible links. Many times these will corrode, a simple check with your voltmeter will tell that story.

Now that you have verified that, the control of the solenoid is another issue. I "think" his will have the same color scheme for the control wiring, but use the voltmeter to verify. The control voltage is a constant 12V on one set of the smaller wires, my 97 is a black wire with green stripe. They use the PCM to bring them to ground. The ground wires on mine are black with orange stripe and black with either a tannish or yellow stripe. You can check the solenoid operation by verifying the 12V control and then grounding the other terminal.
On mine, after procrastinating for a year, I found my control terminal ends ( cheap push on bullet connectors ) corroded away. I got some new bullet connectors and soldered them on. I'm not real happy with that solution, I siliconed around them to help prevent future corrosion, but if the mess up again, I am going to put regular ring connectors and the thread appears to be either 10-32 or 10-24 UN series.

Another thing, the WTS light is as far as I can tell, just a dumb light, it does not indicate the grids are on, nor does it come back on with grid operation, so your grids could be working and you not know it. I am installing 2 cheap LEDs to the switched side of the solenoid to tell me when the grids are actually on. Kinda **** retentive, but I do not like not knowing if both or just one is firing. Between the LEDs and watching the volt meter I should be much better informed. :-)

Oh yea, it CAN pull a house..... if you venture into the other section, there was a set of photos recently where a guy pulling a house with a CTD had a little oopsie when the house went through the bridge.........
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1997 2500 Ext.cab SLT, 4X4 auto, 3.54 gears, stock for now......

 

thanks for all the help will try it out tomorrow

 

Are you asking because you're not sure if the grid heater is working or not? The easiest way to tell is bump the starter on a cold morning, wait a little bit then put your hand on the air horn, it will be warm if it's working.

 

ok when i used a piece of wire to jump the solenoid it took awhile but it started after it got warm cuz it would try to start but wouldnt then i keep turn the key off and on and then it finally started so what is wrong please help

 

ok i figured it out it wont start until the grid heater gets really really hot where u cant even touch the thing that is covering it cuz i can keep turning the key off and on until it finally get hot and it will start so does anybody know the problem please help me