Plugged in last night as it got pretty cold here but when I went to start the truck it still ran very slowly until it warmed up. The heater did not start pumping heat for about 15 minutes. I let the truck run about 10 minutes before I left and it still was about 5 miles down the road before the temp guage started to move up to operating temp. I don't think my block heater is working. Is it hard to replace it?? Is there a fuse for it??

 

How long did it take for the &quot;wait to start&quot; light to go out?<br>If just a few seconds, it's working OK.<br>If it took about a minute, it's not working.<br><br>It's a starting assist, anti-fuel gelling system, it wont make the engine produce instant heat. There's alot of water, and steel to warm up in a Cummins. <br>Winter fronts, or a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator will help reduce warm up times.<br>Also it's not advisable to let it run at idle when cold for more that 5-10 minutes.

 

It took about 30 seconds for the wait to start light to go out. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just let it idle all night and then it will be warmed up as soon as I get into it....

 

[quote author=Dodgezilla link=board=5;threadid=7761;start=0#74674 date=1038867064]<br>It took about 30 seconds for the wait to start light to go out. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just let it idle all night and then it will be warmed up as soon as I get into it.... <br>[/quote]<br><br>My Light stays on about that long when it's cold............. this means it's not working???<br><br>DRecu!

 

try plugging it up for an hour or so then go oout and put your hand on the head on the passenger side where the exhaust manifold is bolted on--if it is working it will be warm to the touch

 

When you plug it in listen for about a minute and you should hear it start to heat the water. Assuming the engine is cold...

 

If you have an ohm meter, attach one lead to each side of the plug when it's not plugged in. If you get a current flow, it's working.

 

When I plug mine in (actually it's on a timer that engages about 3 hours before I leave in the AM) my WTS light only stays on for 3-4 seconds.<br>If I don't plug it in, it stays on for about a minute.<br>And the Mighty CTD will tell me &quot;It's too ^&amp;%$ cold outside&quot; (noise and smoke)

 

Pull the plug and look for a slight spark. If its working you should see a little spark. I can also hear a slight sizzling kind of sound when I first plug it in.

 

I'm not getting any of the things you guys said to look for. No spark when I plug it in or no bubbling sound. I will pop the hood in the morning before I fire the beast up and feel for the heat. Has anybody had to replace one of these?

 

One allen head bolt holds the heater in a freeze plug under the oil filter. Approx 40 bucks for the heater. Check the cord first, It can get damaged and be the problem. Approx 12 bucks for the cord.<br> You will of course lose anti freeze so plan on changing that at the same time. Pretty simple job just be sure you have the new O-ring on the heater when putting it in.

 

Thanks SF!! My x-Wife's family lives in Wild Wonderful Keystone West Virginia. We passed through Bluefield on the way there. I used to love going to visit them because there was absolutely nothing to do there so it was a very relaxing time... Although there was the time when we went swimming in the spring on top of the mountain and I got Chiggers!! Man do those little buggers suck!! My legs were covered with purple nail polish trying to suffocate them....

 

Those chiggers are bad news! worst I ever saw them was in North Carolina near Fort Bragg. <br> If you forget to unplug your cord like I do the first couple of weeks every winter ;D it is easy to damage the plug. When mine first quit working I bought new heater and cord. As I removed the plug I realized I should check it before replacing the heater. It was bad, so only replaced the cord.<br> I kept the heater on the shelf and 2 years later when the heater quit working again I put it in and moved on. I let mine run all the time in cold weather as I never know when I will be leaving and I believe the most damage you do to your engine, is starting it cold, or not changing fluids.<br> 7 years and replaced 1 heater and cord, Pretty cheap I think.<br> Good luck on your's.

 

I just installed an outdoor receptacle next to my driveway this weekend, just intime for the cold weather to hit here in Baltimore. Bought a $19.00 outdoor timer from Home Depot. <br>Works great. The previous owner never used it. <br>It was great. About 2 or 3 seconds and it was ready to start. I hardly made a revolution and was rumbling right along.<br>While my heat does seem to take quite a long time to do its thing. The time was greatly reduced and power was at hand much sooner than normal. Definitely worth the effort.<br>The fellows that service our diesel generators at the Hospital where I work have told me, that not only do they help make it easier to start. (Hospital generators have to assume the critical and life safety loads within 10 seconds of a power failure and these Cummins have no glow plugs or grid heaters) It also helps to preserve the engine, as the oil flows quicker from the get go.<br>Come summer, the receptacel will be for my Camper!<br>See ya!

 

Do like some of the others and check for a warm radiator hoses. I check mine this way.<br><br>1. Check your house circuit breaker.<br>2. Check the ohm reading of the plug and cable. If bad just replace this.<br>3. Check the ohm reading of the heater itself. If bad replace both.<br><br>Good luck.