Can the block heater gradually fail or does it either work or not? Reason I ask is because the last few times I've had it plugged in it still starts like it's a cold engine on a cold day. I use to be able to hear some water boiling in it if it stayed plugged in all night......now I can't tell, but the head will have some heat to it. Would the change to a 180* t-stat cause this to happen? I put it in a couple years back and don't recall it being an issue last winter.

Anyone ever have this happen?

 

If your electric bill goes up $100 or more then it's working. Heater is 1000 watt and will pull 8 amps or more, so best to put on timer so it's not on all night. Timer should be rated at 15 amps.

 

My grid heater does not come on when its been plugged in.
I also usually can hear it percolating when I first plug it in.

 

Use an ohm meter across the plug terminals. Not sure what it should be but if it's nothing, it's bad.

 

I know it's working to some extent because I can feel heat on the head and exhaust manifold. Some years back I could plug it in over night and start it the next morning with almost instananeous heat.........nowadays, not so much.

 

The block heater is basicly nothing more than a oven heating element submerged into the coolant.
They are subject to scale build-up that can diminish their effectiveness over time.

 

Huh.....I never looked at it that way!!! The thought of scale build up never even came to mind. Very plausible.

 

Mine has never been enough to drive away with the heat from an overnight sitting. But it does reduce time to run the heater greatly. And I'm in Texas with just a few days of not really that cold weather.

 

They are near $30 at Genos. I can't imagine what a dealer would charge.

http://www.genosgarage.com/CUMMINS-E.../#.UquTq4Uo5aQ

 

I learned this off one of my first gens when it leaked and I removed it, looked like a scaled up electric water heater element. Replacing it solved all my problems it was having.

That's good to know, since my current truck doesn't have one!

 

They carry the plug-in cord as well. ---->

http://www.genosgarage.com/ENGINE-BL.../#.UqvXS4Uo5aQ

 

Like Chrisreyn said.

On my other cars I have usually changed them after about 10 years even if I kept good coolant in them.
Seems like they start putting out less heat than finally croak.

 

I've always kept fresh coolant in the system which is why I posted the thread in the first place. It never really dawned on me that the element would scale up with good, clean coolant. Guess I better pull and check it when time permits. I guess after 11 yrs of use it could finally be nearing it's end.

 

They are 750 watt's, which at 120VAC is 6.25 amps.

 

Just ordered my replacement...mine developed a short and started tripping a 20A breaker...anyways...

Anyone know how much coolant you have to drain out before removing it.