WTS light/heater not working
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
WTS light/heater not working
Friends,
I'm new to the diesel truck scene and at the moment, need some guidance in helping my Dad out. I can wait to "play" but he can't.
Thanks goes out to Pat Daly for leading me here in the first place..............
My Dad bought a new '97 5.9 24V white, regular cab 3500 dually while living and working in Key Largo, Florida. 10 years later, with under 35,000 miles on it, he retired and hauled a 5th wheel up here to Ontario, Canada to visit.
That was last May. A month later he had his esophageous removed (cancer) and is still trying to recover.He had planned on being able to head South with his gorgeous rig but did'nt get well enough to throw the 6 speed manual around.
To ad to his problems, his wait to start light dos'nt come on and his truck has a terrible time starting in this frigid Winter weather we have here. When it does fire up, he says it rattles like a edit. Remember guys, this truck has been under wraps in Florida for 10 years and now sits outside under snow and below zero temps. This is his BABY and I'm sure it's not helping in his recovery from major surgery knowing he might be damaging something while starting his CTD COLD. He needs to get mobile, out and about to recover properly but he won't use his truck while this problem persists. We have 3 months of Winter left so I need to help him out, if I can,
Please give me a heads up on what to look at and I'II gladly do it and report back.
Thanks so much,
Roy
I'm new to the diesel truck scene and at the moment, need some guidance in helping my Dad out. I can wait to "play" but he can't.
Thanks goes out to Pat Daly for leading me here in the first place..............
My Dad bought a new '97 5.9 24V white, regular cab 3500 dually while living and working in Key Largo, Florida. 10 years later, with under 35,000 miles on it, he retired and hauled a 5th wheel up here to Ontario, Canada to visit.
That was last May. A month later he had his esophageous removed (cancer) and is still trying to recover.He had planned on being able to head South with his gorgeous rig but did'nt get well enough to throw the 6 speed manual around.
To ad to his problems, his wait to start light dos'nt come on and his truck has a terrible time starting in this frigid Winter weather we have here. When it does fire up, he says it rattles like a edit. Remember guys, this truck has been under wraps in Florida for 10 years and now sits outside under snow and below zero temps. This is his BABY and I'm sure it's not helping in his recovery from major surgery knowing he might be damaging something while starting his CTD COLD. He needs to get mobile, out and about to recover properly but he won't use his truck while this problem persists. We have 3 months of Winter left so I need to help him out, if I can,
Please give me a heads up on what to look at and I'II gladly do it and report back.
Thanks so much,
Roy
Administrator
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 8,372
Likes: 172
From: Streator Illinois
Roy!
Welcome bud, glad to see you here. First, be very cautious about semi-offensive language, even only partially spelled out. Yours really isn't to that level, but I know how we carry on on the 9C1 list, so just fair warning. I was so-so at first with the way this place is, but I have to say, it is refreshing to hang out here now........
Next, get to be friends with the search feature here. It literally will save your life ( and a TON of money! ) Just look at the top and see the search feature, type in what phrase you are looking for, and the world is your oyster!
For instance, here is but one thread of the phrase "grid heater", and should address your specific question:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ht=grid+heater
This is the search I performed:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...archid=1862464
As others have said, plugging her in for at least 4 or 5 hours will certainly make her start much, much easier and not rattle at startup. My grid heaters had never worked until I finally got off my tail and fixed them yesterday. ( LOL, easier to help others fix theirs )
I have started her at 10 below without any grief at all after being plugged in and no grid heaters.
If ya need any specific questions answered about this place just PM me.
Oh yea, DON'T go to the Other forum, it is a black hole never to return from ;-)
Welcome bud, glad to see you here. First, be very cautious about semi-offensive language, even only partially spelled out. Yours really isn't to that level, but I know how we carry on on the 9C1 list, so just fair warning. I was so-so at first with the way this place is, but I have to say, it is refreshing to hang out here now........
Next, get to be friends with the search feature here. It literally will save your life ( and a TON of money! ) Just look at the top and see the search feature, type in what phrase you are looking for, and the world is your oyster!
For instance, here is but one thread of the phrase "grid heater", and should address your specific question:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ht=grid+heater
This is the search I performed:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...archid=1862464
As others have said, plugging her in for at least 4 or 5 hours will certainly make her start much, much easier and not rattle at startup. My grid heaters had never worked until I finally got off my tail and fixed them yesterday. ( LOL, easier to help others fix theirs )
I have started her at 10 below without any grief at all after being plugged in and no grid heaters.
If ya need any specific questions answered about this place just PM me.
Oh yea, DON'T go to the Other forum, it is a black hole never to return from ;-)
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
grid heater
Thanks, Clark.
Is their a way to check the grid heater?? Does the WTS light fail too if the heater is defective?? My Dad tells me that this happened once before while in Florida but seemed to have "fixed" itself..........(he had forgotten to mention this as it was some time ago)
Now, he says he has a 1 out of 10 chance the light comes on and the CTD fires up like it should. He won't even try it now that's it's cold.
I'II find out if it has a block heater (may not have had one coming from Florida??)
Roy
Is their a way to check the grid heater?? Does the WTS light fail too if the heater is defective?? My Dad tells me that this happened once before while in Florida but seemed to have "fixed" itself..........(he had forgotten to mention this as it was some time ago)
Now, he says he has a 1 out of 10 chance the light comes on and the CTD fires up like it should. He won't even try it now that's it's cold.
I'II find out if it has a block heater (may not have had one coming from Florida??)
Roy
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
oops
Pat,I will heed your advice. My apologies if I offended anyone here.
Now I'm baffled . I was positive he said it was a '97. It has the 3500 24valve emblems on the doors.............I bought him a set of manual trailer tow package mirrors from Wyatt Arp Dodge Chrysler in Sequin, Texas to replace the dinky little electric mirrors that were on it??!!........'98 maybe??
I'II find out. Yes, it has the 6 speed 'cause I fell in love with it driving it back and forth to the hospital to visit. Much better fuel mileage than the LT1, and I swear I could pull a house down with it. lolololololo
Administrator
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 8,372
Likes: 172
From: Streator Illinois
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.........
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.........
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
more info
as usual Pat, your right on the money.
Stopped at my Dad's place this afternoon to see how he's doing and confirm truck info.
1998 Dodge 3500 24 Valve Laramie SLT Dually 37,000 miles (white....under a blanket of white SNOW)
I was riding shotgun with the Wife in her Caprice so I had no meter or tools.
Block Heater cord has never been touched and hangs just outside the RH headlight assembly in front of the rad support. 20 years in Key Largo and the Man has forgotten about block heaters
201 in clear view on the front of the "valve cover" LH side
turned key to on, heard audible click from I believe to be the ECU on top of the LH inner fender but no "light". Saw and followed the wiring from the battery down to the relays and from the relays up to the grid heaters.
Pulled the rubber "boots" back on the relays and the heaters. Connections look clean and feel tight. Both battery's replaced this Fall..........
Also saw 4 wire loom coming from ECU to relays.
I WILL return with my multimeter and confirm voltage.
Note: he tells me that he runs Lucas fuel conditioner in his fuel tank ever since having problems with algae "growing" in the tank while sitting in Florida?!!
Thanks for the replys
Roy
Stopped at my Dad's place this afternoon to see how he's doing and confirm truck info.
1998 Dodge 3500 24 Valve Laramie SLT Dually 37,000 miles (white....under a blanket of white SNOW)
I was riding shotgun with the Wife in her Caprice so I had no meter or tools.
Block Heater cord has never been touched and hangs just outside the RH headlight assembly in front of the rad support. 20 years in Key Largo and the Man has forgotten about block heaters
201 in clear view on the front of the "valve cover" LH side
turned key to on, heard audible click from I believe to be the ECU on top of the LH inner fender but no "light". Saw and followed the wiring from the battery down to the relays and from the relays up to the grid heaters.
Pulled the rubber "boots" back on the relays and the heaters. Connections look clean and feel tight. Both battery's replaced this Fall..........
Also saw 4 wire loom coming from ECU to relays.
I WILL return with my multimeter and confirm voltage.
Note: he tells me that he runs Lucas fuel conditioner in his fuel tank ever since having problems with algae "growing" in the tank while sitting in Florida?!!
Thanks for the replys
Roy
Administrator
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 8,372
Likes: 172
From: Streator Illinois
Roy, I now have my LEDs installed, just because the WTS light is on does not really mean the PCM is commanding the grids to fire.
My WTS light always turns on when the key is first turned, my LEDs now prove the grids are only working when the engine is pretty much dead cold.
Not that it matters to you, I just always wondered why the WTS light is on every time you turn the ley.
My WTS light always turns on when the key is first turned, my LEDs now prove the grids are only working when the engine is pretty much dead cold.
Not that it matters to you, I just always wondered why the WTS light is on every time you turn the ley.
