Getting ready for winter. I found the cord for my block heater, untied it intending to have the plug hang out by the headlight, Oops, the cord is toooo short it barely is long enough to reach in front of the aircleaner box. Anybody else had this problem? How did you resolve the short cord problem?


I know, the easy answer is to move south so I don't have a need for the block heater.

Doing work under the hood last week installing a pyro, I took the opportunity to unwrap the block heater cord also. I thought it was a little short myself.


I found that if you run it straight down and along the bottom of the wheelwell it will reach near the back of the foglight. Using some wire ties I attached it to some factory wiring that was in the area. Now the plug hangs down between the foglight and the inner fender liner for access through the wheelwell and front tire area.


I'd rather have it that way then swinging back and forth against the front headlights or bumper. Won't take long before the paint/plastic is stratched and marred.

I had an Oldsmobile in the 1980's that had one in it. I never untied the cord. I just bought a very short air conditioning extension cord and pluged it onto the block heater cord. Then I dropped the extension cord down through by the front bumper. Then if anything happened to the cord, it was the extension cord that got damaged and not the block heater cord. Cheaper and easier to replace.

If you pull the wheel well liner and look carefully, the cord is bundled with the battery cables in the plastic conduit, cut the tape on the conduit and pull the cord out of it. You will gain another 12" easy, I can pull mine out above the headlight a good 6 inches.


Eric

I did excatly what Eric suggested a few weeks ago when i pulled my cord out, simply pull it out of the loom tie wrap the loom back together and run the cord where you want. I ran mine along where the tranny cooler line go to the front of the truck and up behind the grill i ended up sip tieing the plug to the grill near the top. might want to add loom to it where it passes sharp metal edges, i just ran electrrical tape over it wherever it looked like it may rub. This block heater kicks some a$$!! I used it last night since i got my attitude that shows engine temp, yesterday my attitude showed 48 degs at first startup and the mirror showed 48 degrees, this morning i plugged the block heater in for 3 hours, it was 38-40 degrees outside turned the key the glow plugs lit for about a second tops fired the truck and it read a whopping 117deg on the attitude!!! I bet if it was plugged in all night it would be close to 160degs. 3 hourse seems to be plenty of time in 30-40 deg weather truck warms up much faster.

What does this heater do to your electric bill?? and does the heater run all the time or is it a "on & off" thing?http://dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

it runs all the time its plugged in, it uses juice thats for sure 1000 watt supposedly, thats why mine is on a timer. its either plug it in or let it idle forever to warm up in the morning, your choice. I would rather let it start warm, run 30 sec and leave the house and have heat in a resonable time

It would be smart to set your cord up in a way that if you forget it's plugged in, all that will happen is it gets yanked out of the socket.


Edited by: hoot

yeah hoot is right, mines like that currently, points straight out the front of the truck and i wrapped the cord from the outlet in the house around my air compressor and tied a knot in it so it stays with the house incase i forget about it and it will just "auto" unplug from the truck instead of dragging under the truck down the road.

My buddy with a dodge says that his heater also somehow keeps his windows from icing up!? does heating enghine als warm the air in the heater and if you leave the heater open and set for defrost keep the air in the cab warm or something.

I hang a "UNPLUG CORD" sign on my steering wheel, can't forget that wayhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif

I made mine longer like Eric and got a timer and a BRIGHT Yellow cord that I trip over going to the truck. Crude, but effective. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif

I made mine longer like Eric and got a timer and a BRIGHT Yellow cord that I trip over going to the truck. Crude, but effective. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif





Little off topic..... Whats a guy from Texas need to plug in forhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Question.gif????? Thought it stayed warm down there!!!!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif

I use a bright yellow cord too, and I wrap it around the drivers side outside mirror so I don't miss it.


I experimented with unassisted and block heater starts last winter and found my fuel economy was noticably better when the block heater was used. We had a number of below zero and single digit mornings last year.


As a point of interest, the coldest morning I started the truck without the block heater was -11F. Fired up just fine.

I made mine longer like Eric and got a timer and a BRIGHT Yellow cord that I trip over going to the truck. Crude, but effective. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif





Little off topic..... Whats a guy from Texas need to plug in forhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Question.gif????? Thought it stayed warm down there!!!!!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif





It's all relative. If I want heat in the cab before I get to work, I have to plug it in. It has to be 40 or lower for me to mess with it, but we do see that regularly in Jan and Feb. I know it's nothing to what guys in Alaska see, but that's why I don't live in Alaska. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif I'm allergic to cold weather. I get chills. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif

I cut & made my own "short" extension cord, and ran it down & tied it up behind the middle of my front bumper, and can reach in through the air holes.

This way if it get's pinched, wet & corroded from snow/salt, etc.., I will just replace the short cord and not have to mess with the heater block cord at all.

And I only set my timer to have the power to the cord for 1-2 hours. It's all it needs & saves on the power bill.Edited by: conradv

We don't need no stinkin block heaters hewre in S.C. I haven't even looked for the cord yet!!!


Like the man said, move South young man! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

Well i tested my block heater yesterday, 38-40 outside, it was on for 2.5-3 hours, attitude said motor was 117degree at fire up. Today i did not plug it in to see how long it takes to warm up to 117 deg. it was again 38-40 deg outside again, fired the truck, motor was 48 degrees, it ran 12 minutes at idle and only got up to 111 degrees, got sick of waiting for it took about another 1-2 miles to get up to 117 degrees. Think I'm sold on using electricity instead of waiting for it to idle and warm up. I'm sure with a high idle switch (soon to come) that it would warm up twice as fast but i have no idea how much fuel it uses????


Now if i only had a way to plug it in at work when it cold!!!!

There is no doubt that plugging in will save fuel in terms of how much fuel you burn. I've noticed every morning the past week or so, that the shift pattern has changed in terms of rpms in OD, they are higher. We've had quite a few cool mornings with temperatures at or below freezing. Just as with my gas Tahoe, the "electronics" of the powertrain are attempting to get the everything warmed up sooner to cut emissions.

Once it gets cold enough to use the block heater. I plug it in when I put the truck away in the evening, and leave it plugged in until morning. I am not worried about the little bit of electric, and with running Mobil Delvac 1 synthetic I am not worried about the oil getting damaged. It sure makes it nice getting in a warm truck on those cold mornings.

Dis is how we do it livin way up here in da nort eh (UP of Michigan)


I ran my heater cord down to one of the tow hooks & zip tied it solidly with the prongs pointing directly forward, I then made a short cord (6') that is set up on a timer and secured (electrical staples) to the garage wall directly in front of the truck. So if I forget to unplug, it will unplug itself after I back up about 3 feet. Dont forget all that often tho' could almost plug in 8 months out of the year. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Unhappy.gif


Now if I could only figure out a way for it to plug itself IN automatically !!!! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Wink.gif