Adding a plug-in heater?
 

Hey guys,
Well, it took a real cold turn these last two days, and I found out the hard way that i dont have a plug in... I could've sworn I did. Is there any way to add one?
Thanks,
Dan

you should have one factory on a '96...'97 is the only year it was an option IIRC.look just above your oil filter and you should see a cord and follow it.It is a flat 3wire cord....I did not think I had one when I bought mine......it was hard to find,but it was tied up under the drivers battery

Ah. I thought it'd be poking out of my bumper area... I'll check. thanks.

:-banghead Yep, there it is. tied to the driver's side battery cable.
thanks Ron:-drink

No problem....enjoy the easy starts .....get an outdoor timer and set it for about 2.5 hrs before you leave(if you are on a schedule) and you will be good to go

Yep, headed to the HW store...

Sorry for the :-hijacked

I posted this in the "Block heater" thread, too.

I have my truck plugged in on a timer for four hours. Temp gauge reads cold before and after I turn the key. Normally, the factory gauge will read up in the normal range when plugged in for this amount of time.

I checked my plug ends; Truck plug reads 14.6 Ohms; Extension cord reads 15.5 Ohms.

Am I correct in assuming I need a new plug end on the truck?

Resistance readings sound normal. I would check your timer output to make sure you have power. Plug something else into it like lamp or hair dryer.

Actually, I think that's about right. It's a 1000 W heater. At 120VAC, that's about 8 A. And of course, V=I*R, so 120 = 8*R, R = 120/8, R=15 (ohms).

Best way to test is with a "Kill-a-Watt" or "Watts-Up" inline 120VAC power meter. They're handy to have generally, for measuring power usage of various things (also have a watt-hour feature, for measuring power usage over time for switched items like a fridge). Plug the meter into the extension, the heater into the meter, and it should read right around 1000 W.

The timer is putting out about 119V. I checked my timer with my multimeter and by plugging in the chest freezer. It worked fine.

I took a reading from the extension cord plug end while connected to the truck plug. Extension cord plug end read 15.5 Amps.

I checked the temp reading on the truck gauge; still reads cold. Since the block heater cord doesn't have a fuse in it, what else should check?

Everythin I've checked so far tells me the power from the wall outlet is making it to the truck, so why isn't the block heater working? I'm hoping there is part I can R&R to fix this before tomorrow.

I'd follow it back to the next junction and check there... then on down the line...
i'd think it'd just go to the block from the plug, but i could be wrong.

Mine always reads in the cold range. After 3 hours plugged in it just barely moves but the "Wait to Start Light" tells the story. The only other thing I can think of is make sure you have a heavy duty extension and not one of those really small diameter ones. 15 ohms is right on target.

Hm, that sounds too high, which would mean the resistance of the heating element is too low. There's been some speculation here (or was it on another diesel site?) that the block heater has a thermal cutoff; perhaps yours, drawing so much current, is overheating and cutting off, ultimately not heating the block. Might be worth doing the ammeter check initially as you did, and then once again a while later (maybe 15-30 minutes). This, again, is where one of those "kill-a-watt" type devices would help, since it also logs energy (power * time) use. Leave it plugged in for, say, four hours, and if the energy used (in watt-hours) does not equal the instantaneous power draw times the amount of time plugged in, then it's been switching off.

But something still isn't jiving. If the resistance of the heater is 15 ohms, at 120V, the current should only be about 8 amperes. Alternately, if you're drawing 15 amperes, at 120V, resistance should only be about 8 ohms.

IIRC, my wife's heater makes a wee bit of noise when it's heating; I'm just not remembering what kind of noise. If it's not insane degrees below friggin this evening, I'll give it a listen.

some heaters make humming noises...
IIRC 8 amps sounds right, but i dont know where i read that.

I think Craig's issue is not that the gauge still reads cold, but that the engine is an ice cube even though it's plugged in.

LMAO....my wife makes a bit of noise when she is heated too.....but I sure as hell dont want to listen...sounds like she makes you go outside if you dont listen too..huh?


sorry....:-hijacked