I guess my engine block heater is bad?

[cfb]

Hello,
after the first winter or two of hard starting, I had the dealer install an engine block heater to my Ford 16HP diesel. One of my better decisions. That was about 25 years ago. It went well below freezing the other day so I plugged in the tractor. Was hard the next day but started okay as I have a relatively new battery. Same thing the next day, so-so starting. So today, had it plugged in overnight, sluggish again. This time I felt the engine and it was cold as can be. It worked all last winter.

I was hoping there was fuse in the line, but it is a straight cord.

So, before I take it to the dealer, is it common for these to eventually go bad?


Now that there is a plug inserted into the block, would it be easy for me to replace it myself rather than the dealer? Would someone just take a second to explain how the heater works. I thought the purpose was to heat the diesel fuel. So the heater element is in the block, I think in the block where the anti-freeze flows. The engine oil must get warm too I suppose, but indirectly. The three injectors are in the engine, so are they too indirectly being heated up too?

thanks. cfb

 

[farmeratheart]

I’m sure others will chime in, but here goes ... It is the coolant in the engine block that is being warmed directly by the heater. The warming of the block (the objective) is indirect. You need to find out the route by which your heater is secured to the block. It might be a straightforward replacement that you could do yourself. Frank

 

[Billrog]

Before changing the block heater unplug the cord off it and check for continuity. You may only need a new cord.

 

[airbiscuit]

The hard part is installing the first one, because you have to knock the frost plug out. Replacing one is easy.

 

[herringchoker]

Before changing the block heater unplug the cord off it and check for continuity. You may only need a new cord.

I second this suggestion. Over the past 40+ years I have had far more failures of heater cords than heaters. In fact IIRC the only actual heater failures were a couple of the in-line rad hose heaters.

 

[Egon]

Many have a cord that plugs into the block heater. Remove this cord and check heater and cord for continuity. One can buy separate cords.

 

[cfb]

Thank you everyone. I have to brush up on how to check continuity. I tried pulling the cord plug at the element but seemed hard, so maybe I just need to pull a bit more, but it has that orange plug just like Egon shows. The cord was nicely secured , no dangling whatsoever, just about 3" at the end so I could plug it into an extension cord. cfb

 

[jaxs]

No need to pull harder,you might break it. Test continuity between prongs on plug that go's into extension cord. If you don't have continuity,THEN you can worry with testing cord and heater seperatly. Make sure engine is cold while testing,good heaters have a t-stat that break continuity when coolant is warm. If you have continuity,check glow plugs and control circuit.

 

[cfb]

Jaxs,
well, I did get the plug off the element. I used pliers and it came off without too much effort.

I have a multi-meter. It does work as I get accurate readings for a 12v battery and house current. Is my continuity the symbol of an arrow left of plus sign? I did put probe ends on the cord prongs and the meter stayed at #1. The meter does go toward zero when I touch the probes together. I also changed the meter to the lowest setting of ohms and again the meter stayed at one. I did the same two tests on the outside prongs of the element itself and got the same results. Did I do this correct and do you think then that both cord and element are bad? The cord prongs are not corroded and solid at both ends. Element prongs look clean as well.
I'm pretty sure the glow plugs are good, but what does that have to do with the block heater? thank you.

 

[CincyFlyer]

Jaxs,
well, I did get the plug off the element. I used pliers and it came off without too much effort.

I have a multi-meter. It does work as I get accurate readings for a 12v battery and house current. Is my continuity the symbol of an arrow left of plus sign? I did put probe ends on the cord prongs and the meter stayed at #1. The meter does go toward zero when I touch the probes together. I also changed the meter to the lowest setting of ohms and again the meter stayed at one. I did the same two tests on the outside prongs of the element itself and got the same results. Did I do this correct and do you think then that both cord and element are bad? The cord prongs are not corroded and solid at both ends. Element prongs look clean as well.
I'm pretty sure the glow plugs are good, but what does that have to do with the block heater? thank you.

You need to check the cord, end to end, each conductor separately. That should make the needle go toward zero, if not all the way, then nearly. Across the terminals for the heater, try different resistance settings (ohms) and see if you get anything on any scale. If so, report that number here. A very high resistance (including infinity) indicates that it's burned out.

 

[cfb]

oh, thank you. End to end on both sides went almost to zero.
On the element, I put the probes on each outside end (held firm the points of the probe to the element ends) at the highest olms reading, 2000k, it started at 1500 and kept going up until over 19xx and then went to one, which I read that that means it is above the meter range setting - so seems, therefore, that this is the indicator I was looking for to confirm the element is burned out, right? thank you.

 

[Egon]

If you have continuity you should get an ohm reading. If there is no continuity the ohm reading should be zero.

 

[Quebecguy]

If there is no continuity the ohm reading should be zero.

Egon,
If there is no continuity the reading should be infinity, not zero.

 

[Xfaxman]

cfb, this might help: How to Use a Multimeter

 

[CobyRupert]

Hold the two probes apart.
Read meter, this is the value for an open circuit. ( A high resistance ohm value, approaching infinity)

Hold probes together, this is the maximum reading for continuity. (A low ohm resistance value near zero)

 

[jaxs]

You want the meter set at 200 ohms NOT 200K ohms. Testing cord end to end should be near 0 or same as when probes are held togeather. If your meter has a wheel,use it to set to 0 while probes held togeather.
Between flat prongs should be 10 ohms to 30 ohms ( depending on wattage of heater).

 

[Egon]

Egon,
If there is no continuity the reading should be infinity, not zero.

Blame it on encroaching old age!

 

[Egon]

Blame it on encroaching old age!

Not being familiar with a meter or many of of the symbols I just had to check.

Meter has no continuity function that I could find. It does have an ohm function which is what I've been using. With continuity there is a reading. No continuity no reading.

 

[cfb]

Success! Always a great feeling to do something never done before. After draining the radiator, and I opened the block drain but hardly anything came out there, I then started to unscrew the element. Not wanting to go too loose in fear of leaving something in the block, when felt loose, the element was easily removed. I lubed the rubber gasket with anti-freeze like the instructions said and it pushed in real nice. then screwed till about as tight as it was to loosen as I did not have a torque screwdriver. I had to hold the plug part of the element as the unit wanted to rotate as I screwed tighter. The hardest part was plugging in the plug itself, very tight fit which is good. Filled the radiator, started the tractor and no leaks. Turned it off, plugged into the extension cord and the block now heats. Very happy to have saved the service call and time if I loaded it up to take to the Ford dealer. Thanks again everybody.

 

[FredH]

So You replaced with heater with new one ? Or just reinstalled old one ? I have had cords go bad on my semi's and like others stated , can buy new cords or elements or both .

Fred H.