Replacing block heater?

[sweet66monza]

Well, after fixing allll the rest of my ridiculous line of recent problems, my block heater died.

Plugged in in the shop, it blows the circuit breaker instantly. I pulled the cord out of the truck and plugged JUST the cord in to my extension cord and the breaker didnt blow. Which means my block heater itself died...right?

Is there anything else I can test or do to try to save it? Or how hard is it to install a new one?

Thanks in advance!

 

[79jasper]

You could use a ohmmeter on it.

 

[riotwarrior]

Not sure about testing...but replacement will be wet and cold i all likelyhood

Just make sure it's tipped at an angle pointing to 11 oclock something to do with hitting iron inside or an oil galley I'm not sure I just remember to point it at 11!

Have fun!

Al

 

[Kevin 007]

You could put in an inline coolant/heater hose heater in for now if you don't want to dump ALL of your coolant. There won't be as many swear words said installing one of these....trust me.

 

[icanfixall]

The block heater is found in a very tight place. All the coolant needs to be drained and the block drain on that side of the engine must be removed or you will get wet. After the drain plug is removed replace it with a valve just like the radiater has. That will make the next drain easier. Buy he heater from Ford and then you will know it wll last a long time.

 

[Silver Burner]

It takes some time and it's a PITA, but it's definitely doable. The problem if I remember correctly is that Ford does not supply the O-ring anymore to help seal it, and if it's original, the old O-ring is likely fried. Pretty sure when I did mine on my old 86, I went out and bought a custom hi-temp O-ring because mine disintegrated when I pulled the old one out. It's been a few years though, so don't quote me on that..

 

[smolkin]

The one I got from International had an o-ring included, that was about 3 yrs ago.

 

[Bashby]

I'd definitely check the resistance on the heater and look closely at the cord. The cord could have been the short and moving it around broke the contact.