block heater won't work

[turck]

I noticed that my block heater isn't working. It was installed by the dealer when I bought my M5140 last may. It worked for a while but not now. It has a cord with a orange end that plugs into it at a 90 degree angle. I am wondering if the orange end is a fuseable link. I haven't tested it for voltage yet. Does anybody have any suggestions.

 

[Big Orange]

If you have an ohm meter put it across the two blades on the plug of the heater you should see a fairly low ohm reading. if you do this tells you that all is ok, if not you will need to test further in past the cord cap (plug). these usually have a thermostat in line that turns it on and off. you will need to test past the thermostat to test the element.

 

[kuboman]

Where on the engine is it installed?

 

[Stubbyie]

Unless the block heater was factory OEM I bet it doesn't have a thermostat. Look for supplemental wiring to / from a stand-alone terminal block or box-mounted-to-block of some sort. If a thermostat is present a sensing element needs to be in direct contact with the block.

If you DO have a thermostat, jumper around it to test the heater element.

All these things that are aftermarket (installed by dealer) are simple on-off heating elements.

Check for continuity from one side of your male plug to the other--and check to ground also. A relatively high ohm reading will indicate failure.

If the male plug is removable take it apart and check wiring. I've not seen one with an inline fuse. Dealer may have cut the cord off and installed a plug instead of coiling the cord up with a zip tie.

My experience has been that if these heaters work when first plugged in they'll work forever. I have had one myself and know of another that were bad from the start.

If the dealer "tested" it by plugging it in before installing it, it's burned up. Doesn't take but a minute and doing so will kill it every time. Test only by immersion in large quantity of water before installing---remember this thing is designed to pump out heat to a large chunk of cast iron filled with water and if not doing so while plugged in will kill itself by overheat.

Please post back your experiences so we may all learn.

 

[kuboman]

If the dealer installed it on the left front corner of the block in a steel sleeve then it burned out after you plugged it in. They are suppose to be installed on the right rear corner behind the hydraulic pump.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If the dealer installed it on the left front corner of the block in a steel sleeve then it burned out after you plugged it in. They are suppose to be installed on the right rear corner behind the hydraulic pump.

Why do you say that?
In the water jacket is in the water jacket, front, middle, or rear doesn't matter, as long as it's under water.
Now if the crushed the element when they installed it, due to lack of clearance in that hole then that matters!

 

[turck]

Where on the engine is it installed?

It is installed on the left rear of the engine block in what I presume is a soft plug.
I unplugged the orange end and with the cord plugged in there was 110 on the orange end. I did a resistance test across the plug blades it read 35. Oh and I had to set the range up to 200k to get the reading.

 

[Big Orange]

That reading is way too high, if in fact you do not have a t-stat then the heater element is open and most likely gone. the reading you are getting is most likely the resistance from the element to the water. test with your ohm meter from each blade to the ground on the engine block do this on your high ohm setting and if you get any reading your element is failed.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

That reading is way too high

I hate to disagree with you, but I have a brand new Kats heater sitting in front of me and it measures 39 Ohms, So 35 would be right in line with what to expect.

turck,
How do you know it's not working? Have you done a thermal measurement of the block?

 

[Lil Foot]

Why do you say that?

Not sure if this is what he means, but I've been told if they're installed near the exhaust manifold they get burned up from the radiant heat… but I don't know where the exhaust is on this tractor, so I may be all wet here.

 

[Big Orange]

I might be wrong but I assumed that a reading of 35 on the 200k scale would be real high, he also said he had to go up to the 200k scale to get a reading so I would assume that is a high reading other wise he would not need to go to the 200k scale to register on his meter. my guess is 35 x the 200 k setting is his real reading??

 

[jeep08ham]

When an ohm meter is switched to the 200k setting, it will read up to 200,000 ohms of resistance. The (k) is a multiplier of 1,000 So a reading of 35 while the meter is on the 200k range setting, it is showing 35,000 ohms of resistance! The heating element is defective!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I might be wrong but I assumed that a reading of 35 on the 200k scale would be real high.

Sorry, yes you would be exactly right 35,000 if off the charts, it's toast.

 

[turck]

I do feel pretty confident that the element is toast.I left it plugged in last night and checked this morning, it was cold to the touch. I am going to call the dealer and find out the brand and maybe I can get away with a easy fix by just installing the element in what looks like a sleeve installed in the soft plug. Hopefully the next one will last. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

KATS #11409 OR #11407 is just the 3/4 NPT heater without the adapter.

 

[PrairieSoul]

When you measured 110 volts on the orange end it does not mean the cord is good 100 % of the time. There could be a high resistance in the cord, yet the voltmeter will still show full voltage. Just as one more quick simple check ( with the cord unplugged from 110 ) try removing the orange end again and "shorting" the orange end with something like a paper clip, then try measuring the resistance at the plug again. It should be very low, less than 1 ohm.

I mention this because this winter the block heater quit on my truck, it turned out to be the cord. There is a small chance you could get lucky too.