BLOCK HEATER

[panchosteam]

Hi guys:
Has anybody taken out the block heater on the 1996 td engines ? taking off the old exhaust pipes of my 84 accidently hit this part and the engine started to leak water from the engine heater, what will happen if i pull it out? will something break on the heater or is it safe?
i'm hoping that it's not sensitive and i can pull it out with no problems i think the little leak might be fixable, i could probably use a soldering gun and repair it, any body had this problem before? this part looks like an engine seal,is it supposed to be easy to get off? or is it that the engine is hardly used and that is why it was so easy to remove? i did'nt take it all out, i just tried taking it off with a flat head screw driver and it was soft, i did'nt pull it all the way out.
thank you guys.

[jpaitala]

I'd say, play safe. Get that old leaking one out and buy/install a new one. If you "weld" it back together it's gonna more likely to fail in the near future. It would be a good idea to do cooling system flush at the same time.

[StephenA]

-it's a good & sort of common practice when flushing coolant passages out to remove & inspect & if need be clean or replace the block heater. At any rate, it shouldn't be loose.

[panchosteam]

Thank you guys ,
i will take the old one out and replace today, truck is all most done ,i need to install radiator ,oil lines and turbo exhaust i hope i can get it done today. i'm desperate to test drive it .