Block Heater Questions

[ZZ]

Anyone know the part number for the AC heater? Do they sell the cord seperatly? My heater still works but the cord is getting frayed. I found one on Ebay that is 400 watts. I'd like to have a bigger one. Did GM make different wattages?

Is the hole 1 5/8" on the 6.2L

[convert2diesel]

ZZ:

Check with your local NAPA store. The ones I use are 750 watts and fit in the frost plug just back of the driver's motor mount. And yes, the cords are available seperately.

Hope this helps.

Bill

[TimK]

Just like Bill said. I went to NAPA last year and was able to get a replacement cord. However, when I priced the cord versus the heater and cord, it was only a couple of more dollars to get the heater and the cord. Now I have a spare heater on the shelf.

TimK

[ZZ]

Thanks guys. The NAPA stores in our area sold out to company in Cape Girardeau Mo called "Auto Tire & Parts" I may have to check with NAPA online.

[SimonUK]

Hi guys,

I have 2 M1009 CUCV's one is a spares/project vehicle which has a block heater fitted. My question is are they easy to remove and what voltage do they require. The heater still has the US plug on it.

As you can imagine there's not too many of these vehicles over here in the UK.

Regards Simon

[DmaxMaverick]

SimonUK

They are easy to remove. There is a nut or screw/bolt in the center of the plug, depending on manufacturer, that attaches to a toggle inside (like a dry wall anchor). If they have a lot of miles/time with poor coolant conditions, they can be difficult to remove in tact. As far as reusing them, I would not suggest it. Once they are used, it is very difficult to get them to seal again without using a sealer, which may be a bad idea. They use an O-ring to seal them into the expansion plug hole. They are not expensive (in the US, anyway), so I don't suggest that anyone recycle them.

All of the expansion plug holes between the cylinders are the same size on either side, so you can install one into any of the holes you can access. I know of one engine that has 4 heaters installed, and his engine will heat up from below 0

[Brianlar]

I'm in the process of replacing mine now. The local Napa guy gave me a bunch of crap about having to measure the holes in the block, before he could tell me what he had. I went to another store, and bought one for twenty dollars. Now for the fun part, I get to try this job with one hand. The voltage requirement for a US block heater is 110, to 120, volts AC.

[dieselcrawler]

Simon,
I agree with the others, it's not worth the trouble to reuse the block heater. Also, as an electrician, I feel I should remind you that you MUST NOT hook up the block heater to more than 120 volts, it will burn up the heating element in no time. Less voltage won't hurt it, it just won't get as hot, but do not go any higher. I'm sure there are adaptors for the plugs/voltage you have availible.
Good luck

Greg

[SimonUK]

Thanks for the responses guys and happy new year.

The the engine that the heater's in has lain for 9 years before I got the cucv.

Don't know whether to replace the rotten body or use the mechanics to build something fun. :D

Regards Simon.

[spectrum]

Does anyone know the polarity of the wires for the block heater? I looked under my 91 suburban yesterday, and the plug end had been dragging on the ground long enough to grind everything off to bare wire. I'd like to wire in a new female plug receptacle, but am wary of not getting the wires hooked properly and causing problems. Any suggestions?

[NH2112]

The cord should have each wire's polarity printed on it. "Ground" goes to the green screw on the replacement plug, "hot" goes to copper, "neutral" to silver.

[TimK]

The block heater I got from my local NAPA is made by Pyroil. Part number 605-3180. According to the application sheet that came in the box, this unit will fit a wide variety of vehicles including most Chevy V6 and V8 engines. The heater unit itself is stamped with the values of 120 volts and 600 Watts. http://www.prestolitewire.com/products/automotive/pdfs/batwarbh.pdf#search='pyroil%20block%20heater'

TimK

[waorth]

Hi Simon,

my M1008 did not come with a block heater, neither did I ever see a CUCV with an original 110v block heater here in Germany. The military I think did go another way to deal with extreme cold. There's an arctic kit for these trucks, consisting of two diesel heaters (cabin & engine), various insulation and a lot of wiring.

At first I wanted to install two 110v heaters in series. Although this setup would be a nearly perfect match to the already existing strange electrical system :D , I decided to go the easy way with a 220v heater from DEFA (http://www.defa.com/heating.php3?lang=&ndid=).
They provide a great variety of engines including the 6.2
I combined mine with a cab heater and there's also a batterie charger.

Not a single problem with it since 3 years.

Regards,
Walter