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It's a 400 watt heater, but all those watts are going straight into the engine block.
I got to work on the truck some more tonight.
It was fun getting it up on the ramps, as the truck is rear-wheel drive and it's snowing out.
I got the truck on the ramps and pulled off the driver's wheel.
I removed the heater and inspected it. Seems the problem is how tightening the screw tightens the plug.
The screw pulls on a small cross-bar that spreads open a butterfly. Trouble is, there is nothing to keep the entire butterfly from just spinning around, unless it actually hits the heating element.
Turning the screw may tighten it, or it may just spin the entire thing in place.
In my hand, I tightened the butterfly down all the way and counted the number of turns, and also got to see and feel the difference between when it was just spinning and when it was tightening.
Then I unscrewed it and gently bent the butterfly back to its original position.
I now knew how many turns to turn the screw and what it felt like. I popped it into the engine block and tightened it down with my longest, widest flat screwdriver. The first time I put it in, I used the hex connection, but it would strip out before tightening! With the big screwdriver, I had LOTS more torque!
I loaded the radiator back up with coolant and used a borrowed coolant pressure tester to put 15 lbs. of pressure in the system. Everything looked good. I didn't see any leaks below.
I let the truck Idle for a good while, and then went for a short ride down the street. I while practicing donuts (winter driving skills) in a parking lot, my heat stopped working. I forgot to run the engine for a while with the radiator cap OFF to burp extra air out of the system.
After running the engine for a while with the radiator cap off, then adding a tad more coolant, everything seemed good, and my heat was working great too!
I ran the block heater to the Killawatt and saw that it draws 420 to 440 watts.
I ran the plug for it out the top corner of the front of the truck, more or less just slamming it in under the hood. That way, I can easily tuck it inside for the summer, it's up off the ground, so less bending over to plug and unplug, and I will SEE the cable, making it less likely for me to drive off while still plugged in.
Unlike the electric car, I can still start the truck while it's plugged in!
While I was working on the vehicles, I topped off the wiper fluid in the truck and my wife's Pontiac Sunfire.
The Sunfire has the exact same engine as the S10, only turned 90 degrees clockwise. While I had the hood up, I looked for the frost plug. I couldn't believe it. It's right on front. Nothing in front of it but a support for the oil fill, which is easily removed with one screw.
I think I could do a block heater on he car in about ten minutes.
Total time for my truck, including installation and later towing my truck home when it failed on the freeway? About 10 hours total!!!!
Things learned....Priceless.
If I just keep messing up and learning from my mistakes, I will eventually be the smartest person ever!
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