Engine Block Heater Question:

[zamboni]

My 83 Park Ave has a block heater on it- how do I know it works?

And on other question I am sure you guys can answer-

I recently re-wired my 2 wheel utility trailer, hooked it up to my Park Ave, and the taillights didn't work properly. The ball is new, and my dad said that is probably why. The fresh chrome on it provided a bad ground. Should I take some of the chrome off?? The trailer works fine hooked up to his truck.

[Macgyver55]

Quote:

My 83 Park Ave has a block heater on it- how do I know it works?

Plug it in and see if it starts and warms up easier than normal. If you can see or reach the area where the heater goes into the block touch it lightly and see if it is warm.

A properly wired car and trailer do not need to be hooked up in order to work properly. The grounding should be done through the plug, not the hitch. Yes with a clean ball and coupler it will probably work, but not the way it was intended.

When you say they don't work properly, do you mean dim... not at all intermittent or otherwise? If it works ok on the truck the car probably has a a bad (or no) ground problem.

[IFallsRon]

I can hear my heater making noise.

[zamboni]

A properly wired car and trailer do not need to be hooked up in order to work properly. The grounding should be done through the plug, not the hitch. Yes with a clean ball and coupler it will probably work, but not the way it was intended.

When you say they don't work properly, do you mean dim... not at all intermittent or otherwise? If it works ok on the truck the car probably has a a bad (or no) ground problem.

I rewired my pop up, and lights wouldn't come on at all, and was told it needs to be on the hitch ball to work, did that and then they worked fine. And this was on my Park Ave as well. (different ball though, utility trailer is 1 7/8"ths and pop up is a 2") I was told at the time that the ball itself is a ground.

[ChuckN]

I recently changed out the block heater in my Toyo, and Mac says it right. If you don't feel warmth it's not working.

I will add if the block heater isn't working, the plug on the end can also be an issue from constantly flopping in the wind in the front of the car. I've had this happen on one block heater where all I needed was a new electrical plug installed. The wires weakened and there was a bad connection.

My Toyo block heater failed. Due to the easy location it wasn't a difficult task. Getting the old heater plug to come out of the block was the most difficult, it was good and stuck after 14 years..

[Macgyver55]

I rewired my pop up, and lights wouldn't come on at all, and was told it needs to be on the hitch ball to work, did that and then they worked fine. And this was on my Park Ave as well. (different ball though, utility trailer is 1 7/8"ths and pop up is a 2") I was told at the time that the ball itself is a ground.

As I said earlier....with a clean ball and coupler it will probably work, but not the way it was intended. The white wire on both the trailer, and the car is a GROUND wire. If it is properly grounded on the car and on the trailer, when plugged in the lights will work whether or not the trailer is coupled to the hitch. Thats why I said "properly wired". It can and often will work just being coupled but again, thats not the way it is intended to be.

[zamboni]

I know white is a ground, but please explain to me why my pop up didn't work at all until it was on the hitch ball.

[Macgyver55]

Either the ground on the trailer or the car was no good, causing it to find and use the hitch as a secondary route.

Like I said, it will work through the hitch, but thats not the way its designed to work.

Believe me, I've wired hundreds of trailers, cars, truck bodies, tow trucks and whatever else. I can pretty much do it in my sleep.

[Surface Tension]

Every see a trailer with its lights blinking and dimming while going down the road? Thats a trailer getting its only source of ground through the ball. If your trailer lights aren't working a quick way test for bad ground is hook a jumper cable to your tow vehicles frame and the other end to the trailer.

If its a tilt trailer you might find that you have a poor connection from the tongue to bed. A grounding strap from the tongue to the bed at the pivot point will take care of that.

[BIG DS]

On that car you shoud be able to hear a hissing noise if the heater is working. There should also be a spark when you plug the heater in, visible or audible.