freeze plug block heater failure

Who has had one of them fail? I have been using mine all winter. I usually plug the truck into a timer every night that warms it up for me before I go to work in the morning. This afternoon I had been using the same extension cord to run a grinder.

No big deal, I thought. I'll plug it into the truck and then go over and plug the plug from the wall and put it back into the timer. About 2-3 seconds after I plugged the heater in, I head a pop. I froze. Another few seconds later a second pop and then "drip, drip... drip."

I now had a coolant leak coming from the block heater.

ugh. :banghead:

sven said:

I did. Whole family packed in the D1 driving 300 miles. Block heater spewed out on I-80. Truck overheated within seconds. Luckily I coasted off an exit to a gas station. This was the first time I ever broke down. USAA towed my sorry ass home about 150 miles, free of charge.

Mine was a napa block heater, what brand is yours?

Click to expand...

Napa also.

I should have seen it coming. I actually forgot this was my second block heater. The first one leaked as soon as the coolant was filled up.

If I do another heater, it will be a magnetic one.

I limped to work today, blasting the heat and staring the Scanguage 2 temp reading the whole way. I will deal with it this afternoon.

Sven- any permanent damage?