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Block heater question

1K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  doubleslottedflaps 
#1 ·
Kind of an odd time of year for this but...did the 6.0s come with a factory block heater or was it an option (or a delete heater option)?

Was crawling over/under my new to me 2004 F250 and found what appeared to be a standard 3 wire electric cord, assumed it was for a block heater. Couldn't follow it to the block as it disappeared into a wiring harness and tried following to what I though would be a plug and it seems to run to the factory fog lights. Now being in CA I don't have much need for a heater and the truck seems to have come out of AZ (southern where they don't need a heater) but I also have a place in Flagstaff where is gets plenty cold and I might could need to use the heater. Any insight y'all can share is appreciated.

On the plus side I did locate my fuel/water separator, the external transmission filter and could see there appears to not have a deleted EGR (gotta have that in CA). Also quite surprised at the size of this engine when I was looking at it from the bottom side. Also found that a step stool is your friend when checking things out on the topside. Quite surprised at how tight things seem to be under the hood and even more surprised at how clean things were on this 145K engine.
 
#2 ·
You're a winner. You have the block heater cord. That is what it looks like and where it goes (fog lights).

The block heater itself is standard. The cord - I believe - started as standard but went optional.
 
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#3 ·
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#6 ·
The block heater should be in there, the cord was an option from 05 up. Your 04 should have one. Look on the block above the starter.
This document sealed the deal for me. First I checked by the starter and BOOM, there was the orange cable going into the block. Then I checked closer around the right fog, for me the easiest place to see in was at the right tow hook, double BOOM...right in front of me was the plug. It was still tie wrapped to the sheathing but now it is nicely attached to the right tow hook where I can get to it if needed.

Now I just need to brush a few years of road grime off the plug prongs and pack the plug cover with dielectric grease and I am good to go when the weather turns cold and snowy up in Flagstaff.

Hmmm...I still need more posts before I can quote a link...
 
#5 ·
Scroll down on the link I posted, if yours has never been used there's a pic to show you where to find it. Lots of other good info on that site too
 
#8 ·
Those instructions are great.

I recently changed out the block heater. I installed the OEM heating element and plug to replace a non-OEM plug, which looked like a household extension chord with the sets of individual wires visible. The directions for installation of the OEM plug were hard to follow, and I could not figure out where to install the plug itself. Another nice feature about the OEM plug compared to the non-OEM is that it looks like the OEM connector is a break away if you forget to unplug and drive away.

Part of the reason I installed the new heating element and plug was I thought the heating element was leaking. It had already been on my list of many things to change on the truck. With a few posts of those plugs catching fire, I decided I did not want to go with the non-OEM set that came with the truck. I sometimes go up by Flagstaff and it'd be nice to plug it into the rental cabin up there.
 
#9 ·
all i can say is my 2005 F350 had a block heater when i bought it new off the Ford lot. about 1-1/2 months later a drunk ran up under it and totaled it. When I special ordered my 2006 F350 i checked the box for the block heater.
 
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