Questions and Answers

GMC K1500 Block Heaters Q. Vincent Ciulla, I need the block heater replaced on my truck: 1998 GMC K1500 4X4 4.3 Liter V-6 Standard transmission

I haven't been able to find it in either the Haynes Repair Manual for Chevrolet and GMC Pick-ups or several Internet sites. It would be greatly appreciated if you could answer the following questions:

• How does a block heater work?
• Location of the block heater on my truck?

Sincerely,
David

A. GM puts a block heater in SOME engines in one of the freeze plug holes. These are low on each side of block. They are normally near the oil filter. There will be a cord attached to plug it into the receptacle.

The heater is a small coil that gets hot when electrical current flows through it.

Some other ways to heat an engine are gluing a heater plate to the bottom of oil pan to warm the oil. GM sells the freeze plug type of block heater.