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Grid Heater FIX!

37260 Views 205 Replies 52 Participants Last post by  5.7 Hemi, 
TiBoneFramer
1) Do what I did and unplug the solenoid from the battery. If the truck won’t start, grab a 10mm and hook it up. Use the grid heater to save yourself then unplug when you get where you need to be (could you just hold the cable on the terminal or is that asking to die??)

2) Do what I’m going to do when Banks releases their new monster ram intake horn for EGR trucks an put a throttle valve grid heater on instead! I’m tuned so no issue getting that adjusted on my end.
then I get my airflow, a cooler looking engine, a grid heater, and no bolt!

Out of respect, this thread is not complete nor accurate until the P2609 man himself electrojake gives it his blessing.
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N of 60
Until you start seeing -10f or -23c constantly, the grid htr makes no difference in start up. So don’t sweat it having it disconnected until then.
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Josephc1
Heater disconnected ever since the first I read about it almost three years ago. But hey, I'm in Texas so no need for the dreaded grid heater.
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RammerJam
Josephc1 said:
Heater disconnected ever since the first I read about it almost three years ago. But hey, I'm in Texas so no need for the dreaded grid heater.
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Since we both live in warm (you) to hot (me) climates, is it possible that we would have less problems with the dreaded Grid Heater in the future because our vehicles just don't use it that much?

Don't you have to be below 60F for it to kick in??

We see 60 degrees down here and it's a weather alert :) Maybe ten - twenty times a year mine kicks on. Not for sure on that count. Maybe it's double that. Probably not, tho.

But up North, if you let your truck sit for over an hour below 32*F, it kicks on, right? And every morning between the middle of Sep and the middle of May in many spots.

Just looking for opinions on whether it's worth the trouble for me.
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TiBoneFramer
RammerJam said:
Since we both live in warm (you) to hot (me) climates, is it possible that we would have less problems with the dreaded Grid Heater in the future because our vehicles just don't use it that much?

Don't you have to be below 60F for it to kick in??

We see 60 degrees down here and it's a weather alert :) Maybe ten - twenty times a year mine kicks on. Not for sure on that count. Maybe it's double that. Probably not, tho.

But up North, if you let your truck sit for over an hour below 32*F, it kicks on, right? And every morning between the middle of Sep and the middle of May in many spots.

Just looking for opinions on whether it's worth the trouble for me.
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With all due respect man it takes 2 second to make sure you have no issues ever. I’d do it! Heck, I live in Canada where -20 is here for a couple months a year and I did it. I’m not so worried about it cycling as I am the solenoid getting stuck in the On position and screwing everything up.

Do it. Not to be cool. Not to be smart. Just to be safe
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RammerJam
Which one of these would I disconnect?

911916


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TiBoneFramer
If you’re actually asking I’m not sure in that pic. Find the stud on the grid heater. Follow the wire to the passenger side...you’ll find the solenoid. Find the wire that then runs to the battery. Disconnect that. Done
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RammerJam
TiBoneFramer said:
If you’re actually asking I’m not sure in that pic. Find the stud on the grid heater. Follow the wire to the passenger side...you’ll find the solenoid. Find the wire that then runs to the battery. Disconnect that. Done
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Thanks. I'm in no hurry to disconnect it. It's 93 degrees out right now and I don't expect the grid heater to kick on for at least another Month.

Does that solenoid look like this?

911917
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TiBoneFramer
Yup! Once you see it you’ll realize how obvious it is
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J
I‘m guessing the OP hasn’t bothered to read the umpteen pages already devoted to this.
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SPOOLITUP
Stole this pic of Jimmy N.’s from another thread. Tou can see on passenger side battery here where he disconnected it and zip tied to coolant bottle.

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RamHunter18
10 mm nut on top of pos terminal on pass side battery right by the coolant tank. You will see the cable running down from the pos terminal about a ft or so to the solenoid. Remove nut. Lift off cable and tuck it under the coolant tank and re install nut. If stock tune the turn the key straight to start and you may not even get a engine light.
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SPOOLITUP
RamHunter18 said:
10 mm nut on top of pos terminal on pass side battery right by the coolant tank. You will see the cable running down from the pos terminal about a ft or so to the solenoid. Remove nut. Lift off cable and tuck it under the coolant tank and re install nut. If stock tune the turn the key straight to start and you may not even get a engine light.
Click to expand...
And that’s where the shitty part comes into play for guys like me that are still stock, live in a part time Antartica, and want to use my remote start. I would think it would throw code. Haven’t tried it yet and was also poking around in Alfa to see if I could switch “cold start aid” or something of the likes off. need to do some more looking.
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RamHunter18
Yeah thats the bad part.
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I
Noob here. What's the advantage of doing this?
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K9Kodi
get ready, you asking a legit question like that will
open a can of worms. essentially there have been. a few cases of the grid heater bolt breaking off and finding a home pounded into the top of cylinder 6. the belief is the bolt loosens and electrical current arcs causing it to fall off, or constant elec current arcs causing it to fall into intake.
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I
Got it. Thanks.
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Josephc1
I disconnected the wire on the load side of the solenoid, the wire leading and connected to the grid heater. I have the FOB key. I never wait for the heater symbol to go out, insert key and go directly to start. If you have push button hit the start button twice, no cel.
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B
SPOOLITUP said:
And that’s where the shitty part comes into play for guys like me that are still stock, live in a part time Antartica, and want to use my remote start. I would think it would throw code. Haven’t tried it yet and was also poking around in Alfa to see if I could switch “cold start aid” or something of the likes off. need to do some more looking.
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???
Pure Stock here.
No codes after disconnecting the cable.
I just start it up and don't wait for anything.
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RammerJam
My understanding is, whether you wait for it to preheat or not, it still operates even after the truck is running.
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