Another person sucked into the "grid heater bolt problem" they read about on the internet.
This is just another so called problem that can happen but doesn't happen to 99.9% of our trucks. You have nothing to worry about.
Unless you just NEED to flush $1000 down the toilet on the Banks stuff.

 

Yup, a simple little bolt head that can cause thousands of dollars in repairs. Nothing to worry about..........

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There’s far bigger things in life to worry about imo… I check mine every oil change just because it’s easy, you can put your hands on the top of the bolt. If it wiggles, I’ll worry. It’s not something that will fail over night, it happens over time.

 

GDP heater is an option

 

I would choose gdp over banks anyday, I have the gdp option and it works great even with our -40c winters we get here.

Banks and bd diesel are an option but the probe style heaters don't meet factory grid heater specs like the gdp style does.

If you're relying on the grid heater to be as good as the factory one then gdp is the only option to go with

 

Can you use the stock intake with the GDP unit? I am already tuned so not too worried about that part. It doesn’t really spell out if I need to replace the intake. Sku I was shopping is 07510-MF-TVH as I am an hour from Canada want maximum cold start ability.

 

Do you live in an area where you can just unplug it? The bolt won't fail if the heater isn't used.

 

Unplug it from the battery wrap it with tape and tuck it away. If it gets cold I’ll just plug the block heater in and call it a day.

 

Show me a pic. If you are really worried about put some Loctite on them and forget about it.

 

Please explain what good LocTite would do in this application.

 

It's usually the relay that sticks on and melts the stud/nut until it falls off. Replacing the relay every 50k miles may do the trick. I have seen it twice personally, both times required an engine overhaul. It's not super common, but it happens. Another option I have considered is a simple led in the dash that is fed voltage off of the stud on the grid heater. That would give a visual reference that voltage is still there when it shouldn't be. But like said in previous posts, it's rare and probably doesn't require much attention.

 

I am guessing the the issue< if real< would be the the thread portion of a bolt breaking off and working out of a tapped hole into a cavity. If so the locktite thread locker would keep it form working its way down like a lose bolt coming out the top. The thread lockier would keep the broken of thread section from moving in further. I really think though it is fake or incredibly rear occurrence.

 

Quite a few fake photos of those melted in half bolts floating around. And several threads on the subject.
Some of the latter including photos of fake engine rebuilds.

 

Quite a few fake photos of those melted in half bolts floating around. And several threads on the subject.
Some of the latter including photos of fake engine rebuilds.

Exactly. Also, a tuner can change the grid heater schedule.

 

The Heater Grid bolt on mine let go ..Lucky i got a CEL and found this board before i kept driving . The internal Nut was hanging on by about a thread of the melted bolt stud . So i replaced it with a New Fake Cummins grid heater and hope to go 135K more miles before it burns out . I used my Fake Torque wrench because lots of Fake news out there about torque from factory was Fake . It does not vibrate off It Melts the metal from arcing . Fake Enganeers maybe should not put nuts in intake runners .

 

This is the result of a grid heater stud melting off and falling into the cylinder. This is the last one I did. As you can see it was a complete loss. Ended up installing a wrecking yard take out due to the cost of a new engine. This was a 2016 6.7 with around 70k miles on it. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the grid heater itself, just the carnage it caused.

 

And that scuffing on the piston couldn't be fixed with LocTite??

 

Cleaned it up with a little emory, lubed it with some ATF, secured it with loctite, and sent it. LOL

 

These comments that claim this is a uncommon failure. Actually think every Cummins owner is hanging out on these forums... 90% of Cummins owners dont report here or ever heard of this site lol .90% may be low figure

 

Probably very accurate, but it probably really sucks to be one of those few people that lose cylinder 5 and/or 6 when it can be avoided.

 

Almost happened to my 2016 at 70k km, didn't throw codes yet but noticed the relay had quite a bit of wiggle.

Dealership checked it out and ended up replacing the grid heater under warranty, they claimed they replaced it with a "updated version" of the grid heater.

They said I was lucky I got it in when I did or it could've dropped in cylinder #6, if they really do have an updated version of the grid heater that prevents this issue wouldn't a recall have been issued?

 

It would be quite costly for them to do a recall, especially since it's a low percentage of failures and most are probably happening out of warranty.

 

So with that train of thought, it’s ok that this is/has happened?

 

That's not exactly what I wrote. Or even close. But from their point of view, I understand why there's no recall.

 

Here’s a cheap alternative if you just want the peace of mind.

RJSPHH 6.7L cummins grid heater delete and High Flow Intake Plenum | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for RJSPHH 6.7L cummins grid heater delete and High Flow Intake Plenum at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

Here’s a cheap alternative if you just want the peace of mind.

RJSPHH 6.7L cummins grid heater delete and High Flow Intake Plenum | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for RJSPHH 6.7L cummins grid heater delete and High Flow Intake Plenum at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

he's looking to retain the grid heater, don't think he's tuned so that's also a check engine light without a grid heater.

Best bet for your money is to get a grid heater delete like posted here, then get a gdp throttle valve grid heater and replace the oem tv with it while keeping stock intake horn

 

But what about the now removed throttle body?

 

I went with the banks setup for no reason other than it doesn't require tuning or remove the throttle valve. I have no love for banks stuff but it is a complete setup.

You could also do this setup between the throttle valve and OEM intake, but you would need the grid heater delete in addition.

2007.5-2024 6.7 Cummins Intake Air Heater Relocation Kit

The Black Market Performance 6.7 Cummins Intake Air Heater Relocation Kit is designed to be paired with aftermarket Heater Grid plates, this item will help with cold starts in colder climates and also eliminates the chances of engine failure due to a factory nut located on the stock heater grid...

blackmarketperformance.com

I am still not sure how much better the OEM heater is than this gm/Ford AIH style replacement, but I will get a chance to test it under extreme cold in the next couple months.

 

I wanted to update this for anyone wondering how well the intake heater works with the banks setup. The banks setup uses the ford / gm AIH coil type heater.

This morning the thermometer is reading ~ -20*f, truck outside not pulled in and not running for the last 24 hours. Grids cycled on key on, no codes, around 15-20 seconds of heat per the oem profile and it started up without any hassle. Idle was a bit rough for ~60 seconds then it smoothed out.

The coil type heater might be less powerful than the OEM heater, but cold weather starts at -20*f don't seem any worse than with the OEM setup. I will update again when temps drop down to closer to -40*f.

 

I wanted to update this for anyone wondering how well the intake heater works with the banks setup. The banks setup uses the ford / gm AIH coil type heater.

This morning the thermometer is reading ~ -20*f, truck outside not pulled in and not running for the last 24 hours. Grids cycled on key on, no codes, around 15-20 seconds of heat per the oem profile and it started up without any hassle. Idle was a bit rough for ~60 seconds then it smoothed out.

The coil type heater might be less powerful than the OEM heater, but cold weather starts at -20*f don't seem any worse than with the OEM setup. I will update again when temps drop down to closer to -40*f.

I’m definitely interested in how it starts at -40

 

You can get a 22x1.5mm tap off Amazon for 10$ and a 13/16 drill bit get an old heater out of a GM/ford for free if you look hard enough.

 

if the single coil doesn't work at -40*f I plan on adding a 2nd using that method admorrow. Even though the banks is $$ for the setup it is well made and a complete kit which requires no tuning.

 

I've heard of guys out here in Alberta adding 2 coils for our -40c winters here

 

the solutions I have seen are either this style or ones that replace the oem throttle valve, which would require tuning per the website's I have seen.