Heater is working....

[Nickathome]

Well, sort of. I hooked up the wiring today, and after some trepidation found a wire that had juice flowing from it. I used the wire going to the voltage meter, then introduced the one small Y harness I had bought, to tap juice from that, then plugged the heater to that. Works, heater motor runs strong. I am going to go out in a few minutes and crank up the engine and get the antifreeze flowing into the heater to see if I get true heat.

I did the best I could to run the wiring as I did not have any instructions other than what I got from here and from Cabell Garbee's site. If there is a better place to tap into the juice for the heater motor, please feel free to enllighten me.

[MSeriesRebuild]

It's best to pull it directly from the ignition switch, this way you aren't stressing the instrument panel circuit with the higher amp load draw of the heater blower motor.

[Nickathome]

Is there a certain wire on the ignition switch I should be using? I noticed it has several wires coming from it.

[MSeriesRebuild]

Is there a certain wire on the ignition switch I should be using? I noticed it has several wires coming from it.

Ignition switch has 2 separate circuits, should be 4 wires, 2 input feeds, 2 output. Put your "Y" connector on 1 of the outputs (hot only when the switch is on). This will feed power directly to the motor instead of having to go through the panel circuit. If you have some other accessory in line, feed it from the "Y" after the blower motor. This will feed the higher amp draw first, will eliminate the possibility of over loading a circuit & wiring that isn't designed to handle the heavier draw of a motor. You should have a circuit breaker or fuse in the motor line also, between the ignition switch & the motor control switch, in the event of a short circuit situation, it will save your motor from damage.

[Nickathome]

Charles;

How do I know which are the output wires? Can i visually tell, or would I need to put my multimeter to it to tell?

[HingsingM37]

Nick,
Glad to hear the heater is a sucess. Maybe the weather will change and it will warm up in the 60's now that you have a heater in your truck and I have one in my garage

[Nickathome]

Nick,
Glad to hear the heater is a sucess. Maybe the weather will change and it will warm up in the 60's now that you have a heater in your truck and I have one in my garage

You know that is what will happen! Murphy's friggin law!

It chilly yesterday(low to mid 40's) when I tested the heater. I had the garage door open to let exhaust escape so it was quite chilly inside. I got into the truck, and rolled up the windows. It got quite toasty in there in short order, and this was with a half warmed engine, heater on low speed, and the radiator had not yet been topped off. I found I only had to add about a quart of h20/antifreeze to top it off. I doubt i'll need to use the hi speed seting on this heater, as it cranks retty good on hi, too much for me actually. I am happy with the low speed. I don't like it too hot when driving. This heater will be a welcome addition.

Of course now I notice that both my hoses on the lower radiator pipe will need replacement but thats another job for another day.

[MSeriesRebuild]

Charles;

How do I know which are the output wires? Can i visually tell, or would I need to put my multimeter to it to tell?

You could go by the wire #'s, but I see as many hooked backwards as I do the correct way, so what I would suggest is use a test light. The input wires will be hot 100% of the time, the outputs will be energized only with the ignition switch turned on.

[Cal_Gary]

Congrats, Nick! Just in time for another storm headed your way...
Gary