block heater problem

[shaftymcgee7]

so i just got a new block heater installed last month its been working fine up until this last week, when it started tripping the gfci outlets outside my place, tried to get a heavier gauge cord figured the 16g one i was using wasnt enough and same result. i tested probably 5-6 diff outlets with same result and even made sure there was enough power on outlets by running hair dryer figured it has to draw more than block heater, do its not my outlets at home, when i got to work yesterday i used a normal outlet inside with the new cord and lifted the hood to see if it was warming and i see smoke coming out of where the freeze plug goes in and smell something like electrical. obviously unhooked it right away figuring that the block heater shorted out. and let it sit then started it up to see if anything was wrong seemed fine so i drove across town to the dealer here to get it looked at and on the way there it felt like my vsc-trac was overly sensitive to going to far as to make a simple turn on relatively dry pavement cause a fishtail, just wondering if anyone knows if a block heater shorting out could cause a short in something else like vsc seems like before when i was in 2wd it was more than good enough except for the worst stuff now it seems like the vsc is a tad to sensitive. the dealer was packed and unable to look at it but ive got a appnt this sunday to get it looked out figured they installed the block heater wrong and i just curious what else i should look out for that messing up , car has been 100% perfect up to this mess,
thanks for you help in this

 

[Jono.ful]

The block heater is a completely isolated device, and definitely shouldn't have effected the VSC. Have your dealer to a zero point calibration, or you could try it yourself (http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/71093-yaw-rate-acceleration-sensor-zero-point-calibration.html) should take care of the hypersensitivity issue. I actually just went through something similar with mine last week.

 

[GrantK]

Possible but very, very unlikely. Your block heater isn't part of your truck's electrical system. When it shorted out the short occurred internally to the heater which wouldn't effect anything else. Even if it cracked and let the AC house current get to the block or coolant it still wouldn't have electrical access to the truck's electronics, only the ground which is where it was shorting to (a direct path to your house ground).

Hopefully it's just your imagination working overtime because you were worried about anything else going wrong. When that happens every creak sounds like the entire chassis is falling apart.

 

[shaftymcgee7]

thanks guys was probably just my imagination and a coincidence of my truck hitting some black ice that i didnt see right after it happened but gave me a bit of a scare and was thinking of the worst, also i usually left my block heater plugged in all night was told this wouldnt hurt the truck at all, anyone know if that is safe? also some guys were saying you could start it with it plugged in but i didnt cause i read it might cause problems anyone know if theres any truth to this if you can leave it plugged when you start?
thanks for you help

 

[Jono.ful]

A block heater is designed basically to maintain an above freezing temperature, rather than to heat a freezing engine. So the idea is to plug it in as soon as you turn the truck off. And again, it is a completely separate electrical system, so yes, you can start your truck with the heater plugged in, but there is no need to leave the block heater plugged in if you are idling your truckto warm it up .

 

[shaftymcgee7]

So there is no advantage to leaving it plugged when warming really?

 

[GrantK]

So there is no advantage to leaving it plugged when warming really?

Not really. The truck will be above the block heaters cut-off temp in about 1 minute.

When I lived in Michigan's UP, on Lake Superior (daytime highs of -25F) a lot of people had block heaters and, as already mentioned, the process was to plug them in as soon as you got home and leave them on all night. Then unplug them as you were leaving in morning. Most people didn't even wait for the vehicles to warm up, just give it 30 seconds to get the oil circulating and take off.

 

[shaftymcgee7]

Alright thanks guys good info and put my mind at ease