Grid Heater Alternative, The Hard Way

[MichaelOverfield]

So, in the process of doing a long list of upgrades and fixes… I decided to get rid of the grid heaters, partly because they have had some fail and damage the engine, and certainly the cycling power demands was substantial and a strain on the electrical system. The other part is where these things are located, even an inspection is difficult. Not wanting to be rid of the intake air heating ability, I picked up a different kind of heater to use, originally thinking of putting them in the intake horn, but later deciding against this due to limited space, and the proximity of sensors.

There is a kit out there for about $300 or so that does what I basically did, but I didn’t want to shell out that kind of money, so I did it the hard way.

I got a new set of aluminum intercooler pipes for about $70 if I recall, and put the new heaters in the intake side just before the horn. This required my first Aluminum MIG welds.. and some fabrication to encapsulate a stainless “nut” to form more robust threads for these heater elements (just did not trust Aluminum threads alone).

It took several grind backs and re-welds to get this air tight, but eventually got there. The results in the attached pictures. Soon this will be installed and the original grid is gone.

 

[mfurrh55]

Does this interfere with the air flow?

 

[JR]

I would make 100% certain there is no weld slag on the inside of the pipe....that stuff can and does break loose after XX heat/cool cycles....

 

[MichaelOverfield]

Does this interfere with the air flow?

I'm sure a minor effect, but the new pipe is much larger than the OEM plastic pipe, and I'm sure it is far less restrictive than that original grid that blocked about 30% of the opening into the intake manifold. It's all relative. The nice thing about this type of heater is they are easy to check and replace if needed. Not buried in the intake manifold under the fuel rail.

 

[MichaelOverfield]

I would make 100% certain there is no weld slag on the inside of the pipe....that stuff can and does break loose after XX heat/cool cycles....

I definitely will. I've run it through several heating cycles already off the truck and will do several more, then an aggressive cleaning inside, before I put it on the truck. I'll also do another quick soap bubble pressure test to verify it's still air tight.

 

[MichaelOverfield]

This project complete, installed and tested. Works great, and no wild voltage fluctuations with the heater cycles.. yet still have the heat, and from testing these new heaters do put out plenty of heat. So far pretty good, I'll se if I can snap a picture of what it looks like from under the hood. It's just visible near the PS fluid reservoir.

 

[MichaelOverfield]

Here are 2 pictures, form top looking down, you can just see the top heater in the induction tube. Other is from the front grill looking back along the induction tube.

 

[BigPapa]

Just my advice, but I'd cover any exposed terminals, studs, nuts, etc, with some type of boot or something.

 

[MichaelOverfield]

Just my advice, but I'd cover any exposed terminals, studs, nuts, etc, with some type of boot or something.

I did, there is several layers of liquid electrical tape on the top, seen in red in the picture, the lower has a plastic cap fitted. All that said, these are also only hot when the engine is running, or pre-start.. and the original grid heater post and connection was not insulated, but I agree, it's a good idea to limit places for a very undesirable high current short circuit.. that is a sure path to a fire!

 

[JR]

How cold have you used the heaters? I might of missed but do they shut off immediately after start up?

 

[MichaelOverfield]

How cold have you used the heaters? I might of missed but do they shut off immediately after start up?

Well, not too cold, yet.. as it's in my garage still while I'm doing about a dozen other projects on it.. They operate on the same circuit as the original grid, in fact the electrical cable bolted right on, and reached over quite nicely, that terminal lug under the red liquid electrical tape is the OEM terminal lug that was bolted to the OEM Grid heater.

They do draw less amps, about about 150A (I'll measure later when I get some run time).. the OEM drew over 200A, so it is less, and thus has to be less heat, but it's still a massive amount of heat in my testing, and this is why I went with 2 and not one. The Duramax uses a single heater plug in its intake, but based on amps, I went with 2, could be overkill.. one might have worked fine as well.

 

[MichaelOverfield]

Picture from a different angle.. when I was installing some air horns... just because I added on board air for the rear air springs.. felt I could add the $41 air horns while I was at it..

Just above the air horns you can see the lower heater for the intake.