block heater dead
 

hi,my block heater isnt working so i pulled the cord and the cord is good but checked the block heater and i get no readings.the cord has a thermal sensor in it so would i be able to put a circulating block heater in and wire this cord to it so i dont have any problems throwing codes.it would be so much easier to put a circulating one in instead the the factory one.if anyone could shed some light on this it would be much appreciated

I assume this block heater is installed in one of the brass plug areas in the block. Yes, if you want, leave the existing heater installed and go ahead and get one that connects inline with your heater hoses.

do i need to put the temp sensor cord on it.from what i have read it has something to do with coolant temt, fuel/air mixture and if you plug vehicle in without the temp control it will throw a code and run rough

Uh what kind of heater are we talking about?

the block heater.all gm after 2005 have a temp sensor in the cord end so the block heater doesnt get any power untill colder than -18c

Oh, so the heater has its own sensor that controls it. That's fine. It's isolated from the vehicle. See, what we want is for the engine to be as close to operating temperature as possible(168*F). The quicker it gets to closed loop, the less fuel it will burn trying to achieve it. And no, heaters won't cause an engine to throw a code or anything.

it will throw a code if you dont use the temp sensor cord and you plug it in and the outside temp in warmer than -18c

If you put a after market one on it, it shouldn't throw a code. The vehicle wont know there is one on it. But you will have the benefits of a heated engine. It probably the sensor thats bad in the cord that's making it not work: if that is it then hooking that code to a after market one wont work.

google this and you will see what is it.my cord is good,i unplugged it from the heater and checked both

I personally would just buy a new heater. Its 31.00 at GM Parts at GM Parts East | Genuine OEM GM Parts. They only show up to 09. But it should be the same heater. If you want to try using your cord with a after market heater I would say go ahead and try it.