Introduction

The stock fuel heater in 94-97 Power Strokes is a poor design. Over time, vibration causes the heating element to break loose from the thermistor pads, allowing the exposed element to short against the housing. This results in fuse 22 blowing, causing the engine to stall and not restart. While the use of proper fuel and additives for the temperatures encountered make the fuel heater unnecesary, many still like the added insurance it gives. In an unnexpected cold snap it can make the difference between continued driving and getting stalled with a wax crystal plugged fuel filter. Rather than replacing it with the same failure prone part, I decided to find an easy way to upgrade to the newer design.


Below left, is the stock fuel heater, with it's exposed heating element. Below right, is the newer style. Note the enclosed heating element, constructed similer to an electric range. Testing has shown a similar current draw between the old and new style elements. On International trucks I'm told it is a drop in replacement, but Ford filter housings are a bit different.



The old style is around $40 from Ford, and $30 from International.
The newer style is $120 from Ford, but only $37 from International.

Old Style: (Ford PN F5TZ-9J294-A) (International PN 1825186C91)
New Style: (Ford PN F81Z-9J294-AA) (International PN 1831196C92)

A big thank you goes to James AKA CdnFirefighter?. He is the first that I am aware of to connect the new style heater in an early powerstroke, and his input saved me alot of trial and error. He was able to mount it with limited clearance in the housing, but had to extend the cable. Later he found the heat shrink tubing he used deteriorated in the diesel. I decided to try to find a way to install it without any changes to the cable. This would require modifications either to the mounting plate, or to the filter housing.