Block heater or cord?

Question

I noticed that my block heat didn't seem to be working on my 2014 Kia rio.

I used a multimeter on omhs to check the resistance at the plug. I gave me me no reading aka open circuit.

Then I disassembled the plug end, and everything looked fine in there.

So I completely took it off the end of the cord, and tested right at the cord end against the wires. Again it showed an open circuit.

Does this mean that the cord is broke somewhere down the line? Or could the blockheater itself also be the culprate? Is it possible for a block heater to break such that it causes an open circuit?

The reason I ask is because the cord is only like 2 years old and I can't see any points where it might have rubbed and been creased or bent.

Answer 1

I live in Texas, so I don't even really know what a block heater is, but I know electronics, and an open circuit means that something is broken (or a switch is open, but I don't think there are any switches in this circuit). Measuring resistance from one side of the cord to the other is only telling you that something between those two test points is "open". It could be the cord, or it could be internal to the heater.

The next step is to narrow down the possibilities. You have to test the point where the cord connects to the heating element, and do the resistance test there. Isolate the cord and test it, then test the heater.