IF it was an "after market" install, it could be all sorts of things..........and might have a slightly different appearance on each vehicle. I don't understand your dis-belief. AND if they have never seen your specific car, the dealership likely won't be able to give you any solid information either. Just another wild guess to add to those that you have already.
Well my EBH plug was wired so that it came out of the lower air dam. Plus, it doesn't have that controller unit on the passenger side like yours does. If the dealer doesn't know (and that's likely since it's not factory), they may have to hunt down the previous owner.
Still waiting to hear back from either the selling dealership, our current dealership or another owner. Oh well
To repeat: Don't hold your breath. To find out what that really IS, you likely will have to pay a shop a few bucks to trace the wires and FIND OUT what it is. And you probably should find out now........before it goes bad down the road and causes trouble.
How would having a plug in the engine compartment that's likely been there since 2017 go bad and cause any trouble?
I see that you haven't been around cars and engines for very long......apparently. Things added by "third parties" often are not done right and are WAY more prone to come loose, fall off, rub against something and wear a hole, get wrapped around something else, or spring a leak than stock parts are. Either get it checked out OR stop worrying about it.
Only been driving for 33 years so I guess you got me. I didn't say it was a third party addition. We purchased the vehicle from the dealership that it was originally leased from and and serviced at. I believe this component either came with the vehicle or the dealership installed it. Neither would cause any trouble in my limited driving experience.
I know it is hard for a lot of people to grasp but what you "believe" often ends up being dead wrong. You are taking a wild guess.....with no real evidence to go on. It could have been a previous owner who did it himself. Or his buddy next door. Or maybe even worse, a Midas muffler shop. "Driving" experience is not the same as time spent actually being a mechanic or technician. Anyway, it sounds like your mind is made up so I won't waste any more of my time trying to get you to see the facts. Note: I rebuilt my first engine in 1960. It was a John Deere tractor.
I'd say it's a block heater? The little control box is what confuses me. I haven't seen any block heaters that come with a little box like that they usually don't have in line fuses. Are there block heaters with wifi control set up with alexa or Google home? I don't see why you wouldn't plug a regular one into a wifi plug but people buy all kinds of weird gadgets (i had a wifi garage door opener at my last house). It almost looks like the control box thing from a battery tender... Instead of keeping it plugged in at the wall they zip tied the whole kit inside the engine compartment? I'm interested to know what your mechanic finds when he follows the wires.
