Its my first winter in WY (insurance, buy, live)

[sunbelt]

and I'm wondering about a couple things as far as keeping your car warm.

1) My heater doesn't work (too well) and I'm wondering if someone could recommend a cheap, effective 12v windsheild heater/defroster. I had to pull over every 1 or 2 miles to scrap the windsheild. That's no good. I will have to take it to the shop to fix the heater but I need a quick fix.

2) What do people have in their engines that they have to plug it into an outlet overnight? Is it a block heater? How does it work? Is it something I have to remove the oil pan to insert or does it go in the dipstick?

BTW, I called my folks in FL yesterday and they said its ~100F degees!

[NVDave]

Originally Posted by sunbelt

and I'm wondering about a couple things as far as keeping your car warm.

1) My heater doesn't work (too well) and I'm wondering if someone could recommend a cheap, effective 12v windsheild heater/defroster. I had to pull over every 1 or 2 miles to scrap the windsheild. That's no good. I will have to take it to the shop to fix the heater but I need a quick fix.

2) What do people have in their engines that they have to plug it into an outlet overnight? Is it a block heater? How does it work? Is it something I have to remove the oil pan to insert or does it go in the dipstick?

BTW, I called my folks in FL yesterday and they said its ~100F degees!

Block heaters are one of the things you could see people plugging in overnight. There are also battery heaters and dipstick heaters. The dipstick heater usually heats only the engine oil. The battery heater keeps your battery warm, so it has full power to crank your car over.

Unless you have a diesel engine, you probably won't need a block heater unless it gets down to -20F or lower. Sure, you could use one - the side benefit to using a block heater is that you don't need to wait for the car to warm up. Start it up and wha-la, you are only about 2 minutes from having full heat in the cabin.

As for your car heater: I'd check first that you have coolant flowing through your factory cabin heater. If you haven't changed your coolant that often, nor flushed the cooling system, you might want to do that first.

And BTW - if you have the same coolant in your car as you had in Florida, you might want to check it to make sure that it can handle the cold here. There are different mixes of antifreeze+water, and by changing the mixture, you can change the freezing point. If you don't know what mixture is in your car, you can buy test strips at an auto parts store, or a little sucker-upper thing (kinda like a mini turkey baster) that will tell you about how low the temp can go and your block won't freeze.

[ElkHunter]

To answer your question on a block heater. No, you don't have to drop the oil pan.

You simply splice it into your heater hose. When you plug it in, a pump heats water and the circulates it throughout the engine water jacket. This heats the block up.

I agree that a person really don't need one until below zero temps, however, you can get one for around $30 and it takes about 20 minutes to install. Pretty cheap insurance.

Diesel pickups have been coming standard with block heaters since 1997 or so. Just have to find the cord. My brother had a 2002 and it took us the better part of 20 minutes to find the cord. Manufacturer had wrapped the cord and then tie wrapped it up into the frame. It was well hidden, but it was there.

[NVDave]

The other alternative in block heaters is that a "freeze plug" in the engine block is pulled out, the block heater is forced into the hole and that's that.

The coolant must be drained from the block to accomplish this.

There are also magnetic heaters that can just be plopped on the side of a cast iron engine block for heating them.

On a gasoline car, I think the first thing I'd go for is a battery heater. If you can turn over a gas engine rapidly enough, it is more than likely going to fire up.

On a diesel engine, a block heater is really necessary in this region of the country. There are days you simply would not get a diesel pickup started without a block heater.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by sunbelt

... 1) My heater doesn't work (too well) and I'm wondering if someone could recommend a cheap, effective 12v windsheild heater/defroster. I had to pull over every 1 or 2 miles to scrap the windsheild. That's no good. I will have to take it to the shop to fix the heater but I need a quick fix.

2) What do people have in their engines that they have to plug it into an outlet overnight? Is it a block heater? How does it work? Is it something I have to remove the oil pan to insert or does it go in the dipstick?

It sounds like you need a new thermostat. I'd forget about a 12V heater/defroster.

The best engine heater is a circulating heater, which heats the coolant and inturn the whole block. It takes a little time to install them and they cost more than, say, a heated dipstick. The dipstick will work fine; just make sure it's the right length. Too long and it can ruin your engine; too short and it won't heat your oil.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

It sounds like you need a new thermostat. I'd forget about a 12V heater/defroster.

..

Check your thermostat, if OK, then Get your heater fixed, you will have a better winter experience (may save your life!!! if windows are icing). Heater may need flushed, control valve might be bad, you may need a new heater core. This can be very spendy if they have to remove your dash / airbags. Some heater cores are ez to change and cheap ($30).

Forget the 12V thingy, not enough power to get much heat.

or... get another car.

[sunbelt]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Check your thermostat, if OK, then Get your heater fixed, you will have a better winter experience (may save your life!!! if windows are icing). Heater may need flushed, control valve might be bad, you may need a new heater core. This can be very spendy if they have to remove your dash / airbags. Some heater cores are ez to change and cheap ($30).

Forget the 12V thingy, not enough power to get much heat.

or... get another car.

All good advice. I did change the tstat and radiator in FL as I was having problems. It seemed to run hot. I suspect the core may be clogged. I'll let you know. Thanks again.

[jopes]

what tempature tstat did you put in? If you went with a colder stat, you could very well not be getting your engine hot enough to pump out the great heat it should have.

I just had to put a water pump on the truck and it got a new 203° tstat then a week later the wife said her car was taking a long time to warm up so I got the hottest one the local parts store had for her car and put it in. She has plenty of heat in it now.

[jazzlover]

I'm not a fan of dipstick heaters and "tank" heaters that go into the heater hose. The best option is the true block heater that screws into the drain plug hole in the engine block. They are usually lower wattage than the other heaters, which is also a plus. As noted, unless temps are below -20° F., they really aren't necessary for a well-maintained gas engine, but they do lessen the wear and tear on the engine during those very cold temperature start-ups, and they allow the engine to warm quicker once started--good for your comfort and fuel economy. On a diesel, they are pretty much necessary below 10-20 below zero.

[dori36]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Diesel pickups have been coming standard with block heaters since 1997 or so. Just have to find the cord. My brother had a 2002 and it took us the better part of 20 minutes to find the cord. Manufacturer had wrapped the cord and then tie wrapped it up into the frame. It was well hidden, but it was there.

So true. When i lived in WY (coming back, btw, but that's another thread!), I made sure that when I bought my pickups, I had the dealer find the plug/cord and stick it out of the front grill before I took delivery of it.