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Engine heaters, block heaters, oil heaters, water heaters. Both internal and external heaters exist. What is the best (Add on) heater you have ever used?
It's getting cold again in some parts of the country. And it's time to review your existing equipment or make a plan to deal with extreme cold if you live in a part of the country where extreme Cold is an issue.
I used block heaters in my big trucks in cold temperatures down to 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit for many years. The block heaters I used were internal which meant the heater element came in contact with the antifreeze and heated it while it was plugged in. These engine heaters would give the engine advantage in starting on very cold days.
Today I see a lot of (external) engine block heaters and upon review they seem to do a pretty good job. The external heaters are a very easy install and bring water temperatures up enough to turn winter into a spring day.
Here are some links on what I see out there today. If you have no garage and your car is exposed to extreme cold, engine block heaters could be something to look into. If you have used engine block heaters what has been your experience?
How effective is you engine block heater? This guy goes about it scientifically, and proves it works.
Demo 2 of an easy engine block heater install. This guy does a good job of getting the camera into a small space and the picture is worth a thousand words.
Nice, very appropriate post. I am in Butte, MT..........it is COLD enough for some sort of extra heating for your vehicle in many areas of the country.
Woke up this morning and it was about 0-degrees inside my van. First thing I did before starting my vehicle is check to make sure the weak antifreeze in my coolant-bottle was not frozen, yikes.
Yes, it's about time to be getting ready for winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
Nice, very appropriate post. I am in Butte, MT..........it is COLD enough for some sort of extra heating for your vehicle in many areas of the country.
Woke up this morning and it was about 0-degrees inside my van. First thing I did before starting my vehicle is check to make sure the weak antifreeze in my coolant-bottle was not frozen, yikes.
Yes, it's about time to be getting ready for winter. I thought it might help some folks out there. I 'm lucky enough to be living in warmer weather these days so it's not an important subject to me any more. However for you people in cooler climates it can get real serious real fast if you are not prepared. Thanks for the reply.
Engine heaters are pretty handy when you do live in a cold climate or even visit cold country in winter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Electrician4you
My diesels have them but I never use them as it never gets cold enough
Engine heaters are pretty handy when you do live in a cold climate or even visit cold country in winter. Never getting cold enough to use your engine heater isn't a bad thing,
I just haven't kept up with the accommodation of external engine heaters being built in by the manufactures. Not having to do a coolant drain for an external style install makes it an easy task. Just pop in one of these external style engine heaters and your done. The old internal style engine heaters was a lot more work and expense to install.
A lot of people have to deal with the cold in this country and would be better off with one on their car when the temperature is minus zero.
I like the fact that an engine heater makes the car think it's a spring day when you do start the engine. Also your heater and defrost are working much faster rather then waiting for the heat or defrost in a stone cold car.
Or you can do what my grandfather used to do in Montana:
He'd make a little fire in a flat steel pan, and when it died down to embers, he slid it under the oil pan of the old Model A and waited half an hour.
I did this once with a 72' Challenger using charcoal, was parked too far from an outlet.
Smoke was pouring out everywhere, thought someone was surely gonna call the fire Dep't.
But they didn't, and it worked.
To OP:
I discussed installing a block heater with a retired mechanic from the power company.
He said I shouldn't need it with the motor, and type of oil I'm using.
Nonetheless, I'm picky and have extension cords; and a small forced air heater set to a timer.
When it gets below 20F, I just pop it under the hood at night near the block; then it heats for 2 hours prior to starting.
I live in northern Maine. Block heaters help tremendously. (Some cars seem to need them more than others....our Murano started even on very cold mornings, but our Element needs a block heater).
Most people don't know block heaters exist unless they have lived in 10 below zero country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maineguy8888
I live in northern Maine. Block heaters help tremendously. (Some cars seem to need them more than others....our Murano started even on very cold mornings, but our Element needs a block heater).
Most people don't know block heaters exist unless they have lived in 10 below zero country or colder. Going back to the 1980's GM had a diesel that was a non-starter in cold weather. My father in law had a new Buick diesel his choice in 10 below weather was use the block heater or the car would not start. Starter fluid wouldn't help either.
All the company and owner operator big trucks where I worked use block heaters and they would start like a summers day after being plugged in over night. My wife had a VW rabbit diesel bought new during those years. We seen temperatures that reached 40 below zero with the wind chill. The trick to starting the VW diesel in very cold weather was putting 1 gallon of gas in when filling the diesel tank. That worked like a charm and was recommended by VW in the owners manual. The car never failed to start under the worst of conditions.
Engine block heaters have become common today and pay for themselves by saving engine wear and gas use.
If your car has ever failed to start on an extremely cold day20 below day, chances are it probably would have started if it had an engine block heater installed.
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In my experience the block heaters that replace the freeze plugs work the best on the block. I've always had one heater there, although on my Land Cruiser I have 2. For the Land Cruiser, I also have a battery heater, a transmission heater, and a dipstick heater. All plugged in to sufficiently rated power strip under the hood. I then have a reel-mounted extension code mounted under the bumper to plug in with (which they sell locally here but I cannot remember the brand). For my Subaru, I have one block heater, one transmission heater, and one battery heater. All these have helped when it is below zero, and are a must lower than -41F as unleaded gasoline won't even burn at that temp (it won't vaporize). A little engine preheat warms the gas up enough so the car will start.
I also have an ancient Land Cruiser that is never parked where there is power. For that I have a Webasto fuel-based heater that actually burns diesel to heat the engine - no electricity needed. A have a small fuel tank mounted under the hood that feeds it as the main vehicle is gas. Fire hazard? Not really any worse than the power steering fluid, brake fluid, etc under there already.
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Yes, it's about time to be getting ready for winter.
