……. and it worked!!

With temps headed to 4 below (-20C) last night and as my garage is unheated, I thought why not plug in the engine heater? Never tried it before in 19 years but it worked

This morning cranked the old girl up and she responded instantly!! Glad I finally got to use it as I was considering removing it when I changed cooling hoses. Won't do that now.

 

allen ,this cold weather sucks!!

not fit for man nor beast

 

No kidding!! I'm certainly not used to this in NC. What was that about global warming?

 

hi have been hearing that you guys in the states are freezing your asses off .Hope you all manage to keep warm ,keep up the anti freeze ,a 100% ratio works well just don't lose your bearings and go for a wonder outside .
This engine heater thing has me intrigued was it standard on your cars or aftermarket ?

 

Block heaters are standard items on most cars in Canada, and much of the northern US. If the forecast calls for -15C overnight temperatures I plug all my cars in. A couple of years ago we had driveway pole lighting installed and I had the electrician install plugs on each pole so we can now plug in 12 cars for those winter family functions. Don't forget to unplug in the morning, those extension cords can snap back at great force and do some real damage. (experience) Global warming isn't working out for us either, it's only been above freezing for 8 hours in 6 weeks! I bet these caps don't look quite so silly to you now

 

It was a factory option, part of the 'cold weather package' I only got it because I wanted the heated seats as I like to drive with the top down on cold clear days. The package included the engine block heater, heated seats and headlamp washers (pretty useless).

 

I am headed to the USofA in 2 weeks, I hope you folks put on better weather for us, I don't own any warm clothing LOL.

I have never seen an engine heater.

 

I think we've all been there. A good trick is to loop the extension cord over the outside mirror on the drivers side as a reminder to unplug before you get in.

 

Good idea. The old girl was snug as a bug again last night

I hope this bloody weather changes soon!!!

 

glad she started first time normally they turn over slowly complain a little turn over a little more enthusiasticly then fire into life ?mine no matter what the temp the big green thing likes to make sure anything in the centre consul is the same temp as the climate control setting not sure why they went to the trouble you might get a club sandwich and a small bottle of anti freeze in there but the plumbing must be crazy ? keep toasty guys and remember to unplug the extensions before moving ,and they all thought plug in hybrids were clever.:icon_snowbal l::icon_ca ptain:

 

a block heater even in summer is a big deal for the hypermilers.

keeps the oil warm and the engine goes into closed loop operation faster.

 

Do they factor the cost of electricity for the block heater into their calcs?

 

my v12 sees little cold weather , its an open top car(roadster)1978, has little to nothing for incliment weather.

but my GMC suburban DIESEL , anytime its goes below 50F i plug in the factory block heater, if i forget, it clatters and runs rough till temps work into the engine.

nice part is i have cabin heat instantly, when plugged in, if there is any cost,i dont see it it my elec bill.

 

We had single digit temps here in DC. I didn't drive the first single digit day, but I did fire her up the next morning when it was below 10F. The six fired right up, no hesitation, complaints, grunts or otherwise.

 

I have a 90 XJS and have no idea if it came with an engine block heater. Where can I look to see if my car has one? Thanks.

 

Well you should see a 6ft or so power cord bunched up and cable tied to a spot by the cylinder head. Alternatively you can look under the car at the bottom radiator hose. Cars without the heater have a one piece hose from the rad to the water pump and those with the heater have two hoses with an metal tee or elbow piece in between that houses the heater. There will be a power cord coming out of the heater.

 

Yep. And they use timers switches to turn the block heater on at the optimal time before the usual departure. A couple of hours is usually sufficient.

It's the same deal when they use premium fuel in a vehicle with a regular fuel handbook requirement. They calculate the miles per dollar from long term logging. It works out well for some vehicles and not so well for others. The information is tablulated and shared.

BTW, others keep the engine on a block heater because it lets the oil temps get into operatiing temperature ranges faster thus alleviating startup wear from cold oil. Warm oil is also less likely to retain condensate.

 

Thanks. I did think a cord would be somewhere because I have had them on other cars.