Can someone explain how block heater works?

We just start the engine and let it warm up for a bit during winter, right?

 

Living in Canada this is an easy one for anyone north of the border. A block heater basically just keeps the motor from freezing over night when the temperature drops below say -10 deg. C that's about 14-15 deg. F If you don't plug in the block heater on a night that's say -20 deg. C then you are asking for real trouble starting it up the next morning...even if you get it started it's real hard on the engine as the moving parts have so much friction because the oil in the engine pan is basically frozen (depending on type of oil).

Red/Canadian

 

How do you plug it in?
where is the plug? @@

 

The block heater is basically a heater element that fits into one of the holes cast into your engine block. Usually looks like what is in some electric kettles, cord attached.

 

Depending on where you live the block heater may or may not be installed...even if it is in there the cord may not be attached to it...ask your dealer they should know

If you have the heater but no cord then it is very easy to install the cord....think of a cord for say your cell phone...prongs on one side to plug into outlet and some sort of attachment to the heater...no wiring necessary.

Red/Canadian

 

Poke your hand thru the air dam on the lower right side between the inside of the dam and the radiator. Feel around for the plug end of the cord. It'll have a plug cover over it to prevent corrosion. Attach extension to plug. ( I give mine about an hour warm-up now and maybe 2hrs. mid winter)

Gsedanman-Garntet Fire Sedan ('till Jan)

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by gsedanman on 11/24/02 05:45 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

hey g do you park yours outside? in Toronto isn't it?

Red/Canadian

 

Hey EdRedS, Just back on line (had the tower into shop to add DVD player). How's the 'brass monkey' weather out west? I hate parking outside! Never do that. If I had to park outside I think I'd sleep in the car. hahaha.
I'm lucky to have garage, and I always make use of it. I still give the motor a 1 or 2 hour warmup on cold mornings- It really helps to prewarm the engine and not so much gas wasted warming it up . My mileage on cold days is way down without warmup. Right now electricity is cheaper than gasoline. So I give my baby a little 'treat' every morning.
Gsedanman-Garnet Fire Sedan ('till Jan)

 

The weather out here is actually really good right now...high of 12 tomorrow...I park in a garage too in an apartment complex so it doesn't get too cold. So you mean you plug it in for 1-2 hours, not leave it idling right? I know someone in GTA thinking of buying a G, what dealership do you recommend in that area?

Red/Canadian

 

RED:
Don't you love the weather we're getting now? Re-washed the G on Friday, and it's still clean!
BTW, did you or are you getting Winter tires?

Gord

 

EdRedS<I don't like idling much , it wastes too much gas. If you plug it in for an hour or so then no need to idle. The other benefit to plugging in the B/H for a little while is that you get heat from interior heater almost immediately. My old bones like that. What I really miss a lot now is the heated steering wheel I had in my 2k2 Max. That was a nice touch. Guess you can't have everything. Sounds like you're getting some decent temps. at the moment- enjoy while you can. Not been too bad here - not as warm as last year and just a little snow so far.
I live in Cambridge about 1hr. west of TO. The dealer I went to is in London. There's another in Guelph, and quite a few in GTA. I haven't heard anything bad about any of them yet. Your friend will have to contact all the guys in GTA for their opinion : Stalker
Terry-350
Paintballbitch
Ace It
Rumble
MSP
Racing Maniac
StarFyre
SLJer
35bills
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Red Lobby and many more.
You got some snows on yet or are you not gonna bother? It's expensive and a pain in the rear, but well worth it for rear drives. Happy motoring- Later
Gsedanman-Garnet Fire Sedan(waiting for Coupe)

 

I'm still looking into it gordgee....I'm not sure if I want tires as aggressive as the LM 18's I might just go with the WS50's as they offer better traction. My GF will be driving the car as well and she has no experience with RWD so I think that will work out better for us. Although I don't think we will be needing them anytime soon.

Thanks for the info gsedanman...when is your coupe getting in? Are you trading in your sedan for it? Did you get a good deal for the trade in if you are? If not let me know and maybe my friend would be interested.

Red/Canadian

 

EdRedS, thanks for the leed on selling my Sedan, I traded it in on the Coupe (should be here in a few weeks) . they gave me 41k which saved me about $6k on tax off the new one, so that's like getting $47k for the trade. I'm happy with that. If the deal falls thru for any reason I'll let you know- The car's real clean and babied and would be a good car for anybody.
Let me know what you do about the snow tires. I had WS-50's
on the sedan until I returned them. I found them too aggressive. Not good enough on wet and dry pavement. Thought you'd like to know the car didn't handle well at all with them. I'm getting LM-22's for the Coupe soon. Hey I heard the mild weather is continuing out there? That's great. Later
Gsedanman- Garnet Fire Sedan (until Jan)

 

Hey that's a pretty good deal you got on the trade in. I'm going to wait on the snow tires until after it really snows for good. I realize how aggressive they are but am willing to lose a little performance for good traction once it really starts to fly. Ya, the weather out here is great, it's nice to be able to drive it on nice pavement....I thought that when I finally got it (today) that the roads would be 2 feet under.

Red/Canadian