Block Heater! Sign Me Up! - Page 4

Snax · 01-01-2009, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guest001

is this really worth doing? the cost of operating it vs extra fuel used when its cold?? cost wise i mean. technically it would have to increase mileage.

wait is this necessarly for mileage or to be able to get in your car warm?? cause just cause the block is hot doesn't mean the o2 is hot. it's still going to take time to heat up the o2.

The real payback is in your time and comfort, as well as reduced wear on the motor.

Last year (before my heater core completely plugged up), the tank style heater I installed on the Tercel was a huge help. Not only did the car simply start up and stay running without any issues, but I had a defroster that actually worked from the first turn of the key. So I was able to literally get in it and go. Without the block heater, the Tercel liked to idle very high, stall, and didn't produce any useable defrost heat for several minutes worth of driving, creating a safety issue with me having to manually wipe down the inside of the glass as I drove if I didn't let it idle up to temp before leaving. Of course this is in a car that now does not have a functioning O2 circuit.

Regardless of the oxygen sensor warmup however is the baseline fuel and startup mapping. Even without the input of the sensor taken into account, every modern ECU has a temperature compensation map. So a cold motor will always run significantly more rich than a warm motor regardless of whether it is in closed or open loop mode. When I programmed the fuel map for my race car several years back, I had to enrich the cold start map by as much as 60% to get a sustainable idle - in addition to the higher startup idle speed map which was also temperature compensated.

So the bottom line is that block heaters do save fuel. They also save time and hassle, as well as make otherwise cold starts more comfortable inside. It will take years to get your money back on fuel savings, but fortunately you get more out of them than that.

guest001 · 01-01-2009, 06:47 PM

your right, there is cold startup enrichment as well as enrichment for when the motors cold. yeah, its def. going to save gas. whats the cost to operate a block heater, as in electric?? Is the cost of running it less then the extra gas used?

Snax · 01-01-2009, 07:16 PM

Well mine is literally $.09 per hour and I run it about that long via a timer. So 9 cents per day x 20 work days/month (I don't drive it on the weekends) = $1.80/month. I suspect I make that back, but I really don't know.

zero_gravity · 01-04-2009, 02:20 PM

so i just installed a nice pump circulation engine heater this week....seems to go a great job, my car is warm in well under 5 minutes! we'll see how well it does for the long haul....it was a bastard to install (my engine has no coolant drain plug) but its done. put a timer on it to save the landlords some hydro too. no point in wasting it running for 8 hours or more overnight i figure when 3 or 4 will do.

aalb1 · 01-04-2009, 06:15 PM

Installed!!!

I just installed mine Friday night and installation was a cinch!

This is what the installation looked like:

Jack up car and place drip pan underneath the engine.
Remove Block's drain plug under the 4th exhaust port using a ratchet, 19mm socket, and 2" extension.
Let coolant drain & uncap radiator to relieve pressure.
Hand thread then tighten Engine Heater Block Plug using a 27mm socket and ratchet.
Tie down extension cord, refill/bleed coolant, reinstall WAI.

I didn't drain or flush the radiator since I installed a new radiator with fresh coolant about 5k ago. I tried it last night @ 33*F and the radiator hose was warm to the touch before starting the car. While driving my needle started to creep up to operating temps within 2 minutes of driving!!!!! This morning @ 27*F it pushed slightly warm air, not hot air, through the heater immediately after starting the car! So far I think this is worth it! Let me know your questions and I'll share with you my observations!

Also this weekend not only did I do an oil change but I replaced it with Mobil-1 0W-30

aalb1 · 01-06-2009, 07:46 AM

New Observation.

Previously when doing P&EOG while the car was still in warm up mode I would notice that the my Oil Pressure Light would not be lit when the ignition would be on but the engine would not be running.

I assumed it did this because my 5w-30 was so cold and so thick that it held pressure within the oil pump, oil lines, and oil sensor. Once the engine started to warm up more (still not up to full operating temps) the oil light would come on with the engine off and ignition on. I assumed it did this because the oil was thinned out a little more once it warmed up.

Now with the combo of Mobil1 0w-30 and the block heater, the oil will come with the engine off/ignition on right off the bat!!! This is good! This means that oil is easily circulating through the system with ease! Now I don't feel as bad for the engine on these cold days in trying to achieve greater fuel efficiency!

Once again... Well Worth It!!!

zero_gravity · 01-13-2009, 05:59 AM

i've got mine working well now and it does seem to be making a bit of a difference. still trying to get through a full talk though, don't travel far to work.