School me on block heaters.

[quikveedb2]

Winter is here, at least in my part of the world, and I find myself once again cringing every time I start my e30 in the bitter cold of Colorado's winter mornings. Can some of my fellow cold climate inhabitants educate me a bit on the merits of coolant and oil heaters? I'm kind of thinking about doing a lower hose heater, something like this;

http://www.amazon.com/Kats-14500-Lower-Radiator-Heater/dp/B000I8XD0S/ref=pd_sim_auto_1

so I can have heat quickly when I start the car, and a dipstick heater along the lines of this;

http://www.amazon.com/Kats-15200-Dipstick-Style-Heater/dp/B000BO74DG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352744408&sr=8-1&keywords=dipstick+oil+heater

to keep the oil warm & viscous, which is mainly important for engine health. I'm a bit worried that this dipstick might not seal properly & make the motor run like shit.

I know BMW makes a freeze plug heater;

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=125999&highlight=block+heater

but I haven't read a whole lot about how well they work. Anyone have personal experience with it's performance & install procedure? Can anyone shed some light on what works best, or share your set-ups? I gather a magnetic oil heater is out of the question because of the aluminum oil pan, and I'm really not interested in the stick-on mat type either because of their associated issues. Tia.

[Nick_S]

Interested in this aswell. My E30 doesn't like to start real well below 20 degrees.

[mamzak]

Well... personally I like the standard block heater that you put in place of a frost plug on the block. Easy, and heats the coolant quite well.

It gets to -30F in Canada from time to time and those still keep it relatively warm. The only downside to these style is that the coolant doesn't circulate, so it doesn't really heat the "entire" block. It does as the heat dissipates, but it's not directly heating.

Then there's circulating coolant heaters. It plugs into your rad hose and has a small pump and pumps the heated coolant around your block, and usually does a good enough job that the inside of your car stays relatively warm too since the coolant is being passed through the heater core. They're more expensive, and a little more prone to breaking that's the downside.



That's pretty much the best two options. Oil heaters (like magnetic pan heaters) are good too, but I've heard that they get too hot and can start to deteriorate your oil if left over long periods of time. They're meant more to leave on for an hour and then go start your car. (also...aluminum pans on the E30 so that wont work)

[jlevie]

In my opinion a freeze plug heater is better than one you place in a hose. The thermostat will remain closed, or mostly closed and prevent flow through the block. Having the heater in the block avoids that.

[TurboJake]

No block heater will give you heat the moment you fire up your car, you'll just have it sooner.

Freeze plug heaters are the best solution, bar none. But, before you even get a block heater, get a decent battery and check up on the grounds. You shouldn't need a block heater until well below zero. But yeah, if you're going to do a block heater. Freeze plug.

[James]

Get a freeze plug heater either from bmw or napa, pop the freeze plug out, install heater, Job done. Enjoy winter skids. Don't bother faffing around anything else.

[jeffnhiscars]

I lived in Edmonton in winter and I recall seeing the exhaust from office buildings crystallize as it came out...and if you peed outside it froze before it hit the ground...so I've heard :p

There are heaters for the pan to keep the oil warm, for the block (as pointed out), coolant circulating heaters, battery blankets and (my favorite) interior warmers that have the inside of your car toasty the moment you get in to it.

The problem is that all of this will take out the power grid so you need priorities.

Freeze plug heaters are a dealer install in just about every car sold there and will give you the best assurance of starting as long as your battery is ok & you have the right grade of oul. They also fast track you getting interior heat. Throw in a low wattage interior warmer, put it all on a timer and you should be fine

[Stanley Rockafella]

interior warmers that have the inside of your car toasty the moment you get in to it.

they also keep you from having to scrape the windows too (much faster "go" times in the morning when you running late for class!)

[MAXELHOFF]

careful!

Incandescent light bulb under the hood, in a pinch. "Trouble light". Warning, may cause fire. Be thoughtful.

[mamzak]

I lived in Edmonton in winter and I recall seeing the exhaust from office buildings crystallize as it came out...and if you peed outside it froze before it hit the ground...so I've heard :p

True stories.

If you take a cup of hot water and throw it into the air, it just falls to the ground as ice pellets.

[Stanley Rockafella]

True stories.

If you take a cup of hot water and throw it into the air, it just falls to the ground as ice pellets.

I call BS!

[jlevie]

I call BS!

Then you haven't been far enough north in the dead of winter. It doesn't matter if the water is hot or cold. Throw the water into the air vigorously and it will freeze on the way to the ground. Pretty neat really!

[AndrewBird]

I never found block heaters to help with starting. All they did was help the car warm up faster. Changing the thermostat to a hotter temp will help with this as well.

[quickervicar]

My CAT 3116 simply won't start below 40F without the block heater being plugged in, so if they help with cold starting a diesel I would think the same principle applies to a gasser (just not to the same degree)

[RGCintha29073]

My CAT 3116 simply won't start below 40F without the block heater being plugged in, so if they help with cold starting a diesel I would think the same principle applies to a gasser (just not to the same degree)

Diesels dont have spark plugs and need heat and very high compression to ignite the fuel hence glow plugs when cold starting.
The engine block heater would help the engine reach normal temp sooner but for cold starting you would some how need to heat up the very very cold air that the engine is inhalling when starting for the first time cold.