Engine block warmer

[Joe71]

Hey, any of you guys using engine block warmers......? Was looking at getting one that goes into the block were the freeze plug goes.....my truck (like most I'm sure) is cold blooded and I don't have a lot of time in the mornings to warm it up, and theres no choke on the ol quadrajet....what are your thoughts? Do they work well? Thanks, Joe

[Troy pfeiffer]

Well im from alberta canada and we get some of the worst winter storms and i can say from experience that YES they work very well! BUT as for your problem im not sure that a engine heater is the solution!! Engine heaters are more so to warm up the oil and it sounds like you just need a bit of initial help getting the motor to stay running and not to get it running in the first place!! i would go and get a new carb with a choke manual or electric and your problems should be over!!!

[Joe71]

Thanks for the reply....I really can't afford a new carb right now, but I do see what you're saying. But I assumed that since it went into the block at a freeze plug that it would keep the coolant warm not only in the block, but in the heads and manifold. Another pro would be the fact that the coolant would already be warm, so I "should" have heat/defrost right away....I don't have more than a 5 minute drive to work....so the truck is barely warmed up by the time I get to work.

[mr48chev]

Joe it will help but may not be the total cure. Just remember to unplug it before you take off as it really stretches out extension cords. And yes that is the voice of experience speaking.

If the choke plate is still there you might look into seeing if you can rig up a choke cable to make it work.

[ChillFactor]

Ahhh... Finally and area where I have some expertise (at least in my own mind :-) )

Simple answer, get your choke working.
All engine pre-heaters are meant to get the engine to starting temp not running temp.

Freeze plug heaters only heat the coolant in the block and only he coolant around the heater directly. Most are around 65 watts so its like leaving a light in the house on overnight. I use mine 10F to -20F. No help on the interior heat. Install difficulty moderate.

Tank heaters connect to a coolant drain plug and circulate warmed coolant through the block, I have mine plumbed through the heater core so I get some pre-start defrosting. I use this heater -20F and colder (about 30 days total per year) . Most are 800 to 2500 watts, mine is 1500 watts. Install difficulty moderate.

In line lower radiator hose heaters. 200 to 500 watts. Marginally useful but better than nothing. Install ease easy.

I have also used oil pan heaters (magnetic and glue on) and dipstick heaters. Heats the oil but not the coolant. I have a pan heater on the oil pan and the trans pan.

Tim

[Senator350]

FWIW, aftermarket ignintions (think MSD) do a lot for the pedal pumping during start... taking out one more of the difficulties when cranking on cold mornings

[Joe71]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Joe it will help but may not be the total cure. Just remember to unplug it before you take off as it really stretches out extension cords. And yes that is the voice of experience speaking.

If the choke plate is still there you might look into seeing if you can rig up a choke cable to make it work.

LOL good advice. The choke plate is not there...

Ahhh... Finally and area where I have some expertise (at least in my own mind :-) )

Simple answer, get your choke working.
All engine pre-heaters are meant to get the engine to starting temp not running temp.

Freeze plug heaters only heat the coolant in the block and only he coolant around the heater directly. Most are around 65 watts so its like leaving a light in the house on overnight. I use mine 10F to -20F. No help on the interior heat. Install difficulty moderate.

Tank heaters connect to a coolant drain plug and circulate warmed coolant through the block, I have mine plumbed through the heater core so I get some pre-start defrosting. I use this heater -20F and colder (about 30 days total per year) . Most are 800 to 2500 watts, mine is 1500 watts. Install difficulty moderate.

In line lower radiator hose heaters. 200 to 500 watts. Marginally useful but better than nothing. Install ease easy.

I have also used oil pan heaters (magnetic and glue on) and dipstick heaters. Heats the oil but not the coolant. I have a pan heater on the oil pan and the trans pan.

Tim

VERY useful information, thank you! Sounds like the only one that would be useful to me would be the in line one to the heater core....which is a pump that circulates warm coolant through the engine, at least that was my understanding from what the local parts guy told me.

[Sport/Truck]

I installed one on our snow plow. I't mounts on the lower radiator hose as clos as possible to the water pump. It worked well all last year and make it nice to jump in a warm truck! We have it on a timer to turn it on a few hours before we started plowing in the morning. Here are a few pictures.

s/t

[Pont406]

My c10 had a block heater from the factory. I see it on SPID. Heater is long gone. I never saw it. Any pics of the factory set up?

[WorkinLonghorn]

There's always the low-tech option;

[68C15]

I run 2 block heaters and an oil pan heater. I took a couple of politician signs and made a slide in winter front for the radiator. it covers both the front and back so the heat doesnt , well, radiate. after 3 hours of being on the timer the thermostat is open. it sure is nice having summer oil pressure when it is -20. I also can get rid of my scraper. no frost or snow to deal with.

[mrein3]

When somebody from Fairbanks, AK talks about engine heaters, listen to what they say. We only get down to -35 to -40 F around my place and that is MAYBE once or twice a year. Those Faribanks guys deal with temps like that on a regular basis. Even with global warming.

FWIW, every new car I order I make sure comes with a factory installed engine heater. While it may only heat the water in the block it is still better than nothing. My garage for my daily drivers is not heated but it is attached and insulated so it stays above +20F in there all winter. Even in there if I know it is a cold morning coming I plug my car in the night before then plug my bride's car in when I go to work.

Right now I'm in the middle of installing a snow plow on my K10. While under there last night I started thinking about some kind of heater to use as the truck sits in an unheated pole shed. All I've ever used on these old time religion Chevy V8s is a lower hose heater. Since I already have a used lower hose heater on the shelf that is probably what I'll install.

The one experience I've had with a lower hose heater where I really used it was this:
I'm in high school. Back then (before 1986) my daily driver was a 1972 Chevelle. One morning I had to get someplace or maybe just move the car around the corner for the snow plow and it was cold. I jumped in the car and all I got was a click. Since I had time I plugged in the lower hose heater. 20 minutes later the car fired right up.

[Joe71]

Thanks for all the replys. I think I will go with the freeze plug type...and eventually fix the choke or just replace the carb. A friend at work uses this type of heater on his 6.2 diesel engine and says he can put his hand on the manifold and it feels warm after leaving it on a few hours....it's cheap enough to try out at least. Joe

[Sport/Truck]

FWIW the one I used will get the intake manifold hot too & much easier to get on.
How miles on your motor?
s/t

[Joe71]

Originally Posted by Sport/Truck

FWIW the one I used will get the intake manifold hot too & much easier to get on.
How miles on your motor?
s/t

How much was it and where did you get it? Not sure on the miles, I know it was rebuilt quite a while ago, early 90's I think is what the tag on the block says, could of been done since then but, who knows. I've only owned the truck for about a month.

[Sport/Truck]

PN#6053016 600W $44 NAPA. I'm not sure you want to start pulling a freeze plug to install a heater- jsut seems like allot of work with a good probability of causing more problems. if The one your wanting to use is easy to get to then maybe.
Hope this helps.
s/t

[passthebuck]

I have 4 heaters on my truck. 2x block heaters (I only use the 2nd one when its deathly cold), a battery blanket & an interior car warmer. It's insanely cold here & with no ocean nearby to "moderate" things once in a while. -30C for 6 weeks isnt unheard of here. Ya, #1 priority should be to fix your choke though...

[Joe71]

Thanks sport truck.

Yeah, I'm working on the choke part, found a few junk quadrajets on craigslist for cheap, gonna check those out, and another member said he might have some parts too. I'll get er figured out!

[Joe71]

Originally Posted by ChillFactor

Ahhh... Finally and area where I have some expertise (at least in my own mind :-) )

Simple answer, get your choke working.
All engine pre-heaters are meant to get the engine to starting temp not running temp.

Freeze plug heaters only heat the coolant in the block and only he coolant around the heater directly. Most are around 65 watts so its like leaving a light in the house on overnight. I use mine 10F to -20F. No help on the interior heat. Install difficulty moderate.

Tank heaters connect to a coolant drain plug and circulate warmed coolant through the block, I have mine plumbed through the heater core so I get some pre-start defrosting. I use this heater -20F and colder (about 30 days total per year) . Most are 800 to 2500 watts, mine is 1500 watts. Install difficulty moderate.

In line lower radiator hose heaters. 200 to 500 watts. Marginally useful but better than nothing. Install ease easy.

I have also used oil pan heaters (magnetic and glue on) and dipstick heaters. Heats the oil but not the coolant. I have a pan heater on the oil pan and the trans pan.

Tim

So , I ended up buying a tank heater that connects to either the lower radiator hose or to the drain plug on the block (which I assume is the one just above the oil pan????) and am wondering where in the heck to mount this thing..it says in the instructions it has to be mounted below the engine block to make sure it has a gravity feed thing going on....that doesn't make much sense to me as it's a pump, right, why would it matter???

So Tim, where did you mount yours? And how did you run it?

Thanks, Joe

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by Joe71

So , I ended up buying a tank heater that connects to either the lower radiator hose or to the drain plug on the block (which I assume is the one just above the oil pan????) and am wondering where in the heck to mount this thing..it says in the instructions it has to be mounted below the engine block to make sure it has a gravity feed thing going on....that doesn't make much sense to me as it's a pump, right, why would it matter???

So Tim, where did you mount yours? And how did you run it?

Thanks, Joe

It's usually not a pump. It uses natural convection to circulate water. (heat rises). IMO if your only source of heat is that plug heater, you don't want to put it in the radiator. It will loose too much heat & I don't think it will circulate through the engine as effectively. But it's worth a try. Let me know how you like it.
s/t

[Stocker]

A bit late to the party, but I'll toss in my 2 cents anyway...

A long time ago I was living in Missouri during a cold winter -- not cold like you Alaska & Canada guys, but not much over zero at night... I had a '71 full size Dodge van and a tiny Triumph GT-6. I put lower radiator hose heaters in each.

On cold mornings, the van would start easily and have warm air from the vents very quickly. The Triumph had such a small amount of coolant that with the vents left in the 'defrost' position, warm coolant circulated all night and the windows were clear in the morning -- simply start it and drive away in a warm car.

Considering low cost and ease of installation, hose heaters would be my choice for moderately cold climates.

[Arad68]

My first duty station was Minot A.F.B. ND. and my car sat in the dorm parking lot overnight. I had two freeze plug block heaters, a magnetic trans pan heater and a battery blanket. The only trouble I ever had was other members would steal the fuzes from the electrical posts... There was one post for every four parking spaces. The only time my car (at least the engine) ever got cold was when I didn't get a good parking place at work or when I went downtown which wasn't very often. (23 miles from the back gate to the edge of town). I got warm air from the vents and immediate defrosting action. During the intense parts of winter (Sep through Feb) it was almost always -20 overnight low temps.

[Joe71]

Originally Posted by Sport/Truck

It's usually not a pump. It uses natural convection to circulate water. (heat rises). IMO if your only source of heat is that plug heater, you don't want to put it in the radiator. It will loose too much heat & I don't think it will circulate through the engine as effectively. But it's worth a try. Let me know how you like it.
s/t

I may have miss worded that....it's just a little red pump that goes inline with the heater core hose and connects to either the drain plug or splice into the lower radiator hose...it doesn't go into the radiator.

[Joe71]

[low'n slow]

Originally Posted by Joe71

This is the one I've used before when I lived in Idaho and Utah. It worked great. Keep your heater tempurature on high so the water circulates through the heater core.