Does anyone have experience with block heaters? My '98 Civic LX doesn't have a block heater, and I'm wondering if anyone could offer some input regarding these two questions: can a block heater be installed? - at roughly what cost? I'm inquiring because it gets cold in Toronto, and I like to head up to my cottage in the winter. I'd hate to be left with a frozen block. Thanks for the help!
normal glycol antifreeze at 50/50 mix will take you down to -39C. does it get that cold in toronto? check your coolant density with a $1.99 tester from woolmort.
i think your biggest problem is cold cranking viscosity of your engine oil, and that can be cured by using a true synthetic. but that said, block heaters are available. check with your dealer.
jim beam wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@speakeasy.net:
Never. The lowest I've ever seen it in Toronto is -22F. You have to go up to North Bay/Kapuskasing before you hit -40.
Interestingly, Kapusakasing, Ontario is where some automakers do their cold-weather testing on new models.
"Ez" wrote in news:Ts8Kf.444$ snipped-for-privacy@news20.bellglobal.com:
I live in Ontario, Canada. It's warm right now, about +15F.
Yes, one can be easily installed. Figure about 1 or 2 hours labor plus the $30 or so for the heater. Coolant must be drained for this.
If you keep your coolant mixture to 60/40 antifreeze/water (or use Honda premix) you will be just fine.
If you use the engine oil specified in your owners manual and don't do something stupid like use 20W-50, starting will be no trouble at all. Provided your battery is in good shape, that is.
Just curious: Have you ever investigated a heater which, on cold nights, goes where the dipstick goes? It keeps the oil warm and so facilitates (greatly?) cold starts.
I would also be googling for other options. Last I checked, it seemed like there was a whole cornucopia of them.
"Ez" wrote
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Your block heater replaces the lower block drain plug, and takes about
30 minutes to install. The only hard part is routing the wire thru the grille. I wouldn't even drain the coolant, just do it really fast and only a few ounces splashes out. Top up the reservoir to MAX with Honda Premix and check it again next morning before starting out. Here's a PDF document for a Honda CR-v '97- '01. Yours should be very similar. Maybe somebody will post a proper link . .
P.S. Next to the block heater, and / or synthetic oil, the next most important thing to know about starting a frozen Honda is in your Owner's Manual, where it tells you how to start in extreme cold (or at high altitude) Hold the pedal half-way to the floor and crank it. The 'rules' have changed since the early days of fuel injection. Many OLD WIVES don't know this.
'Curly'
Well, actually, my cottage isn't far from North Bay and the coldest I've seen there is -43 degrees with not a hair of wind. Fortunately I was driving a car with a block heater at the time.
In the weather Toronto is experiencing at the moment, I have no issues with starting, my only real issue has been a very high RPM for a few minutes before the engine settles down. Now, I cannot attribute that to a fuel problem, nor battery as I recently replaced the battery with the best one I could find ( call me paranoid). The oil I use is full synthetic 5w-30, so I cannot blame the oil either.
I haven't really googled at all with regards to this issue of mine, but I'll give it a shot.
Thanks all for the help!
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