Engine Block Heater for Trooper

In my biased opinion the heater produced by Pinedale Products of Chalk River Ontario is the best choice for ANY vehicle. The heater connects into one of the heater hoses so one of them must be accessible for about 10". They're made in two versions, for 5/8" hose and 3/4". In addition to being easily installed it is thermostat-controlled: on at 32F,off at about 70F, engine temp.

I installed one in a Crown Vic two years ago, last Feb. I checked its performnce by letting the car cool for a few days when the overnight temperature averaged -22F. The engine temperature was -18F when the heater was plugged in,after 75 minutes the engine temp had reached 32F which is considered a "safe" starting temp i.e. lower levels of pollution and engine wear. The heater is rated at 600 watts @120 v,during this test the line voltage was low so the power drawn was only about 540 w. Leaving the heater plugged in brought diminishing temp increases, due to increased losses (Stephan- Boltzman(?)law).

walt

Thanks, Walt. Any thoughts on grade of motor oil for the cold climates, other than synthetic?

What engine is yours? the 3.1TD and 2.8TD Japanese market models have them as standard here in New Zealand, it's a little switch on the dashboard that looks like an enging block with a helix inside.

Bob-I should have mentioned that the heater used in the Crown Vic pumps the coolant around the entire engine block at the rate of about

1 gallon/minute. A conventional block heater would take considerably longer to distribute the heat and would do it unevenly. I've found that warming the engine also warms the oil in the pan, even if it didn't, the oil pump is warm and one pass of the oil through the engine will warm it up. I've been using 5w 30 Tech 2000 (WalMart) in GM and Ford products all year round and have no reason to change. One word of caution, if your battery is allowed to cool to -40 your car isn't likely to start even if the engine is warm. Walt

No TD available in the US, so I have the 3.5 gas/petrol V6.

A petrol really shouldn't need heating, unlike a diesel which fires due to heat and compression, a petrol has a spark to set it off. rather than a heater I'd be looking at putting in a second battery as is found on some of the Jap editions from the cold parts of over there.

with the 3.5 you know to watch you oil tho? they drink it down pretty fast. I've heard plenty of horror stories, even more than the 2.8 petrols tendacy to crack heads.

Your American GM engines don't seem to stand up very well. the 2.2 is anemic, the 2.8 V6 cracks, and the 3.5 has oil probs.

I've been lucky -- I don't really have the oil problem many complain of. Occasionally I'll be down about 1/2 quart, but I can go between the 3k-4k mile oil changes with little oil loss.

As for the 3.5 engine, it's all Isuzu, and a good thing, too. It should be the same petrol engine available elsewhere in the world.

The heater will be used to keep the engine "warm" during cold nights averaging zero here (approx. 16-17 below zero, celsius) to ease both wear and emissions during morning starts. Apparently emissions can be reduced by as much as 70% when using a heater for about 3-4 hours prior to start when the temperature drops below 20 degrees F (about -6 C or so, I think).

Thanks for the feedback.

So, you're headed into summer down there... Beautiful part of the world.

Yep, summers beautiful, temps are into the low 20s *C, sun is out, the beached are covered in Bikinis.

if it's just to keep it warm that way, just open the bonnet at night and toss over an electric blanket connected to a timer set to start in the morning a few hours before you normally start it up.

As to the 3.5 in NZ, it's sold, but it's rare, NZers just don't buy petrol SUVs much, only Jeep with their big Wrangler and Cherokee V8 petrols sell many, and those aren't common either, thier diesels are more popular than their petrols.

rhys

replying to rnf2, skotmac wrote: Hi. I am based in Christchurch and am trying to get the engine block heater working on my 95 bighorn. I don't have a manual (can't seem to download one, frustratingly!!) and I don't know how it works. Is there an external cord / plug? If the block heater relies on the battery, and the battery is not at optimum charge after a cold night, isn't this counter-intuitive? Besides which, the switch lights up when the engine is running, but otherwise not. Help!!! Snowing!!! GAAAAHHH!!!!