block heaters and fuel economy

Im all for them in climates where it really gets cold. We started using electrical warming in about October in Norway. If you didn't, the doors would freeze shut, the locking mechanisms could freeze up, the cockpit would be cold for a long long time (making seat warmers feel really good), etc.

I don't know that you will see much improvement in mileage, but the comfort and driveability is better.

Conceivably, you would dilute the oil less with fuel in such a situation, and maybe protect the engine a little better.

In the old days this certainly was true. In modern FI engines it is less true. Gone are chokes. EPA rules require engine to run with leaner mixture than we ran during warmup in old days. I am sure it helps some to use the heater, but not as much as it used to.

I am amazed at how FI engines work here in Minnesota. For a long time the experts have said, do not run the engines for several minutes to warm them up. Don't drink a cup of coffee while engines warm up. Just run it for about 30 seconds, then drive off but drive gently for a few minutes. That sounds fine, but with most carbureted engines one COULDN'T drive off after 30 seconds- the car would keep stalling. Now, with both of our cars FI, we can drive off after half a minute and the engines accelerate as smooth as anything. The one big benefit I see in FI.

I drive an '89 Festiva with a feedback carburettor here in Ottawa. It doesn't stall if you drive it cold. It does idle pretty fast on cold days. I count to 10 before putting it in gear and driving off. Part way through the '89 model year they switched to FI and fuel economy actually dropped (according to government fuel consupmtion numbers), while horsepower increased so it might be more than just the fuel system invovled. A couple of years later they increased the hp again and fuel economy dropped again. Kept the 1.3 L engine block throughout.

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Chances are you will be trading energy costs more than anything else. If you live in a cold climate it will save wear and tear on engine and it will be more comfortable car to drive for the first few miles. Had one in a 1984 Volvo Diesel and it sure made those frosty 10 degree mornings a bit more bearable. It was almost instant heat from the heater.

Been driving for 35 years. Fords, GM's and Chryslers. None of them had a stalling problem, even when it was 0-degrees out. Start and go...always have done that...no engine issues with that practice yet!

I can tell you from experience that 15-30 minutes will do almost nothing for you. If it's cold out (when your really need it), four hours is about the correct amount of time to get the max out of your block heater without it just stewing for hours on end. Get yourself a b/heater timer that you can set before you go to bed and it will be ready for you when you go to start it up.

Ian

You're correct about EPA rules, but cold engines still run very rich.

Horseshit. Only if you or your ill-chosen "mechanic" didn't know how to keep them in proper repair.

I agree with that, Ian. If it were going to be really cold, we just plugged them in at night and left them going. The ones we had did not get really hot...they did not produce enough wattage to be damaging.

I had a timer for teh block heater before I left the workforce. I don't use the car on a regualr basis.

But it does make a difference to plug in the block heater for 15 minutes. I can hear the difference in starting and in lower rmp's at initial idle. I figure if the idle rmp's are lower it's saving fuel.

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