Blocker warmers

[Redneck86]

I want to put some block warmers on my truck, i wanted to know were i can get some and how they go on. I pretty sure they replace a freeze plug dont they? and wanted dual ones if thats how they go in, one for each side.

 

[Broncobill78]

I want to put some block warmers on my truck, i wanted to know were i can get some and how they go on. I pretty sure they replace a freeze plug dont they? and wanted dual ones if thats how they go in, one for each side.

Block heaters come in all sizes & shapes. I think the *best* are indeed the type that go in and replace a freeze plug. To the best of my knowledge those are what the factory installed. I had one in a Canadian built Bronco that I had, but there are also engine heaters that replace the dipstick with a heating element to keep the oil warm & by extension the rest of then engine and there are also heated magnets that attach to the oil pan to do the same thing. Whatever type you choose they make a diference. Growing up in New England I can vouvh for the fact that a truck that's been outside all night in the wind & snow *but* was kept plugged in and heated will fire right up the first time and stayed running without needing someone there to feather the throttle for 10-15 min in order to *stay* running. Now having said that I have to admit that all of my experience with block heaters was with carb'd trucks. Fuelie engines are a whole different ballgame but I can imagine that keeping the oil heated *must* cut down considerablt on the wear caused by cold-morning starts. I remember once making the mistake of taking my truck up to work in Caribou Maine in January without changing out the 20/50 that I usually ran (it was a garaged truck to I never really worried about it before). Coming out one morning it was about -20 (and had been colder overnight before the sun rose, there were only 2 or 3 truck in the motel parking lot and about 50 snowmobiles). It started right up but I watched for a good 2-3 minutes while the oil pressure *stayed* at 0 and then SLOWLY climbed to 10, 15, 20, etc. After that one trip I always took the GF's ****** when I went that far North.

Here are a couple that I found right off the bat:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product...CFQOllgodbXeh3A

http://www.justforjeeps.com/enblhe3.html

 

[Redneck86]

Yea man i have to do just that with my truck, i live up in a small moutain town in Colorado. Every morning i gotta set in the truck and warm it up by featherin the gas(kinda sucks). Thanks for the links but im pretty sure i found the one im lookin for in my new LMC truck catalog, the ones that replace the freeze plugs. And i dont think i need to worry about my oil i normaly 10W40 but i switch 10W30 for winter so i think ill be fine plus im puttin dual warmers on it, one each side.

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[Broncobill78]

/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I doubt too many guys North of the Mason Dixon worry about the oil because most are smart enuf to not run 20/50 in the winter /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> mine was garaged and I usully took the Woman's car when I needed to travel around for any distance because the 6mpg big block just killed me, that trip was the exception that proved the rule. With Fuel Injection being everywhere I think most guys today have forgotten (****, most of them never even knew about it /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> ) about sitting in a cold, cold, freezing cold cab for 10-15 min feathering the freaking throttle to keep it running until it will idle on it's own and warm up. Lord knows there wasn't anything I hated more than coming out 20-30 min *after* I had started the damn thing & thought it was running fine only to find it had stalled out and was just as cold as it had been when I woke up. You just get TIRED of running out first damn thing in the morning to start it and stay there for 10 min to keep it running so it'll be warm & not stall every 3 miles when you try to head into work. I hated getting snow on my bathrobe.

 

[Redneck86]

Damn dude my truck is just like that, i get ****** as **** when i think about to walk out to warm truck just find that it went dead. And yeah nobody knows how much that sucks anymore i have the oldest truck sittin the parking lot at school /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> , and sometimes i have to sit there and warm it back up after schools out. :wacko:

 

[EvlFaust]

I have used the freeze plug style block heaters before, and they worked to an extent. I later found a recirculating block heater at Napa and it seemed to do a much better job. The recirculating heater installed on the heater hoses and used a pump/coil setup to heat and recirculate coolant through the block and radiator. It did take up some space under the hood, but it seemed to make a big difference in comparison to the feeze plug style.

 

[Broncobill78]

Damn dude my truck is just like that, i get ****** as **** when i think about to walk out to warm truck just find that it went dead. And yeah nobody knows how much that sucks anymore i have the oldest truck sittin the parking lot at school /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> , and sometimes i have to sit there and warm it back up after schools out. :wacko:

Yeah, and the problem is that with a carb'd truck like that you can't even use a remote starter. After it starts & stalls the first time it won't strat right back up again without someone there to tickle the throttle. Now that you say that I can remember sitting in the school parking lot warming up my old LTD and waiting for it to get hot enuf to not stall when I tried to slide my way out of the parking rink. Man I used to just *love* the rooster tails studded snow's would throw when you hit the throttle in a powerslide. Ahhh, it was worth every demerit /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

As far as the recurculating heaters go. I can see some merit to them, I guess it just depends on your situation. The recirculating heater will heat it up *faster* by heating & circulating the fluid but once it reaches a set temp that's where it stays. The block heater is admittedly slower but once you've heated the block, the actual 200lb chunk of iron that everything else fits into, then the block heats everything else and the entire engine sits at a temperature setpoint. I think they're just two different ways of doing the same thing but to be honest I think the recirculating heater will draw more power and it will definately wear out over time, plus I'm a real big fan of stuff with no moving parts. Things like that take forever to wear out, I must have replaced the cords on my block heater (one on each side) 3 times over the years but the heating elements never wore out.

 

[Redneck86]

Yea i think im gonna get the block heaters that replace the freeze plugs. Plus im gettin 2 of them one for each side of the block and they draw next to no power. And the less stuff i in the way of my engine, the happier i am.

(i like a clean engine bay lol)

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