View Single Post
Old 11-17-2011, 04:26 PM   #43 (permalink)
Piwoslaw
aero guerrilla
 
Piwoslaw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 3,748

Svietlana II - '13 Peugeot 308SW e-HDI 6sp
90 day: 58.1 mpg (US)
Thanks: 1,328
Thanked 749 Times in 476 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by tinduck View Post
Maybe you are right, but in THEORY the warm-air-blower-through-the-lower-grill has some advantages over oil pan or cooling water heaters:

- behind the grill is the water cooler => gets heated. Heat transfer should be great, after all this is an air-water heat exchanger.
The problem with blowing into the engine bay through the grill is just that: Most of the heat will be absorbed by the radiator, but the coolant in it won't warm the engine itself since the thermostat will be closed. Most of that heat in the radiator will be lost to the ambient air the minute you start driving. Of course, if the warm air is blowing all night, then once the radiator warms up the engine will start getting some heat. On the other hand, if the warm air is blowing all night, then it's not really warming a cold engine, but slowing the cooling of a hot engine after parking in the evening.

Still, any heat that gets into, and stays in, the engine is good.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JethroBodine View Post
I remember reading about the dipstick type heaters not being recommended when they first came out, but not sure what the exact reasoning was.
It's about the heat density, ie how much heat is emited per unit of surface area. I don't remember what the maximum limit is, but above that the oil starts to fry. A dipstick has very little surface area, so it would have to be very low power to be safe, but then it wouldn't do much.
__________________
e·co·mod·ding: the art of turning vehicles into what they should be

What matters is where you're going, not how fast.

"... we humans tend to screw up everything that's good enough as it is...or everything that we're attracted to, we love to go and defile it." - Chris Cornell


[Old] Piwoslaw's Peugeot 307sw modding thread
  Reply With Quote