Quote:
Originally Posted by Miller88
The circulating ones are the ones that go in place of the upper radiator hose? I've seen those but wasn't sure what to think of them. Any suggestions?
|
No, I don't like those. They don't really circulate anything nor heat up the engine. So avoid them.
The kinds I'm talking about are one of two.
One has an electric pump built in. These are more expensive and harder to find. They go on the heater line, assuming you don't have a heater shut-off valve, and pump the water through the heater core and the engine.
The second type, which is much more common, is the "tank" circulating heater. These you splice into a heater/radiator hose that's down low on the engine and then into a heater hose that's up high, avoiding any (already there) valves or thermostats. The cold water feeds into the bottom of the "tank" heater which is mounted as low as possible and the heating element acts like a Percolator and causes hot water to flow up into the top of the engine.
Both of these are mounted to the frame or firewall somewhere. They also can be damaged if you have them plugged in and start the engine, depending on if your water pump pumps in the opposite direction or not. The tank heater also opens a path that lets water bypass the heater core in the cabin to some degree, which may or may not be a problem. On my VW diesel I installed a 120V solenoid valve that would automatically open when I plugged it and the tank heater and then would automatically close when I disconnected it. It worked pretty well.