An Engine Block Heater in San Jose
 

We're in the process of doing a staggered move from near Toronto to San Jose. My wife's gonna sell her 2001 5 Speed 4 Door Accord, well actually it's mine but anyway, she wants to get a NAH. Fair enough, and she was nice enough to know that I really like the precision gray. So we figured everything we wanted to get up front like warranty, oil changes and hitch receiver for bikes at the back, mats etc.

Also on the menu was an engine block heater. I had to repeat and explain what it was. They don't need them there he says. Anyway, it's hard enough to convince my wife that the car should be tweaked when driven rather than taken for granted. They're a really nice drive and the Tech package has a NAV and backup cam but more importantly the energy usage log graphs and similar data. Otherwise, you just have a power/regen gauge and you lose your tach, and it's creepy. The engine should be noisier so that you know if it is on or if the tarmac type just changed.

Anyway, why wouldn't other customers be asking about block heaters? They should should be standard in the USA - mandated even. The NAH in Canada that we drover had a block heater as standard equipment.

San Jose rarely gets cold enough for a block heater.

Block heaters: they're not just for winter anymore!

Congrats on the move. I take it that means you won't be dropping in at Thanksgiving this year to see the continued evolution of the ForkenSwift.

Aside from locale, I think the reason the dealer isn't getting questions like yours is that the Altima is a low volume, relatively new hybrid. It doesn't have the legions of efficiency nuts associated with it that the Prius does.

I guess you could get a block heater but the only place your going to find to plug it in is your house. I guess that could help you a bit.

I don't even have a heater in my van.

Being born in San Jose and having always lived in the SF Bay Area, I can understand the sales guy's response... 9 out of 10 pepole who live here have no idea what one of those is...

Once in a while, we get an overnight hard freeze and <native Californians> freak out

You should still get one, I have to belive the engineers at Toyota knew what they were doing with the Prius' engine coolant thermos bottle, getting the engine temp up quickly must help emmisions and FE

MetroMPG, where in the heck did you install a block heater on a Metro? I have 3 different types of block heaters, but I see no way of installing them on this little block.

I'm sure it helps with FE and engine wear, but how much is a good question.

An engine gets it's worst fuel economy when it's cold and running rich. The block heater (even in the summer) makes the warm-up time a lot less than normal.

Do a oil pan heater Johnny, I think it will give better results anyway and they draw less power.

The ideal situation would be to heat the coolant, not the oil. I assume the oil heater would help some. I seen one of those "Dipstick heaters" before, but I dunno about that. The self-adhesive oil pan heaters are pretty cheap, but you haven't seen my rusty oil pan yet!

I disagree about the oil vs coolant. The head will come up to temperature fast because that is where the fire is. Cold oil is more viscous so there is definitely more drag when cold while fuel injection has really solved the cold running problems wrt fuel atomization.

I have seen your other threads and know how handy you are, a stick on pan heater would be a 20-30 min job for you even with pan prep.

If I had to pick the most gain for the least electricity, it would be to heat the fuel lines and injectors. Fuel injection hasn't changed the fact that cold fuel on a cold engine doesn't want to vaporize fast enough.

I believe modern O2 sensors need only 30 seconds to warm up and start working. I wonder if leaving the key on for 30 seconds before starting would help with this?

Not sure if the engine computer, reading the engine coolant temp (ECT) will cooperate with fuel preheating.

Beside FE, there are major pollution issues on a cold start.

I have always liked the idea of an oil pre-ignition pressurizer for longevity purposes. It makes sense to me to have a system that first heats the oil to some preset temperature and which then activates a pre-luber to charge the system and reduce wear at startup.
Anyone know of such a system? I could put it on a timer.. I leave at the same time every morning... hmmm

Actually the preluber might be good for eoc as well...

An oil accumulator would fit the bill. Companies like Jegs and summit carry them.

There are actual pre-lubing systems as well but they are probably too big for a car.

block heater
 

If the I.C. engine survives long enough,we may see engine block heaters,transmission heaters,and differential heaters,all with thermal insulation wraps, extending well into the spring driving season.For all latitudes.

I wonder how long it takes the engine to heat up the O2 sensor to operating temp? Even though youre starting with a warmer engine, it still wont kick out of warmup mode until the O2 sensor is up to operating temp, and warmup mode is where a lot of loss is. No TCC, default fuel maps. Ive never tried a block heater.

30 seconds if it has a heater in it. Otherwise much longer.

Thats cool. Mine generally takes about 2 minutes.

I have both the OEM style, which bolts on to the back of the block beneath the intake manifold (a nightmare to install), and a tank style heater spliced into the heater core return line. I located the tank on the firewall behind the transaxle.

They're generally pretty useless - low wattage & not powerful enough.

They say they don't even have a part number for it.

I believe, but I may be wrong that the onboard computer keeps the mixture rich until the water temperature reaches a minimum temp.

The O2 Sensor measures the exhaust gas concentration of oxygen.

After 3 years of Fairbanks, AK., I'm glad we don't have a engine block heater, an battery heater and a snow shovel.