Pre heating help

[gltux]

Hi,
Does anyone know where I can get a pre heating device in England? I was met by confusion and denial when I asked in Halfords. I have a feeling that on the whole the British population is too indifferent to fuel saving for these things to take off and it's not really cold enough for us to need them to start our cars but I'm holding out hope that someone has them here.

Also, what types are there? And are they specific to makes and models of car?

My car's auto choke won't switch off for about twenty minutes and after a week of driving 2 miles to work* I've got 14mpg out of it. Considering I got 56mpg once that sucks. So I'm hoping a heater will let it run off choke.

*The delivery van is kaput. It was a choice of drive a stupid distance to work or do deliveries in the boss's Jeep, which she doesn't drive fast enough to get out of second or safely enough for me not to cringe the whole way.

[Neddy Seagoon]

Good luck on finding one, I got lucky back in the 70s when I lived in Limey Land and found one at the scrapys. You will need a 240 volt unit we only have 110 volt here. Maybe you could find some sort of heater for a diesel lorry (truck). Keep looking they do work.

Neddy Seagoon.

[ex-x-fire]

Yeah, whats the typical voltage in England? I have a block heater, it's common 110volts, 1500 watts.
The one I use is a canister type that works off convection, so there is a inlet & outlet.
The most common block heater is the kind that replaces a freeze (frost) plug. Some go into the rad. hose.
I had heard that in Europe some cars have a block heater that runs off the vechicle's fuel supply, I heard it is an expensive option.

[ex-x-fire]

Hey gltux, check out Phillips & Temro Industries, they might have what you are looking for.

[Piwoslaw]

Hi gltux.
The company DEFA makes block heaters for most engines, though I don't know if for Ladas. You'll have to google around. Here are some links to start with:
DEFA WarmUp - Engine Heaters
DEFA Heaters (PDF)
Once you find the catalog number for the heater you want, you can try to order it through InterCars, though it appears that InterCars UK doesn't carry it, but you can always ask. You can also look for another distributor, or maybe import it from the Continent or Scandinavia.

Originally Posted by gltux

Also, what types are there? And are they specific to makes and models of car?

There are different types of heaters: block heaters go in a hole in your engine block and heat it from the inside, glue-on heating pads heat your oilpan or transmission from the outside, inline heaters splice into the coolant line and heat coolant. Each type has an up- and downside, but there is lots of info on them at EcoModder.
Yes, block heaters are specific to each engine (or a few engines), so you have to make sure your heater will fit.

[dwtaylorpdx]

Wabestos makes heaters, you might check around a marine store...

Dave

[Frank Lee]

Perhaps if all else fails you could put a manual choke on it.