For those of us that live in the colder winter zones, minus 20 and below temperatures are
a seasonal norm.
Whether you own a car or use someone else’s, having it start reliably in the winter is
important.
One way to ensure your car starts when it’s really cold out is to use a Block Heater.
Here are the top 4 questions people ask about Block heaters:
What are they and how do they work?
Are they even needed?
Should I get one installed at the dealership when I buy a new or used car?
How do you know if it is working or not?
Watch on as I delve into these questions and also reveal why you might be overpaying to
get this installed at the dealership.
Before we get started, remember that for all our videos you can get more info in the video
description.
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Let’s start by quickly going over what a block heater is.
You basically have 2 components.
A heating element that is installed in a port of the engine block and … a block heater
cord.
The heating element heats the coolant in the engine and the cord supplies the power.
One end plugs into the heating element and the other to an electrical outlet.
That’s it.
Some people end up paying $500 or more for the dealership to install a block heater.
What they didn’t know is that usually all the mechanic may be doing is simply plugging
in the block heater cord.
Keep watching as I will show you later in the video how you can avoid this by learning
from my actual experience with a dealership.
Now that we know what a block heater is, let’s find out why you might want one.
The most obvious reason is to have your car reliably start when it gets too cold out.
When cold out the engine oil becomes more viscous, like taffy or thick honey, and the
battery will supply less current.
Combine those two factors and your vehicle will have a harder time starting.
The second reason is to prevent wear and tear on your engine and starting system.
Cold starts cause the most wear and tear on these systems.
When you have -15 degrees Celsius or lower temperatures the oil will be more viscous
and therefore the oil pump will have a harder time supplying enough oil to lubricate all
the internal components of the engine.
Plus, the metal parts within the engine are not at their ideal tolerances for operation
when cold.
Although using synthetic oils will help, the metal still needs time to heat up and this
is where the block heater can help.
In very cold temperature, the oil actually takes several minutes to get above 0 degrees
Celsius.
I would definitely recommend a block heater if you choose to use regular motor oil.
Block heaters are also good for Diesel vehicles as they are more easily affected by cold temperatures.
And for temperatures below -15 degrees Celsius, I would definitely recommend it even if you
use synthetic oil.
Third.
If you use a block heater a few hours before you need the car, your engine block will be
warm by the time you need it and you will get heat sooner from the heating system.
You only need to use it between 1 to 4 hours before you need your car.
The length of time would depend on the temperature outside.
Ideally you can just use a timer so that it turns itself on in the morning at a pre-set
time.
Did you know that most cars sold in colder climates already come with a block heater
pre-installed at the factory?
Even though this is the case, dealership salesmen still try to get you to pay several hundred
dollars to get it installed by their service department.
When I bought my current car at the dealership, they tried to offer it as a Dealer Option
installed for ONLY $500.
You might get caught in a similar situation but there is a quick and easy way for you
to find out!
Call the dealerships Parts department.
That’s what I did and found out the car I was interested in came with a block heater
pre-installed at the factory and all that was needed was a block heater cord to be plugged
in or installed.
I later bought one from the parts department, brought it to my mechanic and had it installed
in under 1 hour.
I paid $66 plus labour and taxes.
Note that you can get most block heaters from $40 to about $70 depending on the make and
model of vehicle.
Now that we know so much about block heaters, how do we know if our block heater is working?
Let’s do a quick check to make sure our block heater is functioning properly.
First: check that the cord is in good condition and not frayed or damaged.
Damaged cords need to be replaced.
Next, the best thing to do is to buy a block heater tester or energy meter.
Some people plug in a night light to test things out but that doesn’t test the block
heater.
That only tests the outlet and the extension cord connected to it.
You need a special tester that will tell you 2 things.
1) if the outlet has power and 2) if the block heater is drawing any power from the outlet.
That is what these two devices do.
Alternatively: Just plug in the block heater then wait and listen.
You will start to hear a sound similar to what an electric kettle makes.
It pretty much sounds like liquid starting to boil and sometimes some pinging as the
metal in the engine block starts to expand.
And there you have it.
All you need to know about Engine Block heaters.
Here’s a bonus for watching to the end of our video…
If you don’t have a block heater but need to heat up your engine because your car won’t
start, you can use one of these magnetic heaters.
These work good and can be attached to the oil pan, intake manifold, or engine block
of your car.
You can even use this on Snow blowers, chainsaws, snowmobiles and other small engines and pipes
that need heating.
Also, there are more than one type of the block heater testers out there.
The two that I showed earlier and also this one, which is very common.
As usual, find out more in the video description!
Thanks for watching! Captioning by FRAKKING CREATIONS.