No, not talking diesels now....
We all know that wear takes place when the engines are cold. Some of us older folk will remember Kenlowe Pre-heaters. Essentially you plug the car into the mains, and pre-heat the coolant. It';; eventually heat soak the block too. Kenlowe are still going and their pre-heaters are still available - they start from £300.
I then stumbled upon this on the mighty bay. Anyone got any thoughts?
I hate all southerners. As a point of reference, I'm stood at the north pole.
I think it would depend on the car and the weather conditions. A modern car with proper efi and lubricants is tested to run for years without pre-heating in any weather, so i dont think you need it there. If you live in alaska it might be worth it though :) Other stuff like regular oil changes and not gunning the car when cold will make all the difference imho.
Ah, but having a nice warm engine as I set off is appealing....
I hate all southerners. As a point of reference, I'm stood at the north pole.
I guess that depends on the power of the heater. Does it actually raise the coolant temp to a lever where you can drive it away without having to go easy for the first couple minutes. And if the coolant is up to temp, is the oil up to temp as well?
Im always a bit skeptical about these things, if its that easy, wy isnt this a factory option?
I second that having a nice warm car is a good thing on a freezing cold morning, plus your not dumping loads of fuel in to it to start the car .
My mate russ had one in his cortina when they first came out it was a fab idea only problem was he forgot to unplug it one day from the garage socket and drove backwards out of the garage with half the house electrics ripped out, they did fit a coupler after a load of complaints from angry people that when pulled by the car it just came apart and didn't wreck the car or the house electrics.
Raises temp to 60 degrees. Quite a lot of manufacturers offer preheaters for countries with weather conditions a little worse than ours.Originally Posted by hmmmmm
I hate all southerners. As a point of reference, I'm stood at the north pole.
I quite like that idea.
Good find.
C.
me too - just waiting for someone to come and piss on my chips before committing an order.....
I hate all southerners. As a point of reference, I'm stood at the north pole.
If you just want a warm car when you get in, it might do the trick. But i dont think it will get the oil temp up to temp for you to nail the throttle straight away. You would still need to take it easy for the first few miles. And i guess install a coupler so you dont rip you're electrics out :) Wish i was there when that happened!
I was offered a pre-heater on my RX7 when they re-built the engine, theyve done loads of them with particular benefit in fuel consumption & emmissions. I was told you had to allow the oil temp to come up to par but that would happen a lot quicker. Normal driving no flying around for first miles.
The only reason I didnt go for it was the amount of money i had already spent, ie. no more left on credit card!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
