RE: Pre-heating the engine

From: Neil W. Bellenger (neil624b@rochester.rr.com)
Date: Thu Jan 23 2003 - 08:45:47 EST


-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Jason Bleazard
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 7:48 AM
To: dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net
Subject: Re: DML: Pre-heating the engine

Jason,

The two different heaters that I can think of that don't require modifying
the engine are the dipstick heater that has been mentioned, and the magnetic
crankcase heater. The dipstick is more convenient but concentrates the heat
in a very small area and there isn't much oil circulation, even natural
circulation, to carry the heat to the rest of the crankcase. If it is
manufactured poorly and gets too hot, it will start carbonizing the oil
right around the heater.
The magnetic heater is intended to attach to the bottom of the crankcase. It
will spread the heat around more but is a pain to attach and remove. It
usually comes with a very short cord to ensure that it is removed before
driving rather than just being unplugged, since it might jar loose while
driving. Putting it on requires crawling at least partway underneath and
maneuvering around any skid plates.
The drawback to both of them is they still leave the block and cooling
system cold. Starting will probably be a little easier and lubrication will
be better during a cold start.
I would be leery of leaving a blower driven kerosene heater ("salamander" in
this neck of the woods) run attended.
They are noisy and they might get bumped too close to something flammable.
Someone who gets really annoyed by the noise might be tempted to kick it to
aim at your tires.



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:45:45 EST