Pre-heater

[Mike]

Since the weather has been good in my region my B model has started up just fine. But my question is..... When the weather goes cold is there a pre- heater to get some heat in the cylinders before start-up? I have a three prong wire out on the front bumper that goes ??? don't know yet. Can someone enlighten me on this subject?

Thank You!

mike

[Rob]

Since the weather has been good in my region my B model has started up just fine. But my question is..... When the weather goes cold is there a pre- heater to get some heat in the cylinders before start-up? I have a three prong wire out on the front bumper that goes ??? don't know yet. Can someone enlighten me on this subject?

Thank You!

mike

That plug should go to an electric coolant, (block) heater installed into one of the cooling passages of the engine. This is usually through a frost, core, or freeze plug as they are called. There are also external mount that tap into either the lower radiator hose, or a heater hose. Most use 110VAC power. Plugged in, it should keep your engine warm enough to start without the use or ether.

I would plug it in and verify it works before it gets cold. In your locale, it really won't be needed a whole lot but up north where the winter temps dip into the teens and lower, they are necessary.

Rob

[Delaneyland]

The winters here in MN can get ugly and I've used a paint stripping gun to warm up the intake before, it works pretty well. They can make a LOT of heat so you have to be a little careful, I'm not a big fan of ether and will go out of my way to avoid it. Like Rob said, the coolant heaters work okay but I've found if there is a wind, it takes a lot of heat away from the block. I doubt it gets too terribly cold where you are Mike, but a blanket over the engine with the tank heater plugged in works great for maintaining the heat in the block.

[Arcticmack]

Up here in Alaska ther just a Part of life these block heaters, So Plug it in and listen real close you should begin to hear a Slight Hissing sound that will tell you if in fact the block heater is working, Really scientific huh,?! well other than feeling for heat at -30below zero and thats not gonna happen for a while here, till it actually warms things up. thats how we tell if there working.

good luck.

Rob

[Mike]

Thanks Mack Men, I'll give it a try.

mike

[Speed]

If you end up needing to prime it to start in cold times,you might try this. We used to use a mix of diesel fuel and ether;I did pretty good with a pint jug (plastic mustard bottle works well)with about half diesel and half ether. Be sure to swirl it a little to mix it up before you use it. I discovered it when my most stubborn generator (Witte two cylinder) wouldn't go and my only can of starting fluid didn't have any pressure to spray,so I poked a hole in it and poured it into my squirt can of priming fuel. Gives it that extra kick but also has the lubrication of diesel fuel to keep the cylinder walls from drying out.

Speed