Car Vs. Cold

[Stonewall]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

stupid question,

does this only work on tdi's or can i do this on my 2.0L? golf

Alex did it on his 1.8T so I don't see why not, just look for a collant line that sits low in the engine bay.

[stefan]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Bah.

I've had three winters with a 1.8t and it has never refused to start and I don't bother plugging it in (well I don't have the block heater on my GTI yet).

The coolant heater would be good mojo though. A nice almost warm car on any -30 day.

just dont giver right off a -30 start... be surprised how long it takes -30 oil to get to the top of your engine.. and to that turbo.

[Red90]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Well snow pressed up against the belly pan would press on the heater and not wreck the pan though. I have a skid plate now so I don't really worry about that though. Personally I would rather have a whole engine that is warm rather then just the oil in the oilpan.

What I am saying is the coolant heater leaves the oil cold, so is not the best thing for protecting against cold starts. The best thing is to use both.

[Red90]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

I've had three winters with a 1.8t and it has never refused to start and I don't bother plugging it in (well I don't have the block heater on my GTI yet).

The plugging in is NOT to allow it to start. All modern cars should start at -40 with a good battery. The plugging in is to:

1) Prevent damage from lack of lubrication when the oil is below its pumping temperature.

2) reduce the warm up time which help defogging and warming the interior.

[Aleks]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Ok, I was a little unclear on what I did. So here it is:

1. I use both the oil pan heater and the coolant heater when I'm plugged in
2. you can use the temro coolant heater on ANY VW engine, the main thing being using the low point in the coolant system (heat carries it up and circulates it well)
3. the TDI instructions are used as a loose guidline for install on the VW cars, just to get the idea of mounting position and location (the same regardless of engine), and where to look for the coolant lines, as well as the "extra" pieces you need such as hoses and whatnot.

Does that help?

[Guysmiley]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Ok, I was a little unclear on what I did. So here it is:

1. I use both the oil pan heater and the coolant heater when I'm plugged in
2. you can use the temro coolant heater on ANY VW engine, the main thing being using the low point in the coolant system (heat carries it up and circulates it well)
3. the TDI instructions are used as a loose guidline for install on the VW cars, just to get the idea of mounting position and location (the same regardless of engine), and where to look for the coolant lines, as well as the "extra" pieces you need such as hoses and whatnot.

Does that help?

nice, now all i have to do is convince someone to help me put it in before winter hits.

[Turkey]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

My thoughts exactly.

Thanks alot guys for the insight. Looks like I have to go spend more money. haha

[RONDAL]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

there is a lot of misinformation, or slightly misinformed people posting in the thread so i think some of it needs clearing up.

VW tells you to not start your car and let it idle for a very good reason. start up is the hardest task an engine has to do. and until the car has reached operating temp is under a lot of stress. simply starting a car and letting it idle prolongs this start up period and is very hard on the car. starting a car, waiting 10-30 seconds, and then driving slowly keeping revs under 3000rpms until the engine warms up is the best way to start a car and warm it up. it minimizes the time the car spends under operating temps and will prolong the life of the engine and parts.

if any of you have any doubt of how bad it is to start a car when its cold out and have the block heater and oil pan heater on heres a little experiment. on a cold night take some engine oil, put it in a small clear bottle and leave it out overnight. in the morning compare some warm oil kept at room temp and the one outside. the one outside is like peanut butter. especially 15w50. now imagine this in your car. its not able to lubricate the moving parts that need it so badly.



here's a question for you: im storing the car for the winter but my water pipe and tstat housing developed cracks in them last year because of the cold and not having enough G12 in the system i guess. $80 + 4 hour repair = lesson learned.
is there somthing i can attach to the rad or block that just sticks on, that i can plug in and leave over the winter to avoid this from happening? car only gets driven about once a month just around the block to circulate fluids and tires until it gets nice and warm then i put it away. i only do this when its above +10, so usually when a chinook rolls into town and the roads are semi clear.

anyone?

[Cordialtea]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Well snow pressed up against the belly pan would press on the heater and not wreck the pan though. I have a skid plate now so I don't really worry about that though. Personally I would rather have a whole engine that is warm rather then just the oil in the oilpan.

I agree with you there. I had a guy tell me though with the coolant heaters it opens up another whole can of worms and VW won't cover you for waranty if your leaks or anything from the circulating coolant. I was told to avoid them because it can cost a host of problems so now I don't know what to and I feel torn because I hate waiting for my car to warm up and freezing on the inside of it. :(

[Cordialtea]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Well snow pressed up against the belly pan would press on the heater and not wreck the pan though. I have a skid plate now so I don't really worry about that though. Personally I would rather have a whole engine that is warm rather then just the oil in the oilpan.

How much foir the Skid plate?

Judy

[Cordialtea]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Oil pan heater from http://www.altrom.com/content/parts/partsDetails.aspx

For my Golf 4 is this: Oil Pan Heater 250W CSA 512 $158.90

For other VWS: http://www.altrom.com/content/parts/partsCarList.aspx

[Stonewall]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

I agree with you there. I had a guy tell me though with the coolant heaters it opens up another whole can of worms and VW won't cover you for waranty if your leaks or anything from the circulating coolant.

Well that is contridictory as I have heard the $400 (or whatever) unit they install now is a coolant heater and not a stick on heater. I was told they stopped using the stick on heaters as they have fallen off and started fires and I have heard of atleast 2 cases up north where that has happened. You are looking at about $330ish for a alum skid plate.

[Deuce]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Bah.

I've had three winters with a 1.8t and it has never refused to start and I don't bother plugging it in (well I don't have the block heater on my GTI yet).

Agreed. 2 winters on a 2003 1.8T, always parked outside in the elements, never plugged in. Never had a issue starting it. Just fire it up, let it idle for a minute or two and then start driving it gingerly (a.k.a. no 50%+ throttling) and you'll be fine.

To qualify my statement, I'm not saying that having a block heater or otherwise is not a good purchase... just not necessary in my opinion for a car with only 4 cylinders. Definitely, when you're up in the V8 range, I would highly recommend one.

Just my $0.02... Deuce.

[Cordialtea]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

Well that is contridictory as I have heard the $400 (or whatever) unit they install now is a coolant heater and not a stick on heater. I was told they stopped using the stick on heaters as they have fallen off and started fires and I have heard of atleast 2 cases up north where that has happened. You are looking at about $330ish for a alum skid plate.

I was told about the stick on heaters too catching fire so I'm like what do I do? My car is not lowered so would i need a Skid plate or is that for only lowered cars?

[Stonewall]

Re: Car Vs. Cold

I was told about the stick on heaters too catching fire so I'm like what do I do? My car is not lowered so would i need a Skid plate or is that for only lowered cars?

A skid plate is good for any car, it saved my butt once already and if would have hit at stock height.