Block Heater

[flyboy]

Anyone got the Mazda blockheater in their M3? Or planning to get it?

[FLIPDADY]

I don\'t think anyone here has got the block heater, but I would recommend it if you\'re stuck parking your car outdside all winter.

[flyboy]

Yes, that was my thought...my car is stuck outside all winter because my RX-7 gets the garage for winter storage!

Is the block heater for the 2.3 litre different from the 2.0? I have the 2.3 and wondered what the technology was. Is it a coil heater inserted into an engine block frost plug? What does the unit cost?

[SABIO]

My car was parked outside the majority of last winter.(way up north here in Newmarket) I never once had the engine hesitate upon start-up.
When I finish work at 1 am and go outside and it\'s -20C and the car is covered in ice, I am comfortable in knowing the car always starts with no problems.

Heating up quickly is another matter though ;) I usually drive a gear down, i.e 3rd instead of 4th for a minute to warm the engine quicker. But I am be nit-picky cuase I only live 5 minutes from work, I shouldn\'t expect the car to be blazing hot in such a short drive. I do it just to warm up the air a bit to keep the winsheild from fogging up.

[FLIPDADY]

Originally posted by flyboy


Yes, that was my thought...my car is stuck outside all winter because my RX-7 gets the garage for winter storage!

Is the block heater for the 2.3 litre different from the 2.0? I have the 2.3 and wondered what the technology was. Is it a coil heater inserted into an engine block frost plug? What does the unit cost?


The heaters are the same for the 2.0/2.3 engines. The heater is installed where the engine block plug is. The club price for the heater is $34 plus tax for the part only. Instructions included with the heater.

[CelestSpeed3]

Originally posted by SABIO
Heating up quickly is another matter though ;) I usually drive a gear down, i.e 3rd instead of 4th for a minute to warm the engine quicker. But I am be nit-picky cuase I only live 5 minutes from work, I shouldn\'t expect the car to be blazing hot in such a short drive. I do it just to warm up the air a bit to keep the winsheild from fogging up.


I\'m not sure if the 2.3 Mazda 6 takes a long time to heat up, but I can tell you the V6 will be at temp with the heat blasting in under a minute. Our stock thermostat is around 192F, and that\'s the main reason why it heats up so fast. I\'m not sure if there are any aftermarket thermostats avialable for the 2.3 like the 3.0. I believe that the 2.3 thermostat is integrated into the block, while the 3.0 is a standard one.

[nifty6]

A friend of mine had a block heater in his V8 Buick. He used it everynight during the winter. But, one day his engine went south, can\'t remember at what mileage, it didn\'t fail in the first year, might have been after 5 or so years. The mechanic who rebuilt it thought the cause of the engine failure was due to the block heater. What might have happened is the cylinder that was closest to the heater was dried out meaning the cylinder was starved of a oil coating and that was the area that failed. Not sure this makes any sense but he has never used a block heater again. My previous car had a block heater but never used it. If you have one only use it when it is really cold not every night, or maybe syn oil would help.

[majic]

Originally posted by nifty6


A friend of mine had a block heater in his V8 Buick. He used it everynight during the winter. But, one day his engine went south, can\'t remember at what mileage, it didn\'t fail in the first year, might have been after 5 or so years. The mechanic who rebuilt it thought the cause of the engine failure was due to the block heater. What might have happened is the cylinder that was closest to the heater was dried out meaning the cylinder was starved of a oil coating and that was the area that failed. Not sure this makes any sense but he has never used a block heater again. My previous car had a block heater but never used it. If you have one only use it when it is really cold not every night, or maybe syn oil would help.

umm IMO that\'s not possible, the heater would have to heat the engine to a temperature that would make the oil evaporate and that\'s pretty high.. actually for mobil 1, the label says \"protects up to 205C\" nice.. and the next thing i pulled from its data sheet is \"flash point - 228C\" flash point is where the oil vapours mix with oxygen and with addition of some spark they would ignite.. oils also havea \'fire point\' which varies and well it\'s not on the data sheet but usually 50-100C past the flash point.. nmind you the data was for mobil 1 synthetic oil (couldn\'t find dino info) but still i have a feeling the mechanic didn\'t pass gr. 11 chemistry :sarc

[Panopticon]

I have the block heater from the stealership and I have only used it once so far! this winter has been very mild. It took about 45min to heat up nicely and IMO is a great investment.

[MaxRPM]

Originally posted by nifty6


A friend of mine had a block heater in his V8 Buick. He used it everynight during the winter. But, one day his engine went south, can\'t remember at what mileage, it didn\'t fail in the first year, might have been after 5 or so years. The mechanic who rebuilt it thought the cause of the engine failure was due to the block heater. What might have happened is the cylinder that was closest to the heater was dried out meaning the cylinder was starved of a oil coating and that was the area that failed. Not sure this makes any sense but he has never used a block heater again. My previous car had a block heater but never used it. If you have one only use it when it is really cold not every night, or maybe syn oil would help.

Maybe his engine died because he brings it to a mechanic that thinks block heaters dry out engines. Actually the real problem was that fact that it was a Buick.:D