Block Heater

[Airman Jack]

Hey everyone, those who I spoke to at the last meet know my little shtory, I\'m in the Air Force, yaddi yaddi yaddi going out to Saskatchewan this winter, need snow tires, etc. BUT I\'m also considering getting a block heater. Now I\'ve heard a couple things about this and I found out that there are two types, block heaters, and inline heaters. I called Scarborough Mazda and the service advisor there told me that the Mazda heaters are block heaters. I asked about inline heaters, and he said those are better for north american cars, not Japanese cars. From what I understand, a block heater warms the oil pan and keeps the oil from gumming up, and an inline heater warms the antifreeze, keeping it circulating through the engine by convection. Any thoughts?

[bluntman]

GLG (http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1997/June/11.html)

GLG = Gotta Luv Google :D

[wongpres]

Mazda refers to the Mazda3 one as a block heater, regardless of whether or not it\'s the \'better\' type, get the genuine one. The Mazda3 block heater is the only one specifically designed for the Mazda3 (for some reason that I still don\'t understand, even the Mazda6 2.3l block heater is different).

I got my Mazda3 2.3l block heater installed about a month ago. According to the write-up, it took 2 hours to install. I actually had to drop off my car before work and pick it up afterwards because the radiator needed to be drained (so car had to cool down). Just looking at the wiring afterwards, which runs from the grille all the way back to the interior side of the engine, I understood why it took so much labor. Having said that, it\'s a very clean install (lots of tie-downs), and the block heater works great with the sport grille because you can just stick it out through the grille.

[FLIPDADY]

The instructions call for you to remove the exhasut manifold and drain the rad to get to the block. After all of this is done you have to remove the block plug. Put in block heater and harness and re-install manifold refill coolant.

[Airman Jack]

cool thanks for the info guys!

You\'ve gotta love having a guy like Flipspeed with all his dealership knowhow and such! :D

Oh yeah, and good to see you over here on the local boards Wongpres! :p

[MZ3_GS]

For optimal performace you should get both if you are really concerned. As mentioned above there are two types.

The mazda one is a coolant heater...It keeps the coolant warm in the block. I think you have to plug it in when you park it, I\'m not sure however. Installation is simple remove frost plug wire it up and refill cooling system.

The other type of heater is for the oil. This is probably the better solution as because 90% of engine ware occurs on startup. At cold temps the oil is viscisous and takes longer to get to the rest of the engine. With the oil heater you\'ll keep the oil warm help it get it to the rest of the engine faster.

If I\'d pick one to install it would be the oil one.

GL