i was thinking of getting a after market engine block heater. the one i saw is a tank kind you hook it up to the coolant hoses on the car and it pumps warm coolant through the engine. 750 watts can warm a 4 cylinder in 2-4 hours and a 6 cylinder overnight. what you think. i posted a pic of it



pic from jc Whitney

 

You have the right idea if... you have a place to install it.

If you install it in the lines going through the heater core, you have to have the coolant path through the core open when the engine is turned off. The effectiveness of those are a compromise. If you can install it from block port to block port or from block to water pump they work very well.

The problem you run into is whether you have the fitting ports on the engine/water pump to hook them up.

You can put a 1500 watt tank heater like that on a full sized V8 and warm it up in two hours if you install it on the block. The 750 you have there is plenty big enough for a 4 cylinder. I have a 1500 watt on a full sized diesel tractor (same one for 22 years) and it has never failed to start.


Hope this helps,

Bob