Let a car run before driving?

[bcla]

I have a fascination with this topic even though I could have worn shorts outside today.

I'll just show some photos of these block heaters since some don't quite get what they are. I mentioned replacing the coolant engine drain bolt, although the can also replace freeze plugs or some kits put them in hoses. There might be some that are designed into the engine.

This one is inserted in place of a freeze plug. It's not plugged into the connector.

They can have various shapes. Some look like those immersion heaters used to heat water in a mug, while others barely have a heating element.

They'll always have some sort of connector and a cable. I've heard of setups where there's the end of a cord with a standard three-prong plug just sort of dangling out of the front, although other setups include cleaner looking ports that clip onto the grill, as well as holes cut into the bumper cover. The earlier photo I linked shows a bunch of different places where the plug is placed on a car.

 

[mommasita]

That is cool bcla, but I will be real honest like JanaDee, it isn't illegal here, and after I have shoveled the stairs of my fourplex, often my car, taken the snow off my car, I am more than pleased to enter a warm toasty car.. I don't feel guilty in the least.. I also leave my defrost (front and back) on, as I mentioned it has been ARTIC cold for the past two months here... My windshields will not be defrosted with that heater, so either I sit in a frozen car waiting for my windshields to defrost, or I wait in my home for such to take place, it has to be done before I leave for safety reasons.. I don't use it in the summer time, only the winter.. Judge me, that is fine....

Also on certain nights we start it every hour for 5 minutes, there is a timer for that....

If I think back to the 70's when I was a wee one, I can recall my uncle using a block heater, before the invention of the remote starter.

 

[mnrose]

We garage our cars, and start them only when we are ready to leave. Sure, it takes a couple of minutes to warm up, but it's no big deal. To me, it's wasteful to idle your car. Besides, I drive a Prius. It doesn't do the idle thing well. LOL.

 

[Laura66]

I warm up my car for me, my car does not care if it's cold or not. I do live somewhere that it's illegal to leave a running car but I've never seen it ticketed. I have a car starter so no keys in it. It won't go into gear and shuts off if you touch the brake so I'm not worried about it being stolen or a kid accidentally going for a ride.

It's not illegal here - heck the news people tell you in the morning to warm up your car.
I park in the garage and my daughter parks outside. We both warm up our cars. The ice and snow on her car some of these past days - even with her defrosted on it takes while to clean off the car. And really - with dangerous wind chills why would she be outside more than she has to!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Question for those of you with heated leather seats.

I have had them in two of my cars (a Jeep Compass and now an Acura RDX) and neither of them preheat! Are they pressure sensitive or something? As soon as I sit, they warm but the NEVER preheat.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

Question for those of you with heated leather seats.

I have had them in two of my cars (a Jeep Compass and now an Acura RDX) and neither of them preheat! Are they pressure sensitive or something? As soon as I sit, they warm but the NEVER preheat.

My wife's CRV has heated seats. They turn on when the vehicle starts as long as they are in the on position when the car is shut off.

As for letting the car warm up. I am not a certified mechanic but I have been working on cars for the better part of 25 years, when it is really cold outside you should let the car idle for a little bit. In sub zero temps, things need a little time to circulate and get use to moving. You definitely should take it easy on the go pedal until engine temps get up to normal operating temps. You have different types of metals that expand at different rates, fluids besides oil that need to warm up, etc... This is esecially true if you leave and hop right onto an interstate. I personally let my truck run for about 1-3 minutes before moving. Obviously, you are going to waste gas doing this but the little amount of gas you burn is much cheaper in the long run than have a new engine, valves, etc... replaced because of irresponsible driving in really cold temps. This is for temps hovering around zeror or below. If it is 20-30 degrees, that isn't cold but you should still drive carefully until temps get up to operating specs.

 

[Laura66]

Question for those of you with heated leather seats.

I have had them in two of my cars (a Jeep Compass and now an Acura RDX) and neither of them preheat! Are they pressure sensitive or something? As soon as I sit, they warm but the NEVER preheat.

Omg - same with my Honda Odyssey!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

That is cool bcla, but I will be real honest like JanaDee, it isn't illegal here, and after I have shoveled the stairs of my fourplex, often my car, taken the snow off my car, I am more than pleased to enter a warm toasty car.. I don't feel guilty in the least.. I also leave my defrost (front and back) on, as I mentioned it has been ARTIC cold for the past two months here... My windshields will not be defrosted with that heater, so either I sit in a frozen car waiting for my windshields to defrost, or I wait in my home for such to take place, it has to be done before I leave for safety reasons.. I don't use it in the summer time, only the winter.. Judge me, that is fine....

Also on certain nights we start it every hour for 5 minutes, there is a timer for that....

If I think back to the 70's when I was a wee one, I can recall my uncle using a block heater, before the invention of the remote starter.

The block heater serves a different purpose. It makes starting your car easier & speeds up the warm-up process. There's really no reason one couldn't employ both the block heater & a "warmup period".

 

[tvguy]

It is not legal in some places. You are fortunate you don't live in a place with winter inversion struggles. It's kind of shocking just how bad the air gets. (And you can actually see it, from birds eye photography.)
Not a good thought that people are kind of stuck, and have to breathe the "soup" in.

It is a violation of smog laws here too. Some place they even ban driveups at fast food places because they don't want cars idling in line.

 

[tvguy]

The block heater serves a different purpose. It makes starting your car easier & speeds up the warm-up process. There's really no reason one couldn't employ both the block heater & a "warmup period".

My family in Canada....that don't have heated garages....have engine block heaters to keep the oil warm and interior electric heaters that turn on at a present time. No need to idle.

 

[JanaDee]

My family in Canada....that don't have heated garages....have engine block heaters to keep the oil warm and interior electric heaters that turn on at a present time. No need to idle.

Most people don't have heated garages around here and I've never heard of a block heater. Our garage is not heated, but our cars still get warmed up for a few mins before we leave.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

Question for those of you with heated leather seats.

I have had them in two of my cars (a Jeep Compass and now an Acura RDX) and neither of them preheat! Are they pressure sensitive or something? As soon as I sit, they warm but the NEVER preheat.

My wife's CRV has heated seats. They turn on when the vehicle starts as long as they are in the on position when the car is shut off.

As for letting the car warm up. I am not a certified mechanic but I have been working on cars for the better part of 25 years, when it is really cold outside you should let the car idle for a little bit. In sub zero temps, things need a little time to circulate and get use to moving. You definitely should take it easy on the go pedal until engine temps get up to normal operating temps. You have different types of metals that expand at different rates, fluids besides oil that need to warm up, etc... This is esecially true if you leave and hop right onto an interstate. I personally let my truck run for about 1-3 minutes before moving. Obviously, you are going to waste gas doing this but the little amount of gas you burn is much cheaper in the long run than have a new engine, valves, etc... replaced because of irresponsible driving in really cold temps. This is for temps hovering around zeror or below. If it is 20-30 degrees, that isn't cold but you should still drive carefully until temps get up to operating specs.

 

[Squirlz]

Three of our cars have heated seat, two MINIs and a Cadillac. All will heat with or without someone seated in them. They all live in a heated garage.

 

[bcla]

The block heater serves a different purpose. It makes starting your car easier & speeds up the warm-up process. There's really no reason one couldn't employ both the block heater & a "warmup period".

Sure it's not an either/or. However, really cold temp starts tend to be stressful on the engine. A block heater is supposed to reduce some of that stress by giving the engine a head start on getting up to full operating temps. I've even heard of some owners plugging them in indoor garages just to help reduce startup wear, and to get faster heat.

 

[bookgirl]

Question for those of you with heated leather seats.

I have had them in two of my cars (a Jeep Compass and now an Acura RDX) and neither of them preheat! Are they pressure sensitive or something? As soon as I sit, they warm but the NEVER preheat.

My mom's Edge will not preheat the seats when you use the car starter. But if you turn on the car with the key and the warmers were on when you shut off the car they automatically start warming. I'm not a fan of heated seats.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My mom's Edge will not preheat the seats when you use the car starter. But if you turn on the car with the key and the warmers were on when you shut off the car they automatically start warming. I'm not a fan of heated seats.

I have a love hate relationship. Once their warm...GREAT! As they are heating up it makes me feel like I peed myself because the heat starts in the middle and radiates outward

 

[bookgirl]

I have a love hate relationship. Once their warm...GREAT! As they are heating up it makes me feel like I peed myself because the heat starts in the middle and radiates outward

Funny.

I just get warm quickly so I might put them on for 1 minute and then I'm over it. What I hate is when I don't know their on and then suddenly I realize my butt is hot and there's no going back once you get there. LOL

 

[SkaGoat]

I don't know a soul with a block heater,. and have NEVER seen an outlet to plug them in, and it has been artic cold for 2 months.. EVERYONE has the remote starter..

It's hard to buy a car in Canada without a block heater, they are on almost all of them, sometimes the cable, and plug for them are wrapped, and tied up somewhere in the engine bay for storage, but 9 times out of 10 a vehicle purchased in Canada, will have the block heater. I have never special ordered it, and have had it in every vehicle I've owned, and that's been at least 5 or 6 difference manufacturers. In fact, I'd bet you'd have to special order a block heater delete option to get not get one.

I don't feel guilty in the least.. I also leave my defrost (front and back) on, as I mentioned it has been ARTIC cold for the past two months here... My windshields will not be defrosted with that heater, so either I sit in a frozen car waiting for my windshields to defrost, or I wait in my home for such to take place

or option 3, which is better for the environment and your pocket book, you grab your ice scraper, and scrape the ice off the wind shield yourself.

TVGuy, I wouldn't trust running an electric heater in my car un-supervised, and can honestly say I've never seen anything like it in Mid-Western, and South-Western Ontario. I've also never seen the mirror mittens, but I have seen the other tricks. Both my vehicles have heated mirrors, and I just use the ice scraper for all the other surfaces. I don't use the block heater in either of my vehicles, simply because before last winter, we didn't have enough super cold days a year to go through the bother of hooking it up.

 

[bcla]

It's hard to buy a car in Canada without a block heater, they are on almost all of them, sometimes the cable, and plug for them are wrapped, and tied up somewhere in the engine bay for storage, but 9 times out of 10 a vehicle purchased in Canada, will have the block heater. I have never special ordered it, and have had it in every vehicle I've owned, and that's been at least 5 or 6 difference manufacturers. In fact, I'd bet you'd have to special order a block heater delete option to get not get one.

I got curious. I remember seeing the option when I was pricing a Subaru, so I checked Subaru.ca. They're actually showing the block heater as an optional accessory, with a suggested price of $189.95, which appears to include installation.

http://www.subaru.ca/WebPage.aspx?WebSiteID=282&WebPageID=18614&Range=Impreza&ModelYear=2015

This one looks like it fits in the engine block's coolant drain hole and not a freeze plug. The cord is also partially foil insulated to protect it from the heat. The heating element is pretty tiny, and I'm wondering how hot it can really get.

I would have thought that if any manufacturer would have a block heater standard in Canada, it would be Subaru. They kind of market it as a vehicle for driving in cold/inclement weather. However, the likelihood is that it might be easier to prep the vehicles for sale to both the US and Canada, as vehicle standards are pretty similar. I wouldn't be surprised if dealers automatically install them as a dealer-installed option before delivery. I've seen cars in showrooms showing various dealer-installed options, like ground effects, racks, or aftermarket wheels.

Honda Civics are actually assembled in Canada for the domestic market. This one says a block heater is an optional accessory.

http://www.honda.ca/civic_sedan/parts-accessories

That heating element is really small.

 

[SkaGoat]

I got curious. I remember seeing the option when I was pricing a Subaru, so I checked Subaru.ca. They're actually showing the block heater as an optional accessory, with a suggested price of $189.95, which appears to include installation.

http://www.subaru.ca/WebPage.aspx?WebSiteID=282&WebPageID=18614&Range=Impreza&ModelYear=2015

This one looks like it fits in the engine block's coolant drain hole and not a freeze plug. The cord is also partially foil insulated to protect it from the heat. The heating element is pretty tiny, and I'm wondering how hot it can really get.

I would have thought that if any manufacturer would have a block heater standard in Canada, it would be Subaru. They kind of market it as a vehicle for driving in cold/inclement weather. However, the likelihood is that it might be easier to prep the vehicles for sale to both the US and Canada, as vehicle standards are pretty similar. I wouldn't be surprised if dealers automatically install them as a dealer-installed option before delivery. I've seen cars in showrooms showing various dealer-installed options, like ground effects, racks, or aftermarket wheels.

Honda Civics are actually assembled in Canada for the domestic market. This one says a block heater is an optional accessory.

http://www.honda.ca/civic_sedan/parts-accessories

That heating element is really small.

The heat shield on the cable for the Subaru part is probably because it runs along the engine block. It's possible the Subaru's frost plug is on the back of block.