Griffyorcono

Hello,

Got my motor rebuilt recently and am now very OCD about making sure it goes forever XD after reading 540ratblog I've decided because of my short commute to work of around 2 miles it may be best for me to get a block heater even though I'm in California to help the motor warm up quicker in the morning. The only problem I see with this though is reliability, is this going to be a double-edged sword in a way because I add to the lifespan of my motor by a very little amount but add in another thing to fail especially in the cooling system which has enough problems to worry about as it is.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/m...xoCjZcQAvD_BwE
If you look at the link you'll see that the heater isn't press fit in like a freeze plug and is instead sealed in by an o-ring. I've always been told that anywhere you have an o-ring that with enough heat cycles it's going to fail. So am I really going to help my motor by reducing warm up times and spending money on electricity or am I just being a little bit of a p*ss*.

Thank you Cherokee fam if you all know of a post about this already, throw it my way cause I've been looking all week.

Randy Bobani

I have that kit in my LJ. I used Permatex Indian Head on the sealing surface. Hasn't leaked a drop in 7 years. That block heater doesn't work very well however. On a 0'F morning, even if you left it plugged in all night, you would have around 40'F coolant temp in the block. Wait a minute, you're in California, WTF?

Griffyorcono

BAHAH, Randy, it was a thought don't shoot me XDD. I can't find any solid info on the dang thing. I've even heard some people say that they start their jeep with the block heater on and the thing starts and is already at 130'F..... Fake news?

Randy Bobani

Depends on ambient temperature. In your climate, sure, I bet you'd see 100'F-140'F on the gauge at start up. Here in snowy Maine, no way, we get -30'F days where your eyeballs freeze.

Griffyorcono

Well, that partly answers my question then. Thank you Randy.

So we have one more question though, we have answered the reliability, put some sealant on the gasket and it won't cause problems. It is going to get the motor warmed up a bit because of my ambient temperature. Is warming up the motor before I go 2 miles really going to do anything to help though or am I just wasting electricity, it isn't the oil that is being directly warmed up which is what actually prevents the wear... Keep in mind I work every day so if it even helped by a single percentage you would see a big difference over a year's time.

downs

I'd rather have my oil warmed up. But there aren't a lot of oil heaters out there. There's a lot of stick on pan heaters.

I guess since you're in Cali you'll bea ble to get the coolant hot enough to get bleedoff heat into the oil pan.