1991Jeep_Man

With Fall just around the corner and the colder weather of winter following that, I had a few quick questions for you guys.

First, and this a def for me that I want to get for the colder days, I want a block heater. However, I don't want one that pops into a freeze plug area. I saw some that were magnetic and stick to the oil pan.. anyone used these?

Second, I have always been told to run 10w-30 in my XJ. Can you run something a little more viscous during winter to be easier on the oiling system?

Finally, I have a 91 XJ and want to flush my heater core seperately from the rest of the system. I figured water hose connected to one heater hose and the other heater hose in a bucket. But someone mentioned that older XJ's have some check valve on the heater core hoses? How would I do this?

Thanks everyone.

spittinimage

they make a block heater that wraps around your rad hose also and they have some the glue to the oil pan.

dont know about the heater core thing. sorry

i run 10w30 synthetic year round i live in idaho. where are you from and how cold does it get?

1991Jeep_Man

The coldest we got last year in VA (plus I live in the mountains) was around 5* not counting the 10-15 mph wind chill. The Jeep ran fine through winter, but with really cold oil you could tell it would have to warm a bit. Im liking this rad hose wrap.. lower radiator hose? Where would I find it?

greasemonky

i have a magnetic one and it works great works good for frozen locks to

CAEMI

Don't know about flushing the heater but it seems to me one of those $4 prestone doodads would work perfectly.

I had a factory block heater on a Cummins that worked well...no idea where it was installed. i don't think it reduced wear & tear appreciably but it made it easier to start.

I'm in Michigan - lowest temps get to maybe 5 or 10 below - and I've found that parking my vehicles indoors and put the garage door down immediately is all that is needed. I watch the temps on a digital with remote sender and compare outdoor to garage. The garages is never less than 10 degrees warmer and usually 15 to 20. The smaller the garage, the better as it retains the heat given off by the car when you park.

If you don't have a garage a magnetic heater makes sense. Just a note though...I run three electric water heaters to keep water thawed for livestock and my electric bill doubles in the winter. These are immersion type heaters and they suck power. The colder it gets, the more they run.