Petrol engine Pre-heat ?

[406owner2]

Is it possible to do this for my 406 ?

http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182846- ... directed=1

http://www.fepco.com/BF.chapter12.html

The only time my car runs perfect, is when it's warm, also it seems that it should be able to extend the life of the engine... What do you guys think ?

[steve_earwig]

Aren't you in Joburg? I'm sure you said something like that in the other thread and I know it hardly ever goes below zero there. These pre-heaters are really for starting your car at minus something silly so I don't think it would be worth you fitting one (they're not cheap either). It would be treating the symptoms, not curing the, erm, fault.

Just looking at your other thread and it strikes me that these engines usually have 3 temperature sensors - one for the gauge, one for the fans and one for the engine ecu and I guess if the ecu doesn't know how cold the coolant is then it won't enrich the fuel enough to start properly.

[Rolebama]

The guy in the link was talking about 36yrs ago. Oils have come a long way since then and cold starts are not really that much of a problem anymore. Similarly, I used to work for a company that would fit pre-heaters to LandRovers, and we found that the oil would drain into the sump possibly causing premature engine wear, but again, oil is 'stickier' now than then, so this may no longer be a problem. I would think that generally they are worthwhile, but as to the financial 'balance' of the cost of being with or without one, only time would tell for you.

[406owner2]

Hi Steve

Yes i'm in the jhb area, weather is not as in the uk for sure, we don't have many cloudy days, lots of sunshine, however in winter it can get below zero temperatures in the early mornings, and where i stay up on the hill, the problem is that the air moves up the hill during the day, and rushes down during the night, and that basically causes temperatures to sometimes fall to zero or below even in summer, in the mornings.

It comes down to the fact that the car will only start perfectly once it has slowly been heated up during the day, but not when cold starting it.

I will check the temp sensor thanks, that sounds possible.

Rolebama thx.. i did see them advertising a sump heater for 500 $, but maybe that was long ago.

i was also thinking it could be the cat being clogged (heard hissing when i loaded the engine quite hard during one test drive) and 've heard that is gasses escaping due to possibly a clogged cat, or lambda sensor also... anyway so many things to check i guess, map sensor, stepper motor, temp sensor, coils....

[paulb2004uk]

A friend of mine has an engine preheater fitted to his Triumph Stag. He hasn't had any problems with it.

The one he has is something like this

http://www.enginepreheater.co.uk