I was told by a service tech that the coolant cooled converter has a built in heater that is sensor contolled and that is why vehical warms up so quick. may be instead of a block heater a person could just power up everything and the coolant would warm up but then again I suppose the engine would start. Maybe the heater is hooked to the accessories side???? Stanley we need your expertise to answer this. thanks SK

 

The idea of a block heater is not just to heat the coolant. It is by heating the coolant, to keep the block and oil warm in order make it possible to start the engine in extreme cold temps and to lessen the wear and tear on the engine during those cold weather starts. The coolant being heated enough to benefit the driver quicker than if a block heater was not used is a pleasant by-product.

By cold weather I mean overnight lows of -18C (0F) and lower which it can quite often dip to in my part of Canada.

For example recent overnight lows in Calgary have been as low as -30C (-22F) a block heater is a necessity in this part of the world.

 

Sooty writes:
By cold weather I mean overnight lows of -18C (0F) and lower which it can quite often dip to in my part of Canada.

For example recent overnight lows in Calgary have been as low as -30C (-22F) a block heater is a necessity in this part of the world.


Being from Minniesoota I totally understand lol.

 

Well... Ya got me Sooty. My My, feel better now.

 

As a matter fact. Yes.

 

To the best of my knowledge there's no separate electric heater for the coolant of the inverter/MGs — after all, the inverter and MGs heat up all by themselves due to conversion losses that occur in their operation! This coolant is circulated by an electric pump through its own radiator. This is an entirely separate cooling system from that of the ICE. The A/C cooling system is also separate from the ICE, also with its own electric pump and radiator. Any additional heating will use energy that ultimately comes from the gasoline (maybe via the battery). A low-power block heater would probably be a more energy-efficient way (than running the ICE on gasoline) to get it up to operating temperature quickly, and it's the component that most needs this help in order to operate efficiently. So, a block heater may make sense in really cold climates. I don't think southern Ontario counts as really cold.

Stan

Added note (2006-12-05): I checked the circuit diagrams, and there is no electric heater for either the inverter/MGs' cooling system or the A/C cooling system. The electric water pumps and associated radiators and cooling fans for these systems are thermostatically controlled, so their fluid should heat up fairly quickly from normal usage.

 

I had a block heater installed on my tch today-$173.00

 

Joe,

Does your paperwork show the part number for the heater? Thanks. Don

 

The part # appears to be 00213-00885. the block heater alone was $50.13

 

Thanks fo rthe info! Don