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TR Engines Freeze Protection


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Hey guys!

 

It's been a brutally cold winter here in the N.E. USA. My TR's are stored in an unheated detached garage. My 3A and 250 engine cooling systems are currently filled with a water/coolant mix good for approximately zero degrees F. I got real concerned when the temperature dropped below zero a couple of weeks ago, so I set up some 1000 watt shop lamps under each oil sump. Then I covered the tops of the engines with heavy cloth pads like those the home (re)movers use. I think I came through this crisis unscathed, but I'm looking for a more practical approach for next season. In the extreme northern USA, car owners sometimes use engine block heaters and/or oil dip-stick (immersion) heaters. These devices have built in thermostats that are supposed to maintain the temperature above freezing. The block heaters are designed to fit in place of one of the freeze plugs. They have to be ordered by spec to fit a particular engine. The dip-stick immersion heaters are generic. Both devices are designed to plug into a standard AC (mains) outlet.

 

I was hoping that one of our members who lives in extreme northern climes could share their methods of maintaining TR's during very cold weather. Is anyone aware of an engine block heater that could be fitted to my TR engines?

 

Regards, Frank

 

p.s. heating the garage is not in the budget! :P

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Hi Frank,

 

Yes Kenlow do a separate in line water heater which should quite easily be introduced into the water pipes at your chosen point.

 

It's basically a small immersion heater with a small coil which you fit at the bottom of a loop to ensure it always has a "head of water" because it isn't self bleeding. Used to be quite popular here especially with the NHS and other municipal users who are likely to go to their car or other vehicle at 3am in a morning, if you visit a council they may have half a dozen vehicles plugged into the mains (from memory it's a 1kw heater) gently simmering and ready to go, you do have to remember to unplug before you go ! otherwise it gets exciting.

 

I used to have one fitted to my company car (a diesel) because I got fed up of having a cold engine on the 4 mile drive to work with no heater input. I paid for it and it's fitting myself and enjoyed the small luxury of it switching on by time switch an hour before I left for work and after about 40 mins the engine water was at 70 deg and the ancillary feed into the loom tripped the interior fan in the car and defrosted the cabin also...hmmm. Now whether that is to aggressive for what you want ? in as much as I think you just need frost protection ? although I'm sure you could use a thermostat switch to trip the heater when the temp approached zero.

 

The cost was pretty reasonable at about £280 GB and as I said 1kw running costs per hour.

 

There are other makes Waeco and others who can offer self contained units which use the cars own fuel to run (well diesel anyway) their small in car heaters but at much more cost probably £800 + last time I enquired.

 

Mick Richards

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When I lived in Canada several years ago my TR3A was fitted with an externally mounted block heater which was mounted underneath the exhaust manifold using a long arm attached to the engine via the rear manifold nut. It was not particularly beautiful but since the TR block has no frost plugs it was the only solution and worked. It still survives today in my small stock of TR bits not thrown away but is not much use with the UK's 240ac electricity supply (unless using a step down transformer).

 

The heater came from Canadian Tire but recently when I checked their website it was not listed. Maybe it is available from other suppliers.

 

Tim

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Hi frank,

Ok not as cold in Scotland as previous years but if you can use 1000watt bulbs I suggest that could look at using similar wattage Greenhouse heaters (The long tubular type) I prefer the thermostatic oil filled type. Take an old down filled blanket stretched across the engine to form a tent over the engine and heater.

 

Insulate the hell out of the garage doors with as thick as you can polystyrene sheet as possible. Line the garage with poly sheet and create barrier with moderate heating to maintain off chill temp.

 

Not entering a debate about it but I use CAT coolant and not had any issues and the range should be available to suit in the US.

 

Rgds

Rod

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"CAT coolant...." !!!!

 

My neighbours cat, a rather neglected and apparently expensive pedigree job that eats us out of house and home, has the habit, if he can't break into the house, of instead breaking into my garage and it would seem, sleeping in the oil leak drip tray - see attached.

 

I could try and train him to drape himself over engine bays and hire him out to needy souls as an engine warmer?

 

He also likes sleeping on heads if anyone has a cold

 

 

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b640/mcmuttley/Mobile%20Uploads/0A353CF5-9CBF-4DBD-B3E2-67494533E17F_zpsg3j4qnix.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

We use block heaters that keep the engine oil warm and we start"plugging" the cars in as soon as the temp; gets around - 15 ° Celcius. The block heaters work good,as the temp. goes below -35 ° Celcius most cars won't turn over if not plugged in.

These are built in the engine block but my P 1800 volvo has a heater that fits in the bottom radiator hose. As my shop is heated I never used that inline heater,but I would think it works. One more thing,we always use timers for block heaters because they use lots of power and as we use them 4 to 5 months a year. If you want I can have a look at our local parts shop and find out if these inline heaters are stil on the market. Sending one south shouldn't be a problem.

And for those of you that are already using the TR.......5 inches of fresh snow and - 18° C this morning.......I hate winter!

Yves

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It's fine recommending all this electric powered stuff . . . . . . but if the weather gets that bad, there won't be any power supply . . . . .

 

Come on chaps, brains in gear, it's surely all about insulation . . . . and then in extremis maintaining a garage temperature at acceptable levels from minimal alternative energy input, in the relatively short term.

 

Cheers

 

Alec

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As the car is not driven in the winter just increase the antifreeze to 60%.

 

eddie

 

This seems the most obvious and cost-effective solution (no pun intended), so is there any reason why the proportion of antifreeze could/should not be increased possibly even above 60%?

Furthermore, is there any reason not to run the engine with such high antifreeze contents?

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No problem running engines with 60% glycol antifreeze, after all Evans Waterless is virtually 100% glycol and there seem to be no reported problems.

 

The main issue is the oil which is too viscous at ultra low temperatures and needs to be warmed so that the engine can turn over more easily. The cold doesn't help the battery either.

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Use 4Life all temperature coolant/corrosion inhibitor/antifreeze and relax. See the MG Owners Club website for details.

 

Willie

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