Do you have a block heater in your Explorer? | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Do you have a block heater in your Explorer?

Do you have a block heater?

  • Yes it does, I use it.

    Votes: 42 24.3%
  • Yes it does, but I do not use it.

    Votes: 23 13.3%
  • No it does not.

    Votes: 82 47.4%
  • It was removed before I bought vehicle/does not work.

    Votes: 2 1.2%
  • What is a block Heater?

    Votes: 18 10.4%
  • Trucks come with Block heaters? I thought those were only in tractors.....

    Votes: 6 3.5%

  • Total voters
    173
My Ex starts fine in a lot colder temps than -18F as well but starts oh so much better when plugged in. I also have heat in no time.

The whole issue re: thickened oil is definitely something to consider as well.
 



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I would say that for the occaisonal use, the truck will work in very cold temps. My stuff is for the person that lives in northern climates and expects a truck to stay the course for years of good service...

I typically run my vehicles to an excess of 200K miles - once they are paid off, they start making me money... ;)
 






All of mine came with block heaters and as I understand it up here in Alaska all new cars must have them. It helps with winter emissions as well.

PLus its nice in the morning to go out and unplug and the rig fires up fast and warms up even faster so I can stay warm. Course having a remote start also helps. I hear Washington gets no snow so I guess I wont be using my block heaters anymore. :D
 














You "fair weather" brothers are missing all the fun...

Try the same trails in -25 temps with about 3 feet of snow - that'll make a real man out of you... :D

Let me explain...

The first thing you have to do is try to get your truck started.

If you are successful, then you have to get it to engauge into 4 wheel drive. If all that goes well, you are half way home...

The next step is to brush off all the snow that you have up to about your waist so that once the heater starts working you don't end up soaking wet when the heater starts working and being soaking wet with 4 layers on is no fun - trust me, long johns and doubled pants all wet can rub you in places you didn't even know you had - and getting to them to itch or anything else is about impossible.

You also don't want to fog over the inside windows - becasue they will frost over and you can't see a thing - all day...

Then, once you are inside the vehicle - it is running, all is good - you look out the windows and realize that you forgot to scrape them, so it is back out to do that. Then is when you discover that the ice is so hard that it will not give way. You chip and scrape for a while and finally get a hole large enough - right near where the defroster is starting to do its job - and you repeat the getting the snow off everything process...

Finally, you are ready to drive away - and with your neck craned at an almost impossible angle you try to avoid hitting your wife's car in the driveway next to you becasue you can't see out any of your windows, except for that little spot you cleared on the windshield.

You back up blind - and the tires spin - you rock back and forth in ever increasing frenzy and finally plow a path backwards so that you can get out of the driveway. Then you blast into the road - which has been somewhat plowed, but only enough to create HUGE ruts made of a curious mixture of super-frozen ice, snow, and slush from the gobs of salt that have been thrown down.

On the way to the road, you get hung up on the huge pile of snow that the plow deposited overnight at the end of your driveway - and you discover that it is hard enough to high center the truck - so you go back to vigourous rocking and smashing the throttle only to break free and head right for the neighbor's mailbox - and now your can't stop becasue you have rocketed out on a surface that is slippery like snot and that only allows you to go forward at ever increasing speeds - no matter how hard the brakes are locked up...

You say, "Oh well, just have to replace another mail box," (that is a regular thing anyway - if you dont' get it, the snow plow will) and you drive on only to have to fight with every other idiot in town that is trying to do the same things you are.

Imagine a bunch of people all dressed in at least 4 layers of clothing, scarfs around their faces, windows all frosted over, slipping and sliding around, none being able to stop when they want, but each able to go forward at speeds too fast for conditions - sort of like bumper cars at the fair...

Then, you finally make it to the trail head - after a couple of cups of coffee - and then you have to go... You know what I mean - you have to go NOW...

You start peeling layers and unzipping stuff, all the while cursing your genetics for not allowing you to be built like John Holmes - it is difficult to get the proper equipment all the way through 4 variously aligned and stacked portals to make yellow holes in the snow and once you do find yourself succesful, you almost wish you hadn't - becasue that thing freezes easy and your fingers are COLD...

Finally, your windows are cleared somewhat - and you head into the woods - all the while knowing that you should have just stayed home and watched the Packers on TV. You spend the day plowing through snow up to the top of your hood - glancing off trees - sliding forwards and backwards down hills that in the summer time are just bumps in the road - you decide not to do the rocks becasue you have already had to winch off the regular "easy trails" at least 10 times, and finally you make it to the other side - and head home for a bowl of hot chili...

Now THAT is fun! :D :D :D (Guess you gotta be from up nort' to appreciate it...)
 












lol i always use my block heater now, whenever i start my truck for the first 10 mins my oil pressure gauge reads 0 (i know i know). the block heater doesnt help keep the oil warm very well but im getting a magnetic heater for my pan to help and i think payday im going to try synthetic, any other things i can do to help my oil flow when its -40 celsius -40 farenhiet (there the same!)
 






Go to a true synthetic - it makes a world of difference... You won't need to worry about an oil pan heater.

Run it in the diffs as well. The truck will just drive away in cold weather like it is not cold.

I like Amsoil for the severe stuff. I've tried it and it has proven itself to me time and again. Of course, I was only in -25F temps, but it worked really well. (I started using it in my 76 F 150 - high compression 390 - full time locked on all 4 x4 and it would drive away!)
 






does someone have a pic of a block heater on a first gen? I highly doubt I have one, but I don't even know what one would look like if I saw it.
 






Used to have an old Volks. rabbit with the little diesel engine when I lived in frigid....Phoenix Az area!!! Good thing I had the block heater too! When it got really cold....like 55 or lower (Brrrr! :eek: ) That thing simply WOULD NOT START, unless I had it "plugged in"... :D
 






i guess i haven't felt the need to use mine yet.

winters here aren't as bad as the used to be, with my f-150 i would now and then
 






glfredrick said:
You "fair weather" brothers are missing all the fun...

Try the same trails in -25 temps with about 3 feet of snow - that'll make a real man out of you... :D

Let me explain...



That is funnier than hell!!! you missed your calling glfredrick; shoulda gone into writing. why would anyone want to live in a place that requires these things????
 






That is funnier than hell!!! you missed your calling glfredrick; shoulda gone into writing. why would anyone want to live in a place that requires these things????

I didn't miss my calling at all... I write for a living. But thanks!

Why live in a place like that?

You warm weather friends can't even begin to imagine the wonders of spring... When the earth begins its heating and renewing cycle - geese begin to fly overhead - you see the first Robin and you know that it has to snow on his poor little head at least 3 more times - a crocus peeks its head out of the snow - bravely trying to bring color back into the world - and God smiles and lets us know that He is still in charge and that everything is going to be green one of these days - soon...

Besides - real winter is actually fun. The stuff they get in the warmer climates isn't real enough to be called winter - it is just blah for a couple months before it gets warm again. In real winter, you get to explore how the other half lives - snow sports are great... We went downhill skiing over 200 times a year (season pass at the hill 3 miles from our home) - snowmobiles pack 120 horsepower of snow much fun - ice skating right on the local lake - with a nice round of hockey against the high school kids thrown in for good measure - smoking donuts on that same lake with your car - or 4x4 - ice fishing (the fish sure taste great when they are in that cold water!) - hunting for snowshoe rabbits when all you can see is that little black eye (and the drifts are up to your waist!) - watching the kiddos sled ride and joining them in seeing how far you can jump the tobaggan without breaking it into a million pieces - and then there is always the winter wheeling - that turns ordinary terrain into Mt. Everest!

No, I truly miss real winter since I've moved to Kentucky... We PRAY for snow... :thumbsup:
 






well mine didn't come stock with one, but being in Alaska I installed one last weekend. It's pretty steadily in the negative 20s already and getting colder. You can tell this X is from texas, it hates the cold almost as much as I do.

:chug: :chug:
 






I see the poll has finally been closed. 46% of the voters said they did not have one...wow. That is suprising.
 






if you dont have a block heater here, you'll never start your vehicle. very few can say they can start easily in -40C before windchill. when you go grocery shopping here you do it fast and leave your vehicle running :O
 






yep..all cars/truck sold in alaska come with them.

but i never us it. thats what the garage is for ;)
 






My X started fine when it was -45 out one day. It was at school, so I wasn't able to use the block heater. If I have to park it outside when I'm home, then I use it, but it is almost always in the garage. I hate letting the X gat that cold. The main reason is the whole oil issue. I use synthetic, but sometimes it gets really cold here.
 






I think it was about the 3rd time I washed my '98 that I found an electrical plug behind the front bumber near the licence plate. The cord leads into the wiring harness so I just assumed it was for a block heater. I have no idea if it works or not. Car history shows orig. purchased in VA. I don't even know if having the plug means I have a block heater. I thought it might just be a standard part of all wiring harnesses.
 



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JDraper said:
A block heater is a device that keeps the block and oil warm so the vehicle starts easily in very cold climates. Some of them go down the dipstick hole and have a heater element that warms the oil. Some are "blankets" for the motor, and some have a heater element up against the block. You plug them into a house electrical outlet.
OH, now i know what your talking about, its like what Desils have?
 






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