How benificial actually are they?

Retro fitting with a switch and relay wouldnt be too hard

But how well do they actually work?

Alot of diesels have them (traffics Picassos etc)

Would i benifit from retro fitting one?

Ziggy

What is a "Glow cooling heater system"? Sounds like an enigma to me.

digger58 said:

What is a "Glow cooling heater system"? Sounds like an enigma to me.

Click to expand...

got me there too...i know Diesels have glow heater elements for cold starting (the missus 1.4 TD Corsa for one....which interestingly enough is a Fiat designed engine)....I'm wondering if that's what he means ?
But surely a Punto with a Diesel engine would have these anyway ?

You mean an electric heater to warm the coolant system?. Something like webasto if that's spelt correctly ?
On a petrol ..I'd see no benefit really .
On a diesel yes for sure.
Just got rid of my diesel car as mpg didn't work out right for round town use..compared to a petrol..winter warm ups was loosing a good 6mpg. If itd had the webasto fitted iguess it'd
Saved me a few quid..
But with petrols warming up pretty quickly I'd see no real gain..
My punto grande is bringing in 37mpg from ice cold & 40ish up to temp..no big loss.

In aware if the glorified kettle setups
Where it has a pump and heating element to get rid of the sharp cold in wibter for startups

But what i mean is these sorta things



It uses glowplugs to heat coolant not the air

Wonder how well they actually work?

Ziggy

Ziggy122 said:

In aware if the glorified kettle setups
Where it has a pump and heating element to get rid of the sharp cold in wibter for startups

But what i mean is these sorta things

View attachment 176497

It uses glowplugs to heat coolant not the air

Wonder how well they actually work?

Ziggy

Click to expand...

They seem to work OK. Just a bunch of pre-heat glow plugs in a bit of the coolant circuit inside the engine /thermostat loop. Controlled by the ECU based on coolant temp.
My old Marea (1.9 JTD 110 Weekend) had one. Bit hard on the alternator and battery if you do a lot of cold starts and short runs though.
The Croma had an optional diesel powered heater for colder climates.


Robert G8RPI.

Ziggy122 said:

In aware if the glorified kettle setups
Where it has a pump and heating element to get rid of the sharp cold in wibter for startups

But what i mean is these sorta things

View attachment 176497

It uses glowplugs to heat coolant not the air

Wonder how well they actually work?

Ziggy

Click to expand...

They seem to work OK. Just a bunch of pre-heat glow plugs in a bit of the coolant circuit inside the engine /thermostat loop. Controlled by the ECU based on coolant temp.
My old Marea (1.9 JTD 110 Weekend) had one. Bit hard on the alternator and battery if you do a lot of cold starts and short runs though.
The Croma had an optional diesel powered heater for colder climates.


Robert G8RPI.

I would suspect that it would be very bad for the battery and electrical systems. Far better to look at the kettle type elements that fit into the engine block and warm the engine off the mains.

There are a lot of down sides to the glow plug set up one being if the water is not flowing it's going to cause a hotspot and possible damage. The battery/alternator would struggle to cope with powering multiple glow plugs for prolonged durations.

Far better to consider something like a webasto heater or eberspacher heater or as said above, something that you can plug in and will keep the water in the engine block at temperature which isn't dependent on water being pumped all the time

AndyRKett said:

I would suspect that it would be very bad for the battery and electrical systems. Far better to look at the kettle type elements that fit into the engine block and warm the engine off the mains.

There are a lot of down sides to the glow plug set up one being if the water is not flowing it's going to cause a hotspot and possible damage. The battery/alternator would struggle to cope with powering multiple glow plugs for prolonged durations.

Far better to consider something like a webasto heater or eberspacher heater or as said above, something that you can plug in and will keep the water in the engine block at temperature which isn't dependent on water being pumped all the time

Click to expand...

Ive honestly considered a preheater
Because i do such sort runs my mpg is **** poor in winter...

A diesel would never suit me as a result...

Ziggy

It surely isn't that much of a problem otherwise they would be offered as an option. If the thermostat is working I can't see it being that much of a problem. Proper coolant is important as well.

The problem is with modern diesels, they are so efficient that they don't warm up at low power. pre-heaters are standard fit on many modern diesel cars. Fitting one to petrol car is OK but you need proper control. It should only come on when the engine is running and the coolant is cold. The electrical ones have a double effect. Because they load the engine more (through the alternator) it burns more fuel when the heater is on so heats up more quickly because of that too. If you garage your car you can use one of the mains driven ones on a timer. Make sure that it will disconnect safely if you drive off with it plugged in. A pair of cable mounted computer type (IEC320 C13/C14) mains connectors in the lead will do the trick nicely.

Robert G8RPI.

g8rpi said:

Fitting one to petrol car is OK but you need proper control. It should only come on when the engine is running and the coolant is cold.

Click to expand...

......... why ????

Because if you don't the heater will flatten the battery.

Robert G8RPI

Low mileage cars always warm up quicker because they isnt all furred up inside.
That pre heater looks off a sittroen van
itll never work
get one of these

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=114_1484823077&comments=1

g8rpi said:

Because if you don't the heater will flatten the battery.

Robert G8RPI

Click to expand...

It depends on what sort of preheater you are talking about but for the most part the likes of webasto and eberspacher are very efficient and are not going to flatten your battery in a short period of use, you either turn them on directly in the car, with a timer or with a remote. The webasto in many modern diesels will come on with the engine when the ambient temperature is below a set level to aid engine warming. The heat comes from burning fuel and there are very few about that run on petrol.

The biggest problem with these types of heater is the cost, a full new set up is likely to set you back the best part of £1000

AndyRKett said:

It depends on what sort of preheater you are talking about but for the most part the likes of webasto and eberspacher are very efficient and are not going to flatten your battery in a short period of use, you either turn them on directly in the car, with a timer or with a remote. The webasto in many modern diesels will come on with the engine when the ambient temperature is below a set level to aid engine warming. The heat comes from burning fuel and there are very few about that run on petrol.

The biggest problem with these types of heater is the cost, a full new set up is likely to set you back the best part of £1000

Click to expand...

The OP (and I) are specifically talking about the type of preheater that uses electrical elements, typically like a pre-heat glow plug, powered from the cars electrical supply.


Robert G8RPI.

s and b said:

Low mileage cars always warm up quicker because they isnt all furred up inside.
That pre heater looks off a sittroen van
itll never work
get one of these

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=114_1484823077&comments=1

Click to expand...

Wow... brave ir stupid im not quiet sure...
And the fact he drives with it still going...

AndyRKett said:

It depends on what sort of preheater you are talking about but for the most part the likes of webasto and eberspacher are very efficient and are not going to flatten your battery in a short period of use, you either turn them on directly in the car, with a timer or with a remote. The webasto in many modern diesels will come on with the engine when the ambient temperature is below a set level to aid engine warming. The heat comes from burning fuel and there are very few about that run on petrol.

The biggest problem with these types of heater is the cost, a full new set up is likely to set you back the best part of £1000

Click to expand...

If i fit a preheater id be looking at a mains one cause i will have 240v outside house very soon

g8rpi said:

The OP (and I) are specifically talking about the type of preheater that uses electrical elements, typically like a pre-heat glow plug, powered from the cars electrical supply.


Robert G8RPI.

Click to expand...

The type i listed id run only while engine on while it was cold.
Once it gets out of cold loop id switch it off

Tbh id probably go 240v vs this as i was just curious of how well they work

Ziggy