Engine Block Heater and other cold weather fun questions.

[Stephen Kormilo]

At 06:53 AM 23/01/03 -0500, you wrote:

>From: "Mark Erickson" <Wildcat63 at msn.com>
>To: <quattro at audifans.com>
>Subject: Engine Block Heater and other cold weather fun questions.
>Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 00:13:37 -0600
>
>Attention Lister's who live in colder climes.
>
>Well Tonight the weather forecast was for -12F with -25 windchill, and here=
>  I am the first winter with My 98 A6 Avant and it's sitting on the street. =
>I was hoping someone would be able to give me their opinion/ ideas
>
>First. Does anyone make a Engine Block Heater for the 2.8 A6 ????? When I b=
>ought the car last spring The dealer at first said Audi had one then it tur=
>ned out to be the wrong one. I think it was a mix up with my car being the =
>older body style (1997 and older) while it is a 1998 model.

AFAIK, there is no block heater available for the 2.8 V6.  I enquired about
one for my former A4 (2.8, 30V).

The Audi dealer here in 'Winterpeg' installs a flat 'heater blanket' on the
bottom of the oil pan to serve as an engine heater.  IMO, not as good as a
block heater, but better than nothing.  In fact, a friend & I went to
Riding Mtn. on Tuesday, intending to spend a couple of days Cross-country
skiing.  The -40 (C or F, take your pick ;-) overnight low persuaded us to
return early.  OTOH, the A4 was plugged in outside the Motel, cranked
quickly and fired right up without any problems, other than the seats being
as hard as rocks and the trip computer display not lighting for a minute or so.

>While -12F is c=
>old I am not expecting too many problems starting in the morning but the en=
>gine block heater would ease my  apprehension. Especially since I'm sure we=
>'ll hit -20 one of these days soon.
>
>Second, How long do you let your cars warm up in the really cold temps? In =
>the past I have let them idle 15-20 minutes in really cold stuff and lately=
>  I have been letting the Avant idle for 5 to 10 minutes when I have the tim=
>e=2E But I was curious what others up here in God's Country  do for their c=
>ars.

IMO, 15-20 minutes warm-up is excessive.  A few minutes, so that the seat
heaters have the opportunity to soften the seats a little, is all I ever
do.  Driving, moderately, is the best & fastest way to warm the engine
up.  Regardless of how long it sits there idling, the transmission oil and
wheel bearing grease will stay cold.  The only way to loosen these up is to
drive.

>Mark Erickson
>
>St. Paul, MN
>
>98 A6 Avant
>00 Saturn SL2 (All plugged in tonight)
>
>--__--__--


Stephen Kormilo                            Silver 2002 Audi A4 3.0QM
		       Now departed:   Silver '98.5 Audi A4 2.8QM
				      Black '85 Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE

Instructor, Electronics Technology
Red River College
Winnipeg, MB
CANADA

email: skormilo at rrc.mb.ca
OR:    stephen at kormilo.ca