[Vwdiesel] Yet Another Cold Weather Technique...

[Gerry Wolfe]

Most big-box hardware stores sell a 36" HD yellow "extension" cord with 3 outlets.  I have one permanently attached in the engine compartment, running along the starboard side of the rad.  The male connector sticks out a couple of inches below the grill.  Also bought a female replacement outlet, and permanently attached this to one of the other brackets in the vicinity (using about 12" of plastic-wrap clothesline -- loop around the bracket, each end of the clothesline goes into the receptacle just like normal wire).  Result: plug the extension into this when you're not plugged into the mains to keep everything "tight" and not pick up road salt etc.  Works much better than those puny plastic covers.

My '91 TD Jetta has a battery warmer and a block heater, plugged into the extension cord.  Plug the whole thing into a timer at night, and give it an hour of juice before firing it up.

Hopefully the text explains the setup; quite a few people have commented on effective the setup works.  I can e-mail pics to anyone requesting.

gerry.wolfe at sympatico.ca

:o)