Per Lindgren writes, "I have a water heater mounted in the waterpipe that exits just above the #2 exhaust port, it heats the water in the engine, to about 20-30C. This makes the engine start easier, and pollutes less than a cold engine." With such a water heater, does the heated coolant circulate through the entire system, even though Vanagons have such long horizontal runs from the engine to the radiator and back again? I ask this because it has been my understanding that heating elements that connect to the heater/radiator hoses need to be mounted in such a way that their place of connection has at least a 30 degree slant, so as to encourage the circulation of the heated coolant. BTW, my 86 Syncro has an oil pan heater which seems pretty effective, even at temps of -20 F. Redundancy, however, may be a useful concept when starting an engine at such ridiculous temperatures. Budd Premack 86 Syncro, 73 Super Minneapolis, MN (Land of Sky-Blue Waters) |
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