Preheating of the engine

BILL WILLIAMSON said:
Just start it, it'll warm itself up----------
Bill W.
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This is one time I disagree with the Guru of Stuff. If you are starting in very cold weather, it is helpful to have some sort of pre-heat. Back in the day, I used to have a Davey Lamp (safety kerosene lamp) under my vehicles in cold weather. Now I use block heaters. If you are planning in starting the Model A in temperatures colder than freezing you might consider some external heat source. My father-in-law used to throw an old blanket over the motor and tuck a 100 watt trouble light under it.
 
I guess the absolute best way would be to have 180+ degree water circulating in the system when it was at rest sort of like what the steam fire engines in the late 1800's

With today's multi grade oils is it really necessary to warm the oil first?
 
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Magnetic heaters on the bottom of the oil pan work well.
An inline hose heater for the lower inlet hose would also work well.

My car sets for the 6 months of salt season, so I don't worry about preheat.
 
ian Simpson said:
This is one time I disagree with the Guru of Stuff. If you are starting in very cold weather, it is helpful to have some sort of pre-heat. Back in the day, I used to have a Davey Lamp (safety kerosene lamp) under my vehicles in cold weather. Now I use block heaters. If you are planning in starting the Model A in temperatures colder than freezing you might consider some external heat source. My father-in-law used to throw an old blanket over the motor and tuck a 100 watt trouble light under it.
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You're RIGHT, Ian,
I made a DUMB statement!----Here, I'm just sleeping under a sheet & my flowers are BLOOMING!
Bill W.
 
Pre heat to reduce wear?

I think we are over thinking too much.

First off, if the engine is done right you should expect over 50,000 miles on the properly rebuilt engine. Without pre-heating.

It is unlikely that you will even get close to that many miles unless you are a very rare driver.

Most engines will fail mostly from some detail done improperly during the rebuild. I will go out on a limb and say the second most common thing to cause a failure is not knowing how to properly set the timing while driving.

Read the owners manual and follow what it says to do (well you do not need oil changes at 500 miles). Drive a lot and dont worry too much.
 
A thermostat will heat the engine to operating temp quicker, this will reduce wear also because you can use a leaner mixture (less oil dilution), I have had no problem starting down to -15C --on 6V, -the trans oil needs a preheat more, I go 1 block in first to loosen up the trans oil at that temp then it will shift

It's not like a Benz, the factory didn't put a block heater port in from the factory, but a inline heater could be put in the lower hose
 
Actually, It's not a bad idea. Depending on the temperatures. My own experience goes back to my flying days and a weakness of my engine, a Lycoming O320 H2AD. These engines were having failures all over in the winter. It was due to the oil pump not getting the oil up fast enough to the bearings and cam. But it was only above the freeze line, south of that, the problem wasn't occurring. We always used heaters on on the engines in the winter. I found it to be helpful to pull a cold engine through a couple of blades to get the oil started. I think this care was reflected in the fact that I got 2650 hrs on an engine that's timed out a 2000Hrs. The only reason we changed it then was because the boss of the club was getting nervous about folks renting plane with so many hours on it, not because there was anything wrong with it. Lawyers and liability.
Terry
 
Terry said:
Actually, It's not a bad idea. Depending on the temperatures. My own experience goes back to my flying days and a weakness of my engine, a Lycoming O320 H2AD. These engines were having failures all over in the winter. It was due to the oil pump not getting the oil up fast enough to the bearings and cam. But it was only above the freeze line, south of that, the problem wasn't occurring. We always used heaters on on the engines in the winter. I found it to be helpful to pull a cold engine through a couple of blades to get the oil started. I think this care was reflected in the fact that I got 2650 hrs on an engine that's timed out a 2000Hrs. The only reason we changed it then was because the boss of the club was getting nervous about folks renting plane with so many hours on it, not because there was anything wrong with it. Lawyers and liability.
Terry
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Maybe in cold weather we should hand crank a few revs on our cars before turning on the starter?
 
In my young years, a old timer told me what he did to start his A in the winter. He drained the coolant, drained the oil at night. In the morning he would warm the oil and insall it, start the engine, walk to a spring and then fill the radiator. He also said sumetimes he would build a fire under the engine. Could have been a tall tail, but then when there is no money people were very resource full!
 
Other than getting the engine to start faster/better, the idea of pre-heat is get the juices [oil] flowing quicker. Most wear occurs upon start-up.

Some engine heaters, if not installed correctly, turn the engine into nothing more than a still and can cause more damage than help.

On some larger air-cooled engines the feather pumps could be run to help pre-lube the engine. Plus, most if not all air-cooled stuff would frost over when cranked in cold weather and refuse to start unless pre-heated.

I'm one that keeps a blanket over the old diesel tractor with a trouble light tucked under it to keep things [ especially the fuel] a bit warm.
 
I used to put a folded blanket on top of my diesel Rabbit engine during the winter months to help retain heat. It also cut down the noise a lot. If it needed preheat, then I plugged in the block heater.

When we lived by Joliet we had a small dirt floor one car garage, and I can remember my dad sliding a pan of burning charcoal under his 1950 Champion one cold day.
 
Big hammer said:
In my young years, a old timer told me what he did to start his A in the winter. He drained the coolant, drained the oil at night. In the morning he would warm the oil and insall it, start the engine, walk to a spring and then fill the radiator. He also said sumetimes he would build a fire under the engine. Could have been a tall tail, but then when there is no money people were very resource full!
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My father claims his mother would light a fire under the washing machine before starting the old Maytag 2 stroke engine. My father is a notorious teller of tales, but every time I find an independent source, he turns out truthful.

Along those lines, if anyone in Colorado can confirm the existence of an epileptic barber giving straight razor shaves in the 1950's, I'd love to hear about it.
 
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