How good are dipstick oil heaters?

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Chisel

What do you have for a heater to keep you warm and to keep the frost off the windshield?
When I was a senior at Penn State I had a 47 4dr that I drove 60 miles one way 3 days a week. On the real cold days the windshield would frost up to where I would have to stop and scrape it every few miles.

I have the Ford fresh air heater that takes air from in front of the radiator, brings it through a duct under the hood and through a fan that blows it through the firewall into the heater coil and onto the feet, or, if the defroster knob is pulled, onto the windshield. It works much better then the little recirculating box that Ford also made and put in most cars before mine because the fresh air keeps all of the windows clear of fog. It is also a very powerful heater that heats the whole car very well. Here are some photos:



Where the air goes in above the radiator:



Where it goes into the fan. The cable shown controls a damper in the duct to control the air volume in addition to the two speeds of the fan.



The housing for the heater coil on the firewall under the dash.



Showing the floor vents that can be closed off by the defroster damper to divert the air up to the windshield.



The under dash controls:

[Chisel]

Old Henry, thanks for taking the time to post pictures of the fresh air heater. I never new there was such an animal. What year was it offered as an accessory to replace the box heater?

[Old Henry]

Mine is a late 1947 (after August) Super Deluxe Fordor. I had a '46 that had the box heater in it. So, sometime between the two.

[Old Henry]

Just a little update on the cold start attempts for anyone who cares.
Last night the low was predicted to be 17°, the exact same average low on Valentine's day at Bryce Canyon and the exact temperature I couldn't start the engine in Milford a month ago, so I decided to give my magnetic oil pan heater a try. Left Old Henry out in the driveway all night with the 200 watt heater on the oil pan. This morning it was exactly 17° outside. Reached under to make sure the heater had worked and the heater was warm but the oil pan wasn't very warm. Anyway, tried starting the car and it wouldn't even turn over. I'd intentionally not charged the battery all night just to see if the heater by itself would do the trick. It didn't really make any difference so I then charged the battery at 15 amps for an hour and tried it again. It turned over very slowly but would not start. Fortunately my driveway slopes toward the street that then slopes downhill so when my battery won't start the car I just coast backward down the driveway and out into the street and up as far as it will coast backward then forward down the street to start. Even then the engine was so hard to turn over that it almost stopped the car on the hill in 2nd gear and it took several hundred feet before the engine started and then it ran really rough until warmed up. So, I went straight to Jiffy Lube and had them drain the S.A.E. 40 oil out and put 10W-30 in. Tonight, if it's cold enough, I'll leave the car out and try starting it in the morning with nothing but the thinner oil to make a difference. If that doesn't work, I'll charge the battery for an hour to see if that works. If not, I'm getting the larger 300 watt engine heater today that I will then put on for an hour it to see if that gets it started.

Something's got to work to get this thing started at 17°. I'll find out what it is before Valentine's Day.

[Mart]

Henry, do you think your battery is ok?

This heater is running off mains electric, isn't it, not the battery?? (Just a sanity check).

You will stand a much better chance with the thinner oil, but if the battery/starter/cables aren't up to snuff you might be still be struggling.

This place you are going, is it on a hill??

I'd be tempted to have a fully charged 12V battery and a pair of jumper cables in the trunk as cheap insurance.

Here's another idea - why not take the battery off overnight, keep it warm in the room and have it fully charged for the morning. Then fit it and start it up.

When everything is marginal, making just a slight difference can be what it takes to get a success rather than a failure.

Mart.

[Barlea]

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Ford said 10W for temperatures from +32F to -10F, and you really need the fattest battery with the highest cold cranking amps, but a Ford in good tune should start well down to at least -10F without a block heater. I grew up in Alberta and my Fords were far from new. ..B.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Mart

Henry, do you think your battery is ok?

I'm not sure. There are some clues that it may not be. I thought about that today. It's only 2-3 years old but could be worn out. When I charged it this morning with a charger that reported the volts and %age charge it started at 6.1 volts and 60% but never got above 86% - never got to 100%. But the volts were still over 6 so I'm not sure what to think. So, if the thinner oil doesn't do the trick in the morning I'll put a charger on the battery to top it off and try again. If that doesn't work I'll put the 300 watt heater on for an hour and try it again. If that doesn't work I'll probably focus on the battery some more - maybe warm it up and see if that makes a difference - never have had any problem with it starting in the insulated garage above 50°.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Mart

When everything is marginal, making just a slight difference can be what it takes to get a success rather than a failure.

Mart.

Right you are. That's why I only change one variable at a time to see if it solves the problem. Then I will know exactly what caused the problem and maybe how to prevent it again. Having a problem solved by changing more than one variable prevents one from knowing what the problem was and how to prevent it again in the future. Simple diagnostic rule - only change one thing at a time and see what difference it makes before changing another.

[Old Henry]

Well, it was 22° out this morning. Not quite the 12° that was predicted.
Pulled out the choke, gave the gas pedal a few pumps, pushed the starter button and voila! Old Henry jumped to life! No block heater, no battery heater, no battery boost, just like in the garage at 60°! The thinner oil seemed to have done the trick. Looks like I can take back the $45.00 block heater and we're good to go!

When all else fails, read the instructions (in the operators manual that says S.A.E. 10 below 32° F) and, above all else, remember to K.I.S.S.*

*Keep It Simple Stupid

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Mart

I'd be tempted to have a fully charged 12V battery and a pair of jumper cables in the trunk as cheap insurance.
Mart.

I'll probably do that too. Can't hoit. Might even keep that battery in our room to keep it warm to really be sure.