Getting ready for winter..

[Old77]

Awesome !!! I haven't pulled the trigger on one yet, but I damn sure intend too. I hate, and I mean I litterally hate, getting into a cold vehicle, especially the big block 454 truck that is cold natured with a big ass cooling system and it takes a good 20 minutes to get warmed up in the winter to blow warm air in the heater. By that time, I'm where I am going, so I never got the benefit of the heater anyway and left it off since I did want to feel the cold air blowing. I'm first to admit. I'm a **** to cold weather.

This is the one reason that I'm glad that I DD my car rather than my truck! I'm pretty sure my heat doesn't even work at all in the 77 but that's fine with me because it doesn't get driven much in the winter anyway. My car sits out in the elements but it's got remote start so I've gotten kinda spoiled! You could throw a remote start on your truck, though. You'd just need to let it run for that 20 minutes and drink about 3 gallons of gas in the process

 

[HotRodPC]

I have never been a fan of radiator drain *****, and they are usually stuck anyway and end up spinning the whole thing out. If I am draining, I just pull the lower hose and try to catch the biggest majority of the coolant. Almost impossible to catch 100% of it no matter what method you use.

 

[Old77]

I have never been a fan of radiator drain *****, and they are usually stuck anyway and end up spinning the whole thing out. If I am draining, I just pull the lower hose and try to catch the biggest majority of the coolant. Almost impossible to catch 100% of it no matter what method you use.

I'm with you but because they have a tendency, at least for me, to loosen and then leaking coolant out so I've had to fiddle with it a lot on a previous vehicle that the wife drove. It drove me nuts!

 

[HotRodPC]

This is the one reason that I'm glad that I DD my car rather than my truck! I'm pretty sure my heat doesn't even work at all in the 77 but that's fine with me because it doesn't get driven much in the winter anyway. My car sits out in the elements but it's got remote start so I've gotten kinda spoiled! You could throw a remote start on your truck, though. You'd just need to let it run for that 20 minutes and drink about 3 gallons of gas in the process

hahaha, NO, not putting remote start on the 454. You may as well admit it, you're not spoiled. You're a **** too !!!

 

[Old77]

hahaha, NO, not putting remote start on the 454. You may as well admit it, you're not spoiled. You're a **** too !!!

haha!!! It came with it on there or I'd never have spent the $$$ for it but I definitely do enjoy the comfort of a warm car when I get in there!!

 

[89Suburban]

haha!!! It came with it on there or I'd never have spent the $$$ for it but I definitely do enjoy the comfort of a warm car when I get in there!!

Did you do the install? Those things can be a wiring nightmare especially if it has remote door locks built into it, but they sure are nice when they work! I installed one in that redneck Caravan I posted elsewhere in here. I would sit in my second story apartment above this bar I used to live at and watch the drunks come out 2 am and I would start the car and freak people out, lmfao..

 

[Old77]

Did you do the install? Those things can be a wiring nightmare especially if it has remote door locks built into it, but they sure are nice when they work! I installed one in that redneck Caravan I posted elsewhere in here. I would sit in my second story apartment above this bar I used to live at and watch the drunks come out 2 am and I would start the car and freak people out, lmfao..

No, it was installed when I bought the car a couple years ago. The only thing I don't like about it is the fob is WAY too sensitive to me and the horn does not honk when I lock/unlock it. So I'll lock it and throw the keys in my pocket but if I'm not careful the car will then UNLOCK without me knowing it and I'll come out to an unlocked car. The signal of the fob will travel a couple hundred feet, too, so this could happen at any point before I get into whatever building I'm walking into. It really frustrates me and I just didn't use the fob for the longest time because of it but that, too, brings it's own set of frustrations.

Anyway, cliff notes answer is no I did not install it myself

 

[crazy4offroad]

My Tacoma came with one, so naturally my wife needed one in her Moonlander (Highlander). Talk about a wiring nightmare! Thank God for the internet. It's a security alarm but alot of the stuff is optional, like you dont have to hook up the power doorlock wire if you dont have PDLs. The shock sensor is adjustable, so your alarm doesnt go off every time a basshead goes by. It also has optional accessory wires you make do whatever you want, like you can make it roll the windows up if it starts raining, or down when the car has been sitting in a hot parking lot. I thought about wiring this to a canister of pepper spray and gas a thief if they were able to get in, but figured I would just end up gassing myself! Here's the one that came in my truck, and the same one I put in wife's ride. 3,000 ft line-of-sight remotes...
http://aftermarketgeneration.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_80&products_id=31

 

[HotRodPC]

haha!!! It came with it on there or I'd never have spent the $$$ for it but I definitely do enjoy the comfort of a warm car when I get in there!!

I am all for modern comforts, and I would spend money on remote start, but you're right, not in the 454. I'd idle the thing out of gas by the time that biggo cooling system got warm to do me any good. Not practical at all on that truck. And he still he isn't gonna admit he's a **** is he???

 

[Old77]

And he still he isn't gonna admit he's a **** is he???

haha!!!

Hi, I'm Old77 and I'm a **** when it comes to cold weather while driving. Thank you to HotRodPC for inviting me PA (**** anonymous).

 

[Irishman999]

I still dont completely understand how electric chokes work, I am pretty sure there is that heat sensitive wound up wire inside. If you used one of these heaters will it keep the choke open when you start it?

 

[HotRodPC]

haha!!!

Hi, I'm Old77 and I'm a **** when it comes to cold weather while driving. Thank you to HotRodPC for inviting me PA (**** anonymous).

Now see there, we have another man on board. It takes a man to admit he's a **** when he is !!!

 

[crazy4offroad]

I still dont completely understand how electric chokes work, I am pretty sure there is that heat sensitive wound up wire inside. If you used one of these heaters will it keep the choke open when you start it?

I dont think a block heater or dipstick heater would interfere with the choke. But it works like you said, a coil spring holds tension on the choke flap, and when the ignition switch comes on it starts to heat that spring up and cause it to uncoil, opening the choke flap. Personally I would much rather have a mechanical choke on mine, the electric choke pisses me off.

 

[HotRodPC]

I too prefer manual choke, but then you get someone else driving your truck, which is very rare I might add, then they can't get it started. Flood it and then its sitting duck for a few hours. And of course then I get all pissed off and that's never a good thing.

 

[89Suburban]

I still dont completely understand how electric chokes work, I am pretty sure there is that heat sensitive wound up wire inside. If you used one of these heaters will it keep the choke open when you start it?

If it is an old manifold mounted choke that uses manifold heat to open the spring, it might slightly affect it. I don't see how an electric choke model would be affected being it is up on the side of the carb and hanging in the air, unless maybe there is a manifold heat tube running to it, but these coolant heaters don't heat the block that much, just basically warm the coolant and most of the heat escapes through the radiator so there isn't much of a chance of the motor getting that hot. I'n my opinion and experience the heated coolant stays well below a hundred degrees in the system, it's not even hot enough to open the thermostat and build very minumum pressure in the cooling system itself, I am sure. It is just a "warming" piece of equipment.