Cool Inline Coolant Heater Idea

[Fetch]

Hi everyone,

I've been throwing around the idea of putting a 'block heater' in my 530 (I think I'm mostly just looking for a project to keep me busy).

Like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/inline-tank-engine-heater_W0QQitemZ280194945702QQcmdZViewItem?hash=it em280194945702
http://i18.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/c9/91/cf2a_1_b.JPGhttp://i8.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/c9/91/d5a8_1.JPG


I can't find a good diagram of the flow directions of all the hoses by the Heater Valves and Auxiliary Water Pump, But here's my idea:

Replace the Aux Water Pump with a Heater/Pump similar to the one in that ebay auction. When the car is running - no the heater pump won't be turned on - As I understand it the Auxiliary Water Pump isn't necessary especially if you're not idling - And I'm also going to assume the heater pump won't restrict flow.

Then, when the car is turned off, the heater valve solenoids default to OPEN, so when my Heater Pump is plugged in, it circulates coolant around the block and heater core.

Can anybody confirm that if I set it up like this it would circulate to most of the block.....I don't want to bother at all if it's only going to heat up the heater core - I'm more concerned about pre-heating the block/coolant, not the heater core itself!

[Paul in NZ]

ah but if you had some way of having the interior fan coming on at some point the INTERIOR of the car wuld be warm too.I assume this thing uses an exterior power source

[winfred]

once the heater core heat saturates with no air flowing through to carry away the heat it should just pass on to the block pretty much at temp

[winfred]

ah but there is, the infamous park ventilation timer


ah but if you had some way of having the interior fan coming on at some point the INTERIOR of the car wuld be warm too.I assume this thing uses an exterior power source

[Fetch]

excellent!...

Anybody know what size/diameter the inlets are on the aux water pump?

[winfred]

somewhere between 3/4 - 7/8, 19mm - 22 mm id say

[Ross]

Years ago when cold weather starting wasn't taken for granted I had block heaters in several cars. They made a world of difference.

[Fetch]

Would this idea not work very well since the heater core hoses are mostly a loop around the water pump and the upper cylinder head? (therefore the block wouldn't really heat up that much)

Is there a place I could tap off of or way I could have the pump suck coolant from the block (or as low as possible) and then push that into the heater core to the cylinder head?
(this way gravity would help feed the pump, and the whole engine would eventually warm up)