i am just so glad that just doesnt happen over here in western australia. but then again could be a good excuse not to go to work and work on the datsuns hehehehe

You know when I was over there early this year there was snow almost that thick up in Everett. Everybody kept saying that it never snows in Seattle but I think you guys just have short memories!

living in a area where it rarly snows might equal damaged datto . we got about7- 9" in the front yard over last week

Why isn't the engine running with the heater on 'Full'?

I found that a sheet of cardboard across the front of the radiator with a fast idling engine in a stationary car will bring the heat up nicely.
If the car is to be driven in cold conditions, then blocking off the airflow to the lower half of the radiator does wonders as the remaining airflow through the radiator is heated to a higher degree & this is good for carb intake air.

The heater works even more efficiently too & the restricted airflow results in greater coolant circulation in the radiator, virtually eliminating any possibility of a frozen radiator.

If you have never seen a radiator frozen into a solid lump of ice, both inside & out while the engine went into total overheat meltdown mode, then you've never driven in the cold.

It didn't snow where we lived when I was a kid, but the Western Transvaal, which is what the province was named then got bitterly cold. My dad started his Mazda 1000(with A14 engine of course), and something sounded like a coffee grinder in the engine bay. He eventually figured out that it was the waterpump grinding away at the ice that was formed in it's cavity, and being drawn in to it as the rest of the lot started heating up. As per usual the A14 didn't suffer any damage, living out it's life with the same waterpump...

Quote:Naw, it's too warm for that. Right around the freezing mark, though we did get down 10 degrees below freezing. Regular coolant/Antifreeze is good for something like 30-degrees below Zero (F, -50c?). But you're right, those block heater are useful if you get weather like this often, yet are needed perhaps only in parts of Minnesota and Alaska.

Quote:That happened to me once, in 1986. I had straight water in the engine. That's something you never forget -- make sure you use coolant/antifreeze, not plain water. Helps prevent rust too.

Quote:Everett != Seattle. It's only about 30 miles north but it is in the weather "convergence zone". They get weird weather compared to Seattle. The convergence zone is something to do with cold air from Canada, warm air from the Pacific and Puget Sound, and weather "shadows" from the Olympic mountains and the Cascade mountains. We get so much rain because Pacific weather hits the Cascades and drops its moisture right on us. But we rarely get snow because Seattle is next to this huge mass of salt water which is 15 degrees above freezing in the winter time. Keeps everything warm. Well not really warm but too warm for snow. Usually.

So this is an unusual experience in your part?
Makes it even more cool to get these photos.

Daam global warming.

Growing up in both Alaska and Minnesota before moving out to Seattle, Block or Oil Heater are mostly used to avoid stress on the motor (and not to mention the battery) when canking it over in cold weather. It also helps get the heater inside the car going. We're talking temperatures below Zero degrees F. Diesel's even more due to higher compression motors. They do help with avoiding the block from freezing but as DD states, Antifreeze works well to very low temperatures.
I've see the normal block heater as well as inline hose heat pumps that circulate the fluid through the radiator and block.
Oil heaters can be as simple as a heating magnet stuck to the oil pan.
Nothing worse than turning over sludge and trying to pump it through your motor.
I'm guessing this snow is going to be gone by Christmas.