Txakura

Tom that is some pretty good stuff, out-frreaking-standing. I think I'm going to like this bbs quite a bit, thanks.

not quite. I was following that other thread, what they are talking about is the removable plug for an internal block heater that threads into the engine. What I have is a 1000w external recirculating coolant heater that is 'universal' - mening it doesn't really fit anything, ha ha. The directions that came with it would seem to prefer drawing cold coolant from the block drain and returning it by the heater hose return line. It came with mounting hardware, hose clamps and a 't' for the heater line. It even had a drain fitting, but the fitting is SAE and would work great on my jeep or f-250... I'll probably end up doing it the hard way, but i thought there was a pretty good chance someone here would know. Chilton's and Clymer's, of course are worthless for this, and 1st Subaru's on line stuff doesnt go into detail for this. I'll probably make a reasonable guess and buy 3 or 4 different sizes and take back the ones I don't need.

Not sure on battery, one cold weather trick is to hold your clutch in and crank/warm up the engine for a bit before you try to move the gear oil around. 5 is just cold, if the car had been sitting for a day or two any battery might sound wimpy, but I'd have to have been there to hear it door seals - not much you can do, I clear all the ice and snow from the door threshold, other than that, just make sure the seals aren't wet when you park at night, I know some guys that use a dry towel and wipe the seals down when they put the car to bed *edit* I had an afterthought. I made a cheap interior heater and I also use it for an oil pan warmer. Get a $2 ceramic light fixture, wire an extension cord to it, screw it to a piece of wood. A piece of plywood a foot square is fine. You can put it in the car with a 60-100 watt regular light bulb and it will keep the interior from going sub zero and the plastic getting brittle - maybe it will keep some doors from freezing shut eh? I have also used the same set up to slide under my oil pan when it was expected to go well below zero. It doesn't seem like much, but it makes a huge difference - and it's cheap. Yes, snow melt cracks the light bulbs. No you may not sue me for burning your car/garage/house down.

that's the problem with Western Washington not enough harsh winters to weed out the weak trees... meanwhile on the east side, we're checking our ground clearance and fighting massive snow drifts... never thought to look up for falling branch hazards - too busy dodging deer on the roads and crazy plows, with any luck my car port will collapse on my rs and my jeep sorry your brat got wanked

Any one know off hand what size the block coolant drain plug is on a 1990 E82, 1.8L? I'd like to minimize my trips to the parts store when I install a coolant heater. (I only have the one car, so I need to be as efficient as possible + I'll be laying in the snow to do the install) :-\ I mean the drain plug to the left of the oil filter as your looking at it underneath from the front, it appears to be 14 or 16 mm bolt head... TIA

the diesel turbo failures I've seen could hide an aircraft carrier with all the smoke they make

Where do I start? (1990 Loyale RS) I have gotten high centered several times and rocked out of it. Tuesday the 16th I slid wide on an iced corner and went into the ditch on the driver side. I had to climb out the passenger window and walk a mile to the nearest farm house in sub zero wind chill. The car came to rest at a 45 completely off the road, I needed a $140 tow truck to winch it out. I ruined my fender and wrinkled the quarter panel. Wednesday the 17th I got stuck in a drift. Another walk, this time we pulled it free - but the farmer yanked so hard on the tie down hook it tore a hole in the trunk floor storage compartment. I was hardly in a position to complain. Last night I got stuck twice and threw a chain. A new chain. A nice cable chain, properly tensioned with a new tightener, (it had been on for a week, cable chains do always seem to break eventually) the chain never hit the car, I'm not sure when it flew off or where it went... speaking of chains, I found someone else's tensioner strap in the pitch black night, the hook embedded nicely in my right rear tire, I was able to patch it after mounting the spare by the side of the road and going home my car has frozen to the ground - twice. I had to bang the clutch the break it free of the ground, slipping the clutch only burned it and my favorite one of my rear wheel cylinders blew it's seal and emptied the brake reservoir onto the driveway PS I have driven in Alaska, Canada, Germany and Spain - I have 25 years of winter experience and I have never had as much fun as this year, I was thinking about it, I have never wrecked a car like I did with the ditching - I thought I knew better

I just picked up a 1000 Watt 'Kat's' recirculating coolant heater from Schuck's for $30. It looks to be a pain, it has to be mounted low, bled thoroughly and preferably tied into the block drain and fed back to the water pump inlet. It comes with clamps, some fittings, and a mounting bracket. It's 110v for cold nights. Maker "Five Star MFG. Co. 'Kat's Heaters'" part number 12100 I'm in the same boat, it's -2 F outside, and I need it badly, but really really don't want to deal with installing it in the snow. Oh, I'm a newbie to the bbs, hello to everybody.