If you lived in the far northern climates, you would find heaters are
essential and in some areas, you might even find parking areas equipped
with plug ins for your engine heaters.
The dip stick heater will work but is not very efficient. In my cold
weather experience, I have found the best heaters are ones that heat the
coolant - the best being a freeze plug style heater and second best being
the lower radiator heater. I have had bad luck with the heater hose pump
heater things - on my Land Cruiser all it did was warm up the heater hose!
The problem though is finding the right heater for an MG. At one time,
there was a listing for the 1 1/4" diameter (I think it was this size) for
the B. Its a tight fit between the lower radiator hose and the union it
connects to but it works - but for the Midget, I don't know. My 72B engine,
acquired from a salvage yard in 1985 or so, came with a non-functioning
freeze plug heater but I was never able to locate a replacement and it
appeared they are no longer made.
Along with the dip stick thing there is also a magnetic heater that
attaches to the oil pan, but I haven't tried that one out.
Usually, the lower radiator hose heater (850 watts roughly) can do its job
in less than an hour even at 20 below (F). Usually with my B or BGT in good
tune, it will almost always start in cold weather except when temperatures
drop below about 5 above, then it starts getting iffy. Throw in the engine
heater and then it will likely start to maybe 20 below. Lower than that and
I have had problems like the accelerator cable sticking or other weird
problems. The seat cushion normally starts to get hard at 5 above too.
David Councill
67 BGT
72 B
currently 16F
At 11:36 AM 10/30/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>Is an engine heater a "good thing" for an MG Midget for those cold
>mornings? I've seen some "dip stick" type heaters for example, or is
>just putting a little space heater under the hood to run on the engine
>for a while (with engine off of coures) sufficienta? I'm finding my
>little Midget is not a happy starter in the AM now that the cold is
>starting to hit.
>
>Tim Holt
>'74 Midget
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|