Think I have found the solution for cold starts.....

[markh1]

I have found these on the net

http://www.padheaters.com/

They are heating pads that you stick on the sump, they heat up and over the course of several hours the WHOLE engine is heated to near operaing temperature. I will be getting one when the cerb goes back on the road after the suspension rebuild.

The bad bit is they come from Canada, they are priced at about 70 dollars (I presume thats canadian)

[Daston]

hmmmmm bit of a pain when you have a dry sump

[rigga]

Also the other point being that although the oil in the sump will be heated,as there is no circulation going on,to get the rest of the engine to operating temp,the sump itself will need to be red hot for the heat transfer to reach the more extreme points of the engine..... on the trains we use a coolant auxillary heater that fires a burner and pumps coolant around the engine which truly gets it up to temp and keeps it there when the unit is not running,i believe there are systems available for dry sump systems,hell thats how F1 operate..... also note that these come from canada,mate has relations there and on a recent trip he mentioned that some colder areas have cars fitted with heater systems,and even when the folks go out to the shops,there are stand points when parked to hook up the car and keep it from freezing.......

[markh1]

I see your point about it having to be very hot for the rest of the engine to heat up but from what the website says, if you leave it on for about five hours or so the whole of the engine would have heated up. I will persue it more when the cerb goes back on the road.

[morebeanz]

Warming the engine is one thing, but you'll need the equivalent heating on the gearbox and diff if you want to do it properly, won't you?

[KillerJim]

Is the idea to heat the engine to operating temperature or simply give it a good ~30c oil temp when firing her up?

Personally I don`t see the problem with 30c oil in the dry sump being thrown around a cold engine to help it warm in the first few seconds, I`m sure it would easily drop 10c as the warm oil mixes with the cold engine..

Nothing worse than leaving the TVR outside and seeing 1c oil when starting

J

[BGB autosport]

As said the dry sump does create a problem. I would also not be happy heatng some parts of the engine and not others as due to expansion rates, heat transfer and insolation, you could end up doing more damage.

If you heat the block with a heater to operating temp, the crank temp will be much lower as its very well insolated from the block casing. This could result in higher bearing clearance, inturn lower initial oil pressure, increasing knock. The only pre heater i would be happy with would be a combined water and oil heater as this would heat the components much more equally.

A pre oiler would be much easier and probably more effective.

[Dirty Boy]

I've just bought a heater for the whole garage, left that on for to warm the whole car up (if left long enough, should transfer a bit of heat to the whole engine) better than starting at -1 !!

[markh1]

morebeanz said:

Warming the engine is one thing, but you'll need the equivalent heating on the gearbox and diff if you want to do it properly, won't you?

You can get heaters for the gearbox and battery too.

I want one to put a bit of heat in the oil as thats what takes ages to heat up, re oil temp gauge thread.

[kcc]

What damage, if any, to a Speed Six can be done, if starting at -1,0,+1,if the car is then driven normally to usual temperatures.

Dirty Boy said:

I've just bought a heater for the whole garage, left that on for to warm the whole car up (if left long enough, should transfer a bit of heat to the whole engine) better than starting at -1 !!

[Gas Man]

In the past I have worked on gas engines that were heated by a 3kw heater in the coooling circuit. Always started first time.

So I got a Kenlowe heater for my 05:00 early mornings many years ago.
Back then it was a single unit, pump and heater in one.
And it worked great for years, but I must have got an air lock when I fitted it to a RR and it melted the pump impellor.
So need to fit it correctly!! But they sent me a new impellor for free! At least 5 years after I bought it!!

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/index.html

I might get one for the Cerb, but they also make a lower power one for laid-up cars!

Edited by Gas Man on Tuesday 6th January 00:19

[amir_j]

Why not fit an auto start system?

I used to have a Clifford Intellistart alarm (on an audi) which is very nifty. Apart from a respected Cat 1 alarm & immobiliser had ability to start car from the remote, the option to sense low battery and start to charge as well as low temperatue start.

Its a plug in option on all the alarm models iirc, start car from inside house, enjoy your breakfast and then get in and drive.

Edited by amir_j on Tuesday 6th January 01:13

[TVR_owner]

Sump heaters are common in cold climates, that's what this is??

[markh1]

TVR_owner said:

Sump heaters are common in cold climates, that's what this is??

Yes the thing I put a link to is a sump heater, but instead of it being a heating element in the sump its a relatively non-expensive (compared to kenlowe preheater) pad that sticks to the bottom of the sump.