I am heading up north and will need to get some kind of engine heater. I have read past posts and see that the main ones are: one that connects to the hoses and heats the fluid, one that replaces the freeze plug, one that sits in the oil fill, and one that sticks to the bottom of the oil pan.

I would prefer the one that replaces the freeze plug. Chrysler says there is not one available through mopar. Mercedes in the South says no, but the one in North Dakota says they have them, but doesn't know if they will fit the Crossfire. Can anyone please verify this or add their input.

Thanks!

 

Any place I gotta have a block heater, ain't worth moving there to start with.

 

I live in wisconsin and had my car last winter. had no problems starting it up in zero degree temps. w/o any heater or anything like that. just let it run a while, and the tranny (6spd) is kind of a pain until it warms up.

 

Thanks for all your wonderful inputs. Might get a question answered on here one these days. Thanks.

 

Hello, Just bought a 2005 crossfire SRT-6 I live in Iowa and it gets pretty cold here just bought a cartridge heater from Napa in trying to figure out how to put it in. There he is supposed to be a special opening on the block so you don't have to pop a freeze plug. I guess I will let you know how it goes. The part number is 605-1649. I will keep you updated on my progress

 

The best place for a xfire up here in winter is the garage :-).

 

Make sure your anti freeze is up to snuff. have it tested. never assume

 

In the middle of my 3rd winter with the Crossfire here in Michigan.

Never once had a problem related to the cold.....and some of those times it was about -10. Last year the car sat at the airport through some cold weather, whe I returned it was -8....car started and ran just fine. The 6-speed was a little clunky for the first few miles.....but that's to be expected till it warms up.

 

Block heaters are the best, if the hole is already in the block as FieroClint says thats good. Also a heater for the battery is very good, they wrap around the battery like a blanket and you plug it in as well as the block heater. The car may start but it is nice to have the oil flowing nicer around a warmer block.
Putting the heater on a timer is good as it saves money on the Hydro bill. Its a waste of electricity to put it on a warm block, six to eight hours before you need it would be good.

Always remember to unplug it when you leave home, you do not want your friends to see you are dragging the extension chord under your car.

 

I have seen this one done! it is very funny

 

It was minus 18 the other night and my 05 started no problem... took a while to warm up tho..

 

if you really want someway to heat your car, then a circulating heater is better than a block heater, and you can adapt one to any car. I doubt anyone makes a block heater for our cars. A circulating heater simply is mounted inline on the heater hoses. Simply circulates warm water through your cooling system and heater core...you will even have a warm car when you start it up. Most modern day cars will start in below zero weather if your battery is up to snuff without a heater of any kind....hope this helps...

 

In conclusion? Do or don't you need a block heater?

 

Canadian Crossfires came with a block heater as standard equipment.

 

Interesting. that means there should be a readily available MB P/N somewhere. I'll bet they also have that for the regular MB cars available in northern Europe too. That would make sense to me.

 

Go to this thread and look at the post by Rudy (post#4) and you will find the part numbers for all the parts required.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post566753
In this photo you can see the block heater, it is installed in that elbow (part of the heater assembly), the heater (the brass part with the red mark on it) and the cap that covers the heater terminals where the heater cable plugs into.

Here is the the heater and the heater cable, do not buy these from Chrysler as they will cost you a small fortune. Look on line they are much cheaper when you find them. There are links in another thread I think, or at least some prices. The cable was not supplied with the Canadian cars but the heater assembly was. I would think that cars in the Nortern States came with a heater assembly as well.

 

You may not need one but you might want one. The 04 that I just picked up was originally sold by a dealer in Fairbanks, Alaska and it gets pretty cold in that part of the State. It came with the block heater that 180 shows above, a battery heating pad and a oil pan heating pad. While I don't drive either of our Crossfires in the winter all the above heaters help reduce the wear and tear on any type vehicle and a number of ways. Is it good for a car to be started up when it's zero degrees or better for it when it's 50 degrees. Do types of heaters help in the long run? - Absolutely. An interesting side note is that in Fairbanks most of the parking lots have outlets at each spot to plug in your vehicle. It's also common to see -50F temps in Fairbanks. The State runs public service spots recommending that when it's 20F or colder plug it in. Their main reasoning is help improve air quality.

 

Thats odd because I haven't been able to find the plug in. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places or...

*Sigh*

 

My post above (#16) explains all and shows pictures of the Canadian set up.
If you have an imported US (used) car they may be missing. I never did find out if some of the US cars, for the northern states had the heater.

 

Ah!

Thank You, I guess the first time I read that in my haste I didn't quite under stand it. Makes sense know.