2003 Mazda B-2300. Is there a threaded hole in the block,or does the 2003 4cyl. have reg. frost plugs that have been used for over 50 yrs.? I want a block heater because it gets very COLD up here in MN. THANKS.

 

you see these,

Magnet-mount Engine Block Heater - JCWhitney

I hear ya about the cold I'm in ND and you def need one..

 

I lived in canada for 23 years and had some friggid winters. Only needed a block heater for my dads diesel. Never used one on my cars and they always started. My neighbor who did could not start his car in the cold unless he had it plugged in. So unless you deal with -40 or worse IMO its not needed.

 

I've seen harder starts around -20. Minnesota will get cold enough sometime and it is obviously bad to start your truck at those low temps with cold oil.

 

just give your car a solid 5-10 minutes to properly warm up and lubricate everything and it'll be fine.

 

You're entirely wrong on how engines warm up. They warm up nearly instantly(up to 30 seconds) on the internals and research shows allowing your engine to idle more than 5 minutes is actually worse. The smartest thing to do is to idle for 30 seconds then drive.


But that' irrelevant. I'm talking about the first 3 seconds of starting my truck, when it's so cold the engine sloooooooowly rolls over. I don't like that and it's why i prefer to have my truck plugged in.

 

well I hope you never have the issue where your truck won't turn over while you're at work because you couldn't plug it in.

 

this is correct. 30 sec is what they recommend but i like to leave it for a minute for peace of mind.

 

Oil is very thick at that temperature and I like to give it some time to warm up and properly lubricate everything before driving off. My cars (and parents cars) have all lasted us over 300 thousand km.

 

so can someone explain why its bad to warm up longer than 30 sec? When its real cold out I like to go out and start the truck and let it warm up for 5 mins or so with the heater blowing inside, just so its warm inside when i get in.

 

The hardest thing for ANY vehicle is initial startup. That is what kills vehicles. They second hardest thing is idling. That's what kills cop cars.

*i have absolutely nooooo data to back that up.

 

Right but cop cars will idle in place for HOURS on end and they suffer from carbon build up. Letting your car idle for 5 minutes in freeze your nuts off cold won't do any more damage to your truck than have a couple beers after work does to your body.

 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_is_t...07_Ford_Ranger

http://www.automotive.com/2010/12/fo...ges/index.html

Sorry guys, Had to do it.

 

If you live in Canada or a northern state, check for a heater in the block. It may already be there with the plug tucked away somewhere.

For several years, Rangers originally destined for dealers in Canada, AK, MN, ND, SD, WI, WY and MT have been getting block heaters as required factory option 41H. Since it is the same truck under the skin, I would think that the Mazda B-series has the same requirement. Of course, if your truck was originally purchased in another state, it may not have that option.

 

I have a magnetic heater but it will not stick to an aluminum pan, steel only, like new, $25.00 plus shipping. I used it maybe 2-3 times. Nice thing about magnetic is if you forget to unplug and drive away (seems to happen all too often <grin>) it simply slides off pan. oldcarfart@aol.com