I had a car heater device on several of my cars - it is great in sevral ways:
- you do not need to remove ice from the windows
- it is nice and warm in the car whan you get in

And one very important for me (and often neglected by dealers selling the heaters) is that the engine gets warm before you start it. This leads to much less consumption (almost no warm-up time) and contributes to engine durability - we all know how bad it is cold start for the engine.
I got my RX8 few days ago and realised, there is not much space under the hood to instal such a heater.
The dealer did not know if it can be installed or nor.
Someone have any experience with that ?

 

If you live where there is serious winter, it is needed. The car will flood if you try to start it below about -25 C. We are about to try to install a circulation type heater, maybe today. If this car is like the previous RX-7s, the heater lines are on the right side below the engine, so the install would happen there.

I'll let you know once we try.

 

(Yeah, I know, resurrecting an ancient thread.....)

Has anyone here installed an engine heater of any kind?

If so, was it electric?
If electric was it a freeze-plug type, or a generic tank-type?
If tank-type, where did you tap in to the heater lines?
Are they 1/2"?

If not electric, was it a combustion heater (e.g. Webasto)?
If combustion, how did you hook it into the fuel system?


There's a 1500watt tank-type heater and 1/2" line adaptor available for $55.00 from jcwhitney.

Personally, I'd love a combustion heater on a timer. That way the car would always be warm in the mornings, after work, etc. regardless of whether an electrical source is available.

 

I use a stick-on rubber type, I think it is about 250 watts.

Works well, even at minus 30* or so.

Never used a Webasto, sounds like it would be more suited to huge truck/bus motors.

S

 

I (briefly) saw one installed in a Land Rover. It looked like a medium-size thermos, with heater hose and fuel line connections, and a 12V line for the timer/igniter circuit. Every time I get in an icy cold car, I wish I had one (and a heated steering wheel).

 

In the German RX-8 forum a few RX-8 drivers have reported about the installation of a pre-heater.
As there is very little room under the hood, a very small model is required. The smallest probably is the B5WS by Eberspächer for which also a remote control is available.

One guy told that he has the heater (which is really a very small package) installed behind and below the container for the window cleaner fluid. The container has been moved a bit to the front by means of a specially made mounting. Together with a cavity located behind the container this gives enough room for the heater.

You can see pics in the 5th post on this page. The unconspicous black box behind and below the cleaner fluid container ist the B5WS by Eberspächer.