Engine Block Heater Removal help!

:headshake What is the easiest way to remove the block heater from a 97 Escort 2l. engine. It is located at the back of the engine above the starter. Right now the weather here is -30 to -40. I think I need a hoist to have the car in the air to get at it. Is there another way to get at it. I cannot even see or reach it right now. :confused:
So what is the best way to remove and install a new block heater for my wifes car. Right now it sits frozen.:crying:

Might be easier to try a different block heater and leave that one alone. There are different types that mount in different places. It won't hurt to leave the defective one in there. Of course, you could move South! :smokin:

My Escort is a 94, and the block heater would mount in the middle of the back of the block if I had one. Assuming yours is in the same area, since its right below the intake manifold, I think the only way to reach it would be from below; reaching up behind between the lower firewall and the back of the engine.
A pair of wheel ramps would probably get the car high enough for someone to slither under. But it if wont start - I would jack up each side of the car and put 6" x 6" x 24" wood chunks under the body (right at the door hinge), making a pyramid until the car was up with the wheels about 8" off the ground. I hope you are able to do this in a garage!
It looks like you dont have to remove the starter, but might have to reach around the dispsticktube etc.
And of course you will be directly below the antifreeze that will run out of the hole - even if you drain the cooling system from the radiator 'spigot'. !!
Im retired, and live where there are a goodly number of cars/pickups with Saskatchewan/Alberta/Manitoba tags on them. This is for the same reason that we moved south; its predicted to reach 70°f today. Far south Texas.
When I used to have to start my car in temps below zero (in Cincinnati Ohio we had as low as -25°f once) I used a battery heater, & mixed half a pint of diesel oil with the motor oil in the crankcase.
Good Luck

I live in California. My block heater runs automatically by solar power. It comes on in the morning and runs continuously throughout the day. I've never had a problem with it.... very reliable.

I live in California. My block heater runs automatically by solar power. It comes on in the morning and runs continuously throughout the day. I've never had a problem with it.... very reliable.

Rub it in! :evillol:

MM22,
I thought Florida was the Sunshine state, but even there they don't have sunshine around the clock. So, how do you run the solar block heater at night without the sun? I'm pretty sure the block heater I have for my diesel tractor requires quite a few watts of power. I just don't see how your heater would keep a block warm enough over night to make any difference, especially since they don't produce that much power. Those solar powered battery trickle/float chargers sound like a good idea, especially for something like my tractor that I don't even use once a week. How expensive was your unit, how does it work, how big is the panel, how much power does it produce, and where did you get it?

Along the lines that AZTW suggested, there are dipstick heaters, which if it works good, would be the easiest to install, and then there is a heater that you splice into the lower radiator hose, which I would believe to heat things better but problematic for creating another place to have a coolant leak and more involved to install. The latter would be my first choice long term and the dipstick short term, quick fix. My only concern with it is, will it be fully submerged in the oil, and it be hot and powerful enough to heat things up enough.

tripletdaddy:
It was just a joke... I was simply saying that it was nice and sunny over here while the others are buried in freezing snow :P
My block heater is the sun itself. Cars over here don't even have block heaters.

MM22, darn, I missed a good joke, and I obviously was blinded by your brilliantr CA sunshine and lost my senses and was overpowered by my interest in knowing more about this miraculous device you had. Boy, I really fell for that one. I bet though, in the high Sierras or whatever are the high mtns. there that get unbelievable snow and low temps there in CA some of the vehicles and equipment need some sort of engine heater, esp diesels.

Hee Hee Hee Hee. Merry Christmas!