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Thread: Block heater vs synthetic oil

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    Block heater vs synthetic oil

    Hi all

    Our Micra didn't come with a block heater. The dealer told us it is unecessary with synthetic oil and said this kind of oil is recommanded for the Micra. What are your thought about that? Does the Micra starts easily with synthetic oil in very cold winter weather? Could it be possibly be bad for the motor in the long term? Is it better to install a block heater (I always had one on my previous cars)?

    Thanks!
    Claude



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    Should be fine. Mine always parked outside starts always easy at any weather.

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    Claude (10-22-2021)

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    Oh! Ijust found another thread about tis topic with many comments. No need for more info. I understand my Micra will start with synthetic oil but having a block heater is a good thing for cold climatelike where I am.

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    Oh! I just found another thread about this topic with many comments. No need for more info. I understand my Micra will start with synthetic oil but having a block heater is a good thing for cold climate like where I am.

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    Ok here is the dilema with block heater and automatic teansmission. When u have cold engine its giving you at least a hint to warm it up before starting to drive because it makes u feel engine is not ready yet to handle the load. Now consider block heater installed case u start the engine and there is no hint that transmission is not ready yet so there is no feedback from engine to driver u start driving without any sense of transmission oil temperature. Which in case can result in premature transmission failure.
    So i would recommend block heater only in extreme cases.

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    Claude (10-24-2021)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Plutus View Post
    Ok here is the dilema with block heater and automatic teansmission. When u have cold engine its giving you at least a hint to warm it up before starting to drive because it makes u feel engine is not ready yet to handle the load. Now consider block heater installed case u start the engine and there is no hint that transmission is not ready yet so there is no feedback from engine to driver u start driving without any sense of transmission oil temperature. Which in case can result in premature transmission failure.
    So i would recommend block heater only in extreme cases.
    I think that is a valid point about transmission warm-up and I have some counter points.

    I think the transmission and its fluid are engineered to work at extreme cold temperature, and they likely have a separate temperature sensor that lets the transmission controller change its behaivior in colder temperature. The manual does state that the automatic transmission will not go into overdrive until the engine is close to operating temperature to warm the engine faster so I don't see why there would not be other checks in the program for cold temperature operation of the transmission. Regardless, the transmission is bolted to the engine so if the engine does get warm the transmission will too.

    Also, I doubt that the type of person to take the time to use a block heater is going to start the engine and immediately put the transmission into gear. They will at minimum need need to make sure the window defogger is working and more possibly need to scrape some ice or snow off the windows after they start the engine and before the set off.

    In summary, I believe modern engines and transmissions are designed to be started and driven in extreme temperatures, a block block heater will take the cold edge off of both units, and the operator will need to take the time to make sure their windows are clear, so the there is little chance of damage to the transmission.

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    Have u seen or asked in dealerships how many engines and transmissions below 100k are they fixing? There are too many variables there that manufacturers cant force anyone to do. There is no statistics gathered as to which customers bring their cars for major engine and or transmission repairs… ones who live near hwy or the ones 10-20km from hwy? If someone is gonna start the engine kinda warm it up and jump into the hwy with cold transmission because of low distance from their place of residence and hwy then for sure they will have more wear and tear in transmission vs second case that i mentioned. But nobody will ever gather that statistics and force someone to comply with that will be insanity :-) but i strongly believe if that time of data will be gathered we all will have very clear picture why things a are failing unexpectedly in the cars.



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