How to Keep an Engine Warm at Night

by Rebekah Brooks
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Cold temperatures take a toll on your vehicle's engine. When temperatures drop below freezing at night, the engine oil coagulates, and the chemical process that powers the battery slows down or stops. This can make starting your vehicle in the morning difficult. Fortunately, there are a few tricks to keep the engine warm at night. Replacing old, weak batteries and using a lightweight synthetic oil in your engine should also help your engine deal with the cold temperatures.

Step 01

Store the vehicle in a heated garage. A heated garage will prevent the engine, oil and battery from getting too cold. Keep the heat at a reasonable temperature between 55 F and 72 F.

Step 11

Attach your battery to a block heater. These types of heaters plug into a wall socket and attach to your battery to keep it warm. This prevents the cold outdoor temperatures from affecting the chemical reaction needed to power the battery and start the vehicle.

Step 21

Attach your engine to an engine preheater. These types of heaters plug into a wall socket and are inserted into your engine's coolant through the radiator hose. When the coolant warms up, the heat spreads to the other parts of the engine.

Step 31

Attach a light under the hood. Put a 150-watt light bulb in a wire light bulb guard over the intake manifold on the car and keep the light on overnight. The heat generated from the light bulb will keep the engine just warm enough at night that it will start in the morning.

Step 41

Place an electric blanket over the engine. An electric blanket plugs into a wall socket and produces heat that will help prevent the engine from getting too cold. Place the blanket over the engine to keep it warm and close the hood to prevent the heat from escaping.

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