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I've inherited a 2002 Oldsmobile AUrora 4.0, this has not seen any winter since. Car paint is still great and still looks new. Now I'm going to use it this winter, I'm living in northeast Ontario and it's starting to get snow here.
I've been trying to find the block heater cord but couldn't find it where.
It says in the manual..... - Open the hood and unwrap the electrical cord. (what does it mean to unwrap the electrical cord?) - The engine coolant heater cord is located on the passenger’s side of the vehicle, above the headlamp assembly. (heater cord is not there?)
Could anyone tell me where is the proper location of this cord?
Welcome to CO. Are you sure the car has the engine block heater option? I would think so if it was built to live in Canada. If the car was originally sold in the US, its quite possible that it didn't come w/ the engine block heater. It may also be possible that it was removed or the cord cut at some point in the last 18 years.
The heater is typically part of a freeze plug that is pressed into the side of the engine block, and then has a decently long power cord w/ a 3-pronged 120VAC plug on the end of it. It is "wrapped up" (folded multiple times and secured w/ a tye-wrap or something) to keep it up out of the way when not in use (you don't want it falling down and dragging on the ground, or worse yet, get tangled up in the accessory belts).
My '96, '98 and '99 Auroras all had block heaters and I never needed to plug them in. Lowest temp about -29 C Aslong as they turn over, they will start immediately.
I had a '94 Z28 'vert that was an "import" from Canada (all 4th gen F-bods were built in Canada, but this one was intended to be sold in Canada.....was originally a GM exec car, sold at auction to a dealer in NE IN, never titled, then sold to me). It had an factory-installed engine block heater. First time I ever seen one on a car. Thought to my self, "This isn't going to do me any good when parked at work." A few years later we went to visit my wife's sister in Winnepeg and I noticed that each parking spot at her apartment had an outlet nearby. So did the street-side parking meters downtown (for those unfortunate enough to not find a spot in an underground parking garage).
Last edited by JohnnyBs68S; November 11th, 2020 at 12:17 PM.
I haven't removed the top engine cover yet maybe it is hidden there.
What, if you don't find it there, is removing the gas tank next? Did you read the excerpt from the owner's manual above? You don't remove the engine cover to get at the cord. Olds would never have made it that difficult to get at. As noted in the manual, the cord, if it's there, is located above the passenger side headlamp. It should be pretty obvious, and if you haven't yet found it, it's because it's not there. Just because your car is now in Canada doesn't mean it was originally sold there, does it? Do you KNOW that it was originally sold there? And even if it was, that doesn't guarantee that whoever bought it originally ordered it with that option. At some point, you have to face reality and accept that there is no heater cord.
The aurora has a heater cord installed, the last owner just forgot where he put it because he never gets to use the aurora in winter.
Anyway, I found the heater cord this morning, I followed the cord that came from the engine. It doesn't look like a heater cord to me at first because it is wrapped with some kind of protective wrapper.
It's all good now. Thank you all for your replies.
I'm glad you found it, but this just highlights a frequent problem on here. We don't get the whole story. We assumed all along that the cord would be in the factory location, and a quick look there would reveal whether or not the car had the option. We weren't told of the previous owner's antics. If there was a chance he put it somewhere other than the factory location, all bets are off. You might as well have asked us who's going to win the 2040 Superbowl for all the help we'll be.
November 7th, 2020, 01:00 PM
