# Can a 2012 Cruze Eco Have a Block Heater Installed?



## YKNWT (Oct 6, 2012)

I just want a definitive answer from someone who knows for sure. I am not talking about an oil pan heater, but an engine block heater.

I ask because when I bought my car I had heated seats and (supposedly) a block heater installed from the dealership as I was moving up to Arctic. I have since moved there and paid for the add-ons (well, I had them included in the financing) yet when I had it up on a hoist to have synthetic oil put in the mechanic pointed out the fact that it seems they installed a oil pan heater rather than an actual block heater, which, again, is what I ordered and paid for (and have documentation to prove it) while I was still in Halifax. I then went to the (one and only) dealership up here and the guy at the service desk said that he didn't believe that a block heater can actually be installed at all on a Cruze due to a welded frost cap or something? Can anyone clarify if a Cruze can, or cannot have a block heater installed?

Ideally this won't turn into a thread debating the pros and cons of each type of heating system.

Anyone have any expertise or experience in this matter?

Lastly, I find the hood patterns when it frosts over quite interesting.

Thanks in advance!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

How was the drive?


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## YKNWT (Oct 6, 2012)

It was good man, a long 7000 km haul for sure. 

The bug deflector took one for the team on the Mackenzie Highway shattering upon being introduced to a semi-thrown rock. Well worth the $65 it cost as it surely would have done more damage had it hit the windshield. 

Hit pretty much every type of weather you can get along the way from torrential downpours in the East to blizzards in Rockies, +13 degrees Celsius down to -40 degrees Celsius.

Elk, wild bison herds, and ice roads.

And through it all the Cruze performed excellently.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Fabulous. Your signature still shows Halifax. With those low temps I can understand why you're looking for an engine block heater.


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## Matt585 (Dec 19, 2012)

i remember the days when i had to use an engine block heater... didnt like those days too much hah. the Arctic is a *****. Good luck to you tho, im sure they tried to screw you over- to my knowledge ive seen cruzes plugged in the the terminals but.. could of always just been the oil pan heater.


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## Jaycruze (Jul 11, 2011)

That's hilarious.... i always thought that someone did that to my hood! I've only seen it happen once, i must have had a reall warm engine just before a big snow that night.

haha, there must be some sort of insulation lining in the hood that has gaps.





YKNWT said:


> I just want a definitive answer from someone who knows for sure. I am not talking about an oil pan heater, but an engine block heater.
> 
> I ask because when I bought my car I had heated seats and (supposedly) a block heater installed from the dealership as I was moving up to Arctic. I have since moved there and paid for the add-ons (well, I had them included in the financing) yet when I had it up on a hoist to have synthetic oil put in the mechanic pointed out the fact that it seems they installed a oil pan heater rather than an actual block heater, which, again, is what I ordered and paid for (and have documentation to prove it) while I was still in Halifax. I then went to the (one and only) dealership up here and the guy at the service desk said that he didn't believe that a block heater can actually be installed at all on a Cruze due to a welded frost cap or something? Can anyone clarify if a Cruze can, or cannot have a block heater installed?
> 
> ...


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Jaycruze said:


> That's hilarious.... i always thought that someone did that to my hood! I've only seen it happen once, i must have had a reall warm engine just before a big snow that night.
> 
> haha, there must be some sort of insulation lining in the hood that has gaps.


It's the hood bracing that you're seeing. The insulation is covering the parts of the hood that has the frost on it and the "clear" areas are the braces that help the hood keep its shape.


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## YKNWT (Oct 6, 2012)

Ok, so after a TON of research and calling around the answer is that you CANNOT have a traditional block heater (ie. one installed through a core plug) on a Cruze. The reasons being that, one the one hand, it is a small engine, and on the other, the fact that it is Turbo.

After a little back and forth with my dealership they have agreed to pay for a circulating heater to be installed as compensation for having installed a oil pan heater when a block heater was ordered.


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

Hood looks kinda like an x-ray ... Hmm, that might actually be an interesting "plasti-dip" pattern for me to look into


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Did you ever get the circulating heater installed? I bought one but haven't put it on yet, looking for tips!


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

Blue Angel-

Still following this thread, but I haven't installed or ordered a heater.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Well I bought a heater a while ago but I'm waiting for warmer weather to install it... !?!

As usual, simply installing it as it was intended to be installed isn't interesting enough so I've come up with an overly elaborate plan to complicate it. Should I succeed in attempting anything resembling an installation I will post a full writeup.


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