What is this Cord under the hood ?

[Mit_LanZer]

so i went to nissan dealer and i was in their shower room and i noticed this cord in their coupes. it seems to be connected to the radiator. does anybody know what it is ?? this is my first time seeing it in a car. its pretty long and u can plug it in a electric socket if u want but for what reason ?
thank you
here is a pic
http://i24.tinypic.com/2d6wq2w.jpg

[Whitedart]

so i went to nissan dealer and i was in their shower room and i noticed this cord in their coupes. it seems to be connected to the radiator. does anybody know what it is ?? this is my first time seeing it in a car. its pretty long and u can plug it in a electric socket if u want but for what reason ?
thank you


engine block heater cord

[Pete_Coach]

In the shower room at your dealership? What a nice gesture and perk by them:)
I believe that the cord is a plug in for the block heater or some other type of cold weather assist device.

[spf1971]

It does look to be a block heater cord. It won't be attached to the radiator thought, probably just routed by it. A block heater will be inserted into the engince block through one of the frost plugs. It could also be for a battery blanket or a magnetic oil pan heater.

[googoo]

I think it's a cord for the computer, just plug it in to charge the computers battery every night:)

[Spud72]

It does look to be a block heater cord. It won't be attached to the radiator thought, probably just routed by it. A block heater will be inserted into the engince block through one of the frost plugs. It could also be for a battery blanket or a magnetic oil pan heater.

Can't tell from the pic, but not all engine heaters are true "block" heaters nor are they necessarily a frost plug style.

Many, especially import cars, are just elements on the side of the block or sometimes heat via the lower rad hose.

[mau108]

I think it's a cord for the computer, just plug it in to charge the computers battery every night:)

are you kidding? didn't see a wink.

That does look like a block heater, on very cold days you can run an extension cord to that plug, plug it in and have a warm car in the morning.

Does anyone know how many watts of power the block heater takes?

[seftonm]

250-500 watts usually. At a Toyota Dealer here, I recall them being 400W.

[CanadianMoFo]

Does anyone know how many watts of power the block heater takes?

It all depends on engine size. Larger engine = larger block heater. 400W is a good guess though.

You can put it on a timer to come on 3-4 hours before you head out to work in the morning so you reduce your electrical costs.

CM