I figured I'd post this since it goes to the only real complaint that I had (yes..."had") with my 05 500- from the advice I garnered here, I went out and bought one of AC's coolant/engine heaters.

I originally just wanted to be SURE that the cat would start c-o-l-d, as I now rely on it for snow removal, with the added advantage of better early lubrication at start up. My only real complaint to date used to be the auto choke set up backing off too early, leaving me with a running bike that would not idle until FULL warm up. I know the heater is more of a work around than a solution, but it sure was nice to go out to plow the other morning, have the bike start on the second revolution and purr like a kitten without faltering [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] .

Now all I have to do is add "50 foot extension chord" to my list of things to bring to deer camp, lol.

.02

 

Does that heater splice into a coolant line? I wonder if it would work on a 650...

 

It splices into the hose between the waterpump and the cylinder head... not sure about AC's recommended applications, but I can say the picture in the directions was nothing like my 500... they say to run the wiring out the right side of the bike, to the left just made more sense to me. Anyway, my guess is that it goes in this hose so that the heat rises up into the head in the coolant and down into the block through the metal. Not sure though. All I know is it worked. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I'm sure it will work on any liquid cooled engine, as long as the coolant line is the same size as the 500. I'm pretty sure they are all a standard size.

It does splice into the coolant line....I have one on mine as well. It is an actual coolant heater. It heats the coolant and circulates it though the motor just like the coolant heaters on the diesel pickups.

Works great......although it's been 45 here for the last week. No snow left now......