Noticed a black cord hanging outside of the front grille, wrapped behind the afram brush bar. Looks like a normal in house wall plug in cord. Is this a stock feature of land rover or some aftermarket addition? The sellers had no idea what it might be for, but they said that some trucks use a cord to warm up the engine on really cold days prior to starting up the rig. Any ideas anyone? Does your 2004 SE have a cord hanging out the front grille area?

 

a block heater would be one possiblity or it could lead to a trickle charger it the truck sat for long periods. trace the wire out to see where it goes.

 

You are in a part of the world where block heaters would be handy. In severe conditions, a pal of mine from the Air Force (Alaska) said even with block heaters they had to drain the oil from the trucks and keep it inside on a hot plate, then pour the heated oil into the trucks to get them to turn over in the morning. On the other end of the spectrum, many standby generators are setup to keep the water jacket at 120F even here in Savannah in the summer, so they can crank up and make power in under 10 seconds. A block heater is good to have.

Plus you can fool tree hugging neighors and tell them it is a prototype hybrid.....

 

Block heater, follow the wire and see where it goes.
I have long been thinking about one.

 

I use a magnetic oil pan heater that warms the oil. Its a pain though because your suppose to take it off before driving. Not fun to pull off in -20... (Just yank cord, but still its to bloody cold)

 

Lucky you.
When it is very cold out - -20 degrees F, that plug will warm the engine and allow you to start the rover..
Protect that plug = from salt, abuse, mice.

 

Must be a feature of the cold weather package I have well no complaints here lol. And yeah there is a small rubber cover that protects the two prongs, but I haven't inspected the rest of the cord to see if it was chewed up from mice yet...

 

Put the block heater on a light timer, program it to come on 2 hours before you get up for work.
It does not need to be on all night, waste of electricity.

 

Congratulations! It's a boy!

 

We keep our discovery on the cape, in Provincetown MA.....and we have a block warmer... its the only thing that keeps our truck going in the winter. they are great!