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Just installed a Volvo block heater on my N/A 850.
Volvo's block heater is not a freeze plug style. It is an external heater which mounts to the outside of the lower, back-side of the block and relies on heat to be conducted between the heater and the block via contact surfaces.
Volvo had a recall associated with this heater--I don't know what the recall was about, but when I bought the heater (when the car was new, in 1997) it took over a year for the part to arrive--supposedly due to the recall. When I finally got the kit, it was the middle of winter and I decided to put off, getting under the car, 'till spring. Well, I forgot about the heater 'till I rediscovered it, this summer, on a shelf in my garage.
The heater uses safety wire to lock its hardware in place (when was the last time you heard of a car part being designed with safety wire).
Anyway, if you can find a freeze plug style block heater, I would probably go with that--I am not sure how effective this Volvo-designed block heater is going to be. When I installed the heater, about two months ago, when it was still in the 70's here in Chicago, I tested the heater out. With a dead cold engine, and with my electric utility meter spinning off the wall, after about a half-hour, the temperature gauge had not yet moved. In all fairness, it is unlikely that the temperature gauge will "see" a significant temperature rise in a half-hour 'cause the temperature sensor is being "blocked" by the termostat. The heater was working 'cause I felt down around the heater and you could feel it giving off heat, but I am just not sure how much was passing through to the engine. Anyway, after about a half-hour I abandoned my test and I'm just crossing my fingers that when it is -10 here in Chicago, in February, that this block heater will do more than just spin my electric meter.
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