Engine heater

[LukeZ]

Im on the lookout for an electric engine heater for my car. I've heard of things that you drill into your oil pan, things that you slide down your dipstick tube, and things that connect in-line to your lower radiator hose.

I think I like the idea of the lower radiator hose thing the best. Looks like this:

Anybody here have one that they recommend? Or maybe another method of keeping your engine warm in the winter?

 

[online170]

A freind of mine used one that you glue to the bottom of your oil pan. Heating oil vs coolant, but the same idea. To me it makes more sense because cold coolant wont affect the engine much, but cold oil will cause wear.

She used the car to commute, so she had a timer and extension chord at the same time. It came on 30 minutes before she needed to go, and she had excellent results with it. No clicking, easier starts, and faster warmup.

Engine was a 330 olds.

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

Alaska pad. The least invasive way to heat your motor in the winter. Temro now makes them too. You just use blue silicone to stick it to the bottom of your pan. use 15-30 watts per quart of oil.

 

[LukeZ]

A freind of mine used one that you glue to the bottom of your oil pan. Heating oil vs coolant, but the same idea. To me it makes more sense because cold coolant wont affect the engine much, but cold oil will cause wear.

She used the car to commute, so she had a timer and extension chord at the same time. It came on 30 minutes before she needed to go, and she had excellent results with it. No clicking, easier starts, and faster warmup.

Engine was a 330 olds.

Thanks! I'll look into it

 

[LukeZ]

Alaska pad. The least invasive way to heat your motor in the winter. Temro now makes them too. You just use blue silicone to stick it to the bottom of your pan. use 15-30 watts per quart of oil.

Thanks!

 

[Jeff Blagden]

I have had the inline heater and it worked great had instant heat in the car and I am in central Canada and it gets very cold up hear some guys that have the European cars with no block heater use the magnets oil pan heaters they work fine too but 95 % of the cars her have the block heater in the block the pan magnets are just plug and play no worries about an air lock when installing it good luck but you are good either way Jeff from Winnipeg where it is -29 c with the wind chill

 

[Wageslave]

Block heaters that install in place of a freeze plug are another pretty good option. They are little heating elements that set inside the block itself. One on each side of the block works pretty well.

 

[WanaBa442]

Always used the inline coolant heater on my Jeep as it needs to go when it's time to plow.
Immersion block heater work also, but see waaaay too many reviews of the newer Katz brand failing after a very short time. After driving out a freeze plug and coolant drain and refill that would p*ss me off no end. Heat the coolant, heat the block and let'er rip.
Run 5w 20 or 30 if it's real cold.
Just had my Dakota sh*t out a rocker arm on #4 when it started last weekend at -15 degrees.
That was a fun one yesterday in the driveway fixing that catastrophe..
Lighter oil for the rest of the winter.

 

[axisg]

Being in Delaware the Alaska heater should do the job just fine. I don't even bother with a block heater on my DD until we hit -20c / -4 f.

However when I lived in Alberta the best thing was the inline heater as mentioned above by Jeff. It was an absolute must on my Propane Powered POS Van. The unit ties in with the heater hose and circulates warm coolant thru the block. I had it on a timer to come on 2 hours before leaving for work and it made it both easier to start and only a few minutes for heat to defrost the windows.

I would think the one on the lower rad hose would have a tough time pushing coolant past the thermostat.

https://phillipsandtemro.com/solutions/engine-heating-solutions/circulation-heaters/

 

[olds307 and 403]

The factory block heaters work well. I have used the style shown that goes in the lower rad hose. I used the inline circulating block heater on the Olds powered 4x4, burnt it to the ground!