Where do you get an engine or block heater?

What types are there?

I searched the net a bit and found some mount in the water jacket through a core plug hole. There was one that held to the oil pan by magnets (presumably to pull off before driving). Also I have heard of dipstick tube heaters. I am thinking of getting something to keep my baby warm at night ;-) . What do you think / know? Prefer low priced. I am not dealing with really cold temps but 10s to 30s in winter with occasional, brief zero/sub zero periods.


INLINE SIX POWER! '95 F150 XL
300 Cubic Inches of Low RPM Truck Torque! And twin-I-beams too!
"Drive a stick young man! There'll be time for automatics when you're old and unable."

 

How many would you like?
*grin*

Paul the best coolant heater is the inline heater.
This style keeps the coolant moving throughout the block rather than just concentrating in one area.
The dipstick heaters don't work.

You can see them on the www.canadiantire.ca web site

I have an Oil Pan heater in my truck.
This works great for really cold start conditions up here.


Dennis

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Ah yes. Canadian Tire. I have fond memories of Canadian Tire from when I was a kid. My parents had a cottage on Lake Huron about 20 mile north from Sarnia, Ontario. Seems we spent whole summers there (mom was a teacher). Used to frequent the Canadian Tire store in Forest, Ontario. Still like to go to Ontario to visit the Pinery Provincial Park. Being that I live by Detroit, MI, it is a short trip.

As for the heater, I am leaning toward one I heard about that VW supposedly makes/sells which attaches magnetically to the oil pan. I am more interested in warming the oil than the block, though the block heater mounted throught the core plug hole would be very convenient. But does it really get the oil warmed up? I put some 5W30 oil in baby food jars in the freezer at zero degrees F and in the fridge at 38 degrees F and the 38 degree stuff slopped around in the jar just fine, but the zero stuff was pretty stiff and slow moving. Also it seemed to have a opaqueness like a waxy component that I understand is in some or all oils. Here in Detroit I probably don't need to plug in all that much (like today it was around 40 F this morning and she started just fine). Well I will keep on researching. I should order a Canadian Tire catalog just for kicks. Hey, do they sell any brand of tires there that you can't get in the states? That would be neat. Maybe some that say Canadian Tire on the side? Or would it be Tyre?:-)

INLINE SIX POWER! '95 F150 XL
300 Cubic Inches of Low RPM Truck Torque! And twin-I-beams too!
"Drive a stick young man! There'll be time for automatics when you're old and unable."

 

Tall Paul

I'd be interseted in one of those as well. I don't like to see my oil pressure gauge at zero for the first few seconds on those real cold mornings. So where can you get one??

Thanks

 

your local ford dealer should be able to get one for you no problem. my dad had to put one on our 95 f350 PSD because it only got run once or twice a week and in the dead of winter that was killer on starting it in the 0 and 10 degree mornings. it helped an incredible amount to be able to plug it in.

chris

 

>Tall Paul
>
>I'd be interseted in one of those as well. I don't like to
>see my oil pressure gauge at zero for the first few seconds
>on those real cold mornings. So where can you get one??
>
>Thanks

I am getting ready to call these folks and order up a oil pan heating pad: http://www.janyce.com/+wolver/heat.html I could not find any engine heater at Canadian Tire, but the folks at this site have pads of all sizes that adher to the pan. It slowly (all night), and gently heats the oil and the heat rises up into the rest of the engine so they say that by the am your entire engine "thinks" it is in Florida. I told the guy at this website I had a 6 quart capacity and he told me the model 16 (which has wrong dimension on the web page, actually is 4 x 4.5), but I may go to the next smaller as really our pan only holds 5.25 qts due to the filter. This device sounds great.

 

Thanks

What about that cord?? Does that disconnect from the pad?? It looks like the pad is permanant but I know with my luck the first time out i'd rip off that cord with a corn stalk.

 

Give the Wolverine engine heater folks a call and ask them. I understand the pad can mount on the side of the oil pan (they just don't want it to bend around a major curve). Then you could have the cord on the upper side (I would want to be sure the whole pad is below the oil level). Judicious zip tying of the cord should help too.

Now I had some fun this weekend. Browsing an old Popular Mech from the 70s I found a tip that someone puts a 150 watt heat lamp under their oil pan in the winter and it helps ease start ups. I tried it with a 100 watt flood with temps in the 30s and it worked. First I started up without a heater during 40 degree weather. I put my hand on the oil filter for 2-3 minutes and there was no warmth, then I drove for two minutes and finally felt warmth in the filter. Overnight it dropped to 30 F and I ran the 100 watt bulb within one inch of the pan bottom. Next morning the pan felt warm (actually felt warm after a few hours) and I fired it up and immediately popped the hood and felt the filter--it was warm. Now that is great, but putting the lamp in place is a pain if you are going to do it all the time as the heater just plugs in so you don't have to crawl and lay on the ground (especially during snow). Also the heater I ordered (#16) is 250 watts and right on the pan so it should work nicely in zero weather where the lamp probably wouldn't do a whole lot. I actually was going to order a smaller (125 watt) heater, but the Kevin at Wolverine told me I need the 250 watt for the cold temps we get in the Detroit area. Where the lamp warmed the oil, the heater should warm the whole engine as stated in their ad. Well see. One thing I don't want it to overheat the oil. I checked after the engine was warmed up and run for several miles and the pan gets pretty hot to where you put your hand on it and will pull it off in 1-2 seconds, so I have that to compare to the Wolverine heater. With the 100 W lamp I could keep my hand on the pan, but it definitely felt warm. Ok, I am going to shut up and see what anybody else has to say.

Yo! Anybody in Alaska using these Wolverine heaters? Tell us about it.

 

Hi, Just found this string. Paul, did you get the wolverine? Easy to install, do you like it? Looks like a good product to me. We get pretty cold up here in MN and something like that would be huge help. Let me know.

 

I am very pleased with the function of the Wolverine oil pan heater, so far. I analyzed it in my own crude way over the weekend and thought you might like to see the results. I tested the heating using a thermometer pressed against the bottom of the pan backing the thermometer with a wad of foil and a piece of rag to try to insulate it from the cold air. Of course the oil in the pan would be much warmer than the reading I get this way and I address that later.

First test: 32 degree day, starting with cold pan (truck not run for 18 hours):

Time Pan Temp Reading
1/2 hr no appreciable heat felt by hand
1 hr 65 degrees F
2 hrs 80 degrees F
wife interrupts experiment by sending me to store

Second test: After an 8 hour heater run over a 25 degree F night the pan temp reading was 93 degrees F

Now, I figured the oil has to be hotter than that as the thermometer bulb is merely against the pan, so I took my old pan on the back porch last night in 16 degree F weather and poured five qts of hot water in it. Pan temp as measured above was 102 degrees, but the water temp was 150 degrees. So I figure the oil temp of my tests (accounting for the warmer weather) might be roughly 100 degrees at 1 hour, 120 degrees at 2 hours, and 140 degrees at 8 hours. Since optimal oil temp for long engine life is 195 degrees, this seems conservative enough that I am not going to "cook" the oil.

Bottom line, even one hour of time seems to help, but longer times are even better and help heat to rise up into the engine. I will say that this am at 7 degrees it started up nicely, but did blow white smoke halfway downtown. The white smoke likely is due to the water jacket not having a heater, but the engine ran well having the warm oil and warm internals.

When I start up, the temp gauge will be just upside of the C tick mark. Normally it is several needle widths below it for a cold start. This may be due to the position of the water temp sender being in the head directly above the heated oil pool instead of at the other end of the engine.

Also, I judged that I could not mount the pad on the bottom of the pan as it would not provide the necessary 3.5 by 4.5 inch flat surface (came up about 1/4 inch short). And I would have had to fill in the part number stamping with JB Weld and file it smooth. So I did what Kevin (president of Wolverine) had earlier said and put it as low as it would go on the side of the pan. Works fine, but the 1 and 2 hour temps were averaged from bottom of pan, close and far sides from heater, and were (1 hr, 60 and 70 degrees; 2 hr, 70 and 89 degrees). After 8 hours that discrepency seems to be gone (feeling only by hand). Only drawback to the side mount is that the pan gets pretty hot above the heater and oil pool. I estimate the oil pool extends about 1/2 inch above the heater and measured the pan surface at 125 to 130 degrees above that. I don't believe that would hurt anything, though.

I am pleased with the performance of the pad, but would prefer a bottom mount. If I had it to do over (and had the extra money) I would buy two 125 watt (3" round heaters) and install them on the bottom (I think it they would fit as two separates). Plugging in would not be a problem as a 3-foot extension cord can be gotten with a multiple plugs. I had to use a 3 foot extension as the 5 foot cord that came with it was too short. Better anyway because the heavier cord gets routed throught the grille area.

Other possibility is a different company has a similar heater that is flexible so that presumably you can mount it on the rounded part along the bottom and side: http://www.etipinc.com/universal.asp?cat=maint

If you are really cold up there in MN you might want the block and pan heater, but the pan heater alone should suffice. Just tell Kevin what you have, but make sure you have a good sized, rust free mounting area. Also I did not remove the paint as it says to do but just scuffed up the paint (Kevin allowed this).

 

Correction, my temp gauge when cold actually sits right on the C tick mark. Also, this is not a start and fly operation. The oil is hot and flows nicely, but the water jacket still needs to warm up, so some moderate driving is still important before you floor it to merge onto the freeway. I am going to heat it up and then start it see if the colder block removes much heat during the first couple minutes. Hopefully I can report back by next week. (I kinda told the wife that I was all done laying under the truck for a while so I have to cool it. She is a bit miffed at all this testing.)

Here are a few sites that discuss the Wolverine heater I bought (#16):

http://www.engine-oil-heaters.com/

This site has some other diagrams, but the product listing has size errors
http://www.janyce.com/+wolver/heat.html

also FAQs http://www.dieselproducts.com/wolverine/wolverine_qanda.html

 

Well I went and ordered the Wolverine Model 16 this evening. Kevin told me that the technology was from a company that developed it for airplane engines and they got the license to distribute it for automobiles. He also told me some info from a test they did with big diesel engines in Wisconsin a while back. Sounded pretty good, very similar to what Paul was describing with his heater. At first it didn't seem like any of the available models were going to work for me and Kevin had some very creative ideas to make some custom options work for my truck until I got my head out of my A$% and figured out I was screwed up and the model 16 was going to work perfect on my truck. Should get it soon. Can't wait to put it on.

 

>Well I went and ordered the Wolverine Model 16 this evening.
> Kevin told me that the technology was from a company that
>developed it for airplane engines and they got the license
>to distribute it for automobiles.

Some of the websites I pulled up for oil pan heaters were avaition.

What engine do you have? Where do you plan to mount the #16--side or bottom of pan?

What region do you live in?

I think if I were in Alaska I would have both pan and block heaters, but for the Detroit area the pan heater is generally sufficient. A block heater would be nice, but I understand, costly to run.

Sunday am it was 40 F degrees. I fired up the truck and slid under and put my hands on the pan. After about 1 to 1.5 minutes I could feel cold on the front of the oil sump of the pan, but the bottom and sides still felt warm. I suspect 1) that the front of the sump being farthest from the heater is cooler and 2) the cold block cools the oil and the first returning oil drains down cold, mostly into the front of the pan. The rest of the pan remained warm, so if one were driving it would mix and you would not have a cold spot. Today it was 25 degrees F and I fired it up and just put my hand on the filter (ground was wet). The filter got warm right away (as would be expected) and remained warm, which tells me that even if the initial oil is draining back cold, there is enough warm to keep feeding the engine warm oil. I want to try the filter one again in case I did not wait long enough.

Again, I am happy with the function of this device, but wish I had it on the bottom of the pan. That may be my brain working overtime as it probably would not make much difference, side or bottom.

 

>What engine do you have? Where do you plan to mount the
>#16--side or bottom of pan?


>I have an '01 SD F250 5.4L. It looks like I am going to be able to mount it to the bottom of the pan just fine, there is no stamping or emblems etc, and there is just a slight rounded curve to it. Kevin said the pad could wrap around a coffee can ok and this isn't curved wuite that much.

>What region do you live in?

I am in Prior Lake, MN. Last suburb SW of the MPLS/St. Paul metro, doesn't get quite as cold here as farther north, but we do see below zero for a little bit every year.
>
>I think if I were in Alaska I would have both pan and block
>heaters, but for the Detroit area the pan heater is
>generally sufficient. A block heater would be nice, but I
>understand, costly to run.

I'm not sure a block heater would be necessary, he was telling me about a test they did in Wisconsin with diesel engines, (can't remember what exactly they were as I was busy with something else and having my second beer at the same time I was talking to him). They put them in a below zero freezer on a thursday, let them sit until sunday and then on sunday night they hooked up the oil heater (not the 16, but the equivalent in pan heater designed for the larger diesel?) Anyway, by monday morning they were measuring temps at the cylinder head at 50 some degrees and the oil over 100 degrees. He also said that the heaters that insert through the drainplug they make at half the wattage that they would normally require for the stick on heaters and get the same results. Not having to go through the pan and also not having to heat the cold air under the vehicle saves a lot of energy.

The heater should show up today, can't wait to put it on.

 

>I'm not sure a block heater would be necessary,

They do say that, and I am not sure what my block temp is but the water jacket still has to warm up. Some very preliminary tests (one each) at the same temperature outside indicated 1.3 miles with cold engine to get temp needle to bottom of normal range, and 0.9 miles with pan heater heated engine for the same. Again the sample size is too small for accurate results.

Anyway, I'll be pleased to hear your results. I thought about wraping mine around the edge, but the cord attachment was at the bend and would certainly not bend. I will say that installation is pretty much a piece of cake. Wiped of the pan really good with hot water and then hosed and wiped it several times with electrical contact cleaner that said "leaves no residue."