Do plug in oil heaters reduce startup wear?

[Gary Allan]

Well, if you knew that your oil was always going to be held to some higher temp ..I imagine that you wouldn't have to factor moisture and acid formation into the blending. Figure it this way, it would always be hot oil, with bouts of cold mixed in for engine warm up.

The next evolution is to put a timer on your preluber and circulate the heated oil periodically to displace the cold oil in the gallery. Add a battery minder to your "gang" plug (for all the warmers) and do a happy dance!!

 

[TallPaul]

Best is a heated garage. Unfortunately you can't get that on both ends of your typical commute.

 

[Greaser]

Originally Posted By: pepper32
I use the block, oil, transmission and battery heater. Using synthetic oil.
Thats good enough for me considering where you live...I like Sarah Palin...she's my perfect woman

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: Canawler
Originally Posted By: Steve S
I would die if I was exposed to 0 f*


Remember... "It's not the cold, it's the wind chill that gets you"
Cold sucks big time to me. Cold is below 55*f!!!

 

[Saturn_Fan]

I don't like heated garages in winter. Salted roads cover underbody of car, car sits in a toasty warm garage, rust growth is accelerated.

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: Saturn_Fan
I don't like heated garages in winter. Salted roads cover underbody of car, car sits in a toasty warm garage, rust growth is accelerated.
One problem's solution, another problem does generate.

 

[Gary Allan]

Universal Law.

 

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Originally Posted By: Saturn_Fan
I don't like heated garages in winter. Salted roads cover underbody of car, car sits in a toasty warm garage, rust growth is accelerated.
One problem's solution, another problem does generate.



Unless you're undercoated...


And up here block heaters are optional, but just about 99% of dealers will not sell you the vehicle without it...

 

[saaber1]

Follow up info. FYI. Talked to Kevin at Wolverine, the outfit that makes the pad heaters and he said the 125 watt "model 9" draws only 1.1 amps. So any old outdoor extension cord would do, don't need the heavy duty ones.

Also I asked him about running it with no external thermostat in fall, spring. He said the rule of thumb is when you start to need to wear a jacket in the morning is the time to start using it.

I asked him about what if someone plugged it in in the summer overnight. He felt that it would be fine to use it as long as the whether is about 70 degrees or colder or you can use a timer to reduce the overall heating time (in other words use a timer for the summer if you use it at all). This sounds very reasonable to me.

So it seems to me a person could use it in fall/spring in addition to winter to get some "bonus" startup wear reduction. Or if you were really anal you could use it in the summer with a timer but that might be going overboard. Cost is around $50 for the 125 watt ones. I would consider adding this and looking for changes in used oil analysis but I don't have enough stable "baseline" used oil analysis to get a fair comparison.

 

[TallPaul]

If you're like me there will be the occasional times when you forget to unplug and you'll see the extension cord spiraling out the driveway, so make sure you have a plug in that is easy to come out without messing up the plug.