Do plug in oil heaters reduce startup wear?

[saaber1]

Heard that startup wear can be reduced using an engine oil pad heater. This one claims it raises oil temps 100 degrees F in 2 hours. Can't post website due to them not being a sponsor but you can google "oil heating pads" to find this one's or similar websites. Would these be effective? Seems like they would be.

 

[addyguy]

Anything that warms the oil at all will help w/starting the engine, and getting the oil circulating faster.

Not sure I'd trust that one to stay on the pan, if it is just attached w/adhesives, though!

 

[TallPaul]

I have had two oil pan heaters and they stay adhered nicely, but you need a clean surface, no rust and no indentations. I burned out my first one by running the oil too low (pad on side of pan because of bottom not a clean surface). But it worked great. Oil was around 60 70 F on a cold winter day. I left plugged in 24-7. With pan heater, the oil will cool significantly as it travels through the block, but still a lot easier than stone cold oil. The ideal situation would be a block heater via the cooling system and a pan heater. But for the price of the pads, not a bad deal.

If the pad raises oil temp 100 F in 2 hours, it sounds like the kind used by racers to pre warm the oil and not one that can be left on 24-7. Check out Wolverine oil pan heaters, once (maybe still) a site sponsor IIRC. I had 6 qt sump including filter and ran a 250 watt pad. I found with second pad that a 125 watt was adequate for 24-7 plug in.

 

[hr1940]

You may post a link to the home page of a product but not the order form. That way we can learn about other products and if you chose to order then look up the order form. Tall Paul is correct when he said you must have a clean surface for it to adhere nicely. Wolverine is no longer a sponsor but they make an excellant product.

 

[D189379]

I've used a pad heater and a block heater together, and dear god was it nice starting that thing in the dead of winter. It was -30C and it fired up like a warm day and started pumping warm air into the cab instantly.

 

[mxhdroom]

Absolutely. My block heater is plugged in at anything under -10 Celsius. If I forget it, the Sentra reminds me for the first 20 minutes or so by doing a darn fine impression of an old diesel.

Most of us up here in the GWN don't live without them.

G.

 

[saaber1]

I was reading the thread about startup wear https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/engine-start-up-wear-question.93897/

and what I took away from that was that much of the wear occurs until the parts of the engine reach operating temp. The pad heater company claims the heat rises and warms the whole engine including internal parts, f.e. from the FAQ on the site:

Q: Are the pistons included in the list of Heater INTERNAL components and if so what temperatures are they warmed to?
A: Pistons are generally warmed to 30°C (85°F) or so as governed by variables in engine type and design.

It doesn't say raises from what temp but I assume they mean it warms from a cold starting point such as -40F as used in this other statement from their site "RAISES Oil Temperature from -40°F(-40°C) to +160°F(71°C) in 1.5 hours"

So I was thinking if someone were really nutso about reducing wear, this heater could be used year round (except summer I suppose) and dramatically reduce the effect of wear until engine reaches startup temp. because much of the engine is already near operating temp. even in spring/fall.

Would be really interesting to get a "steady" baseline of UOAs on a particular motor and then run the heater "year round" and take more UOAs and compare. Has someone already done this possibly?

Here is the home page for that heating pad fyi http://www.padheaters.com/index.html

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: mxhdroom
Absolutely. My block heater is plugged in at anything under -10 Celsius. If I forget it, the Sentra reminds me for the first 20 minutes or so by doing a darn fine impression of an old diesel.

Most of us up here in the GWN don't live without them.

G.


Yessir, I believe most vehicles sold in Canada for the last 20 years came with a block heater.

 

[Greaser]

YES!

 

[Saturn_Fan]

There is also an opinion out there that oil pan heaters are bad for the oil. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Steve S]

Especially in freezing weather when a too thick oil is used ,warm oil is better in general but how long does a properly cared for engine last as is? I would use a syn oil before going through the plug the car in type of thing.

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: Saturn_Fan
There is also an opinion out there that oil pan heaters are bad for the oil. Any thoughts on that?
bad in what way?

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
and what I took away from that was that much of the wear occurs until the parts of the engine reach operating temp.


That's my current take on it, but there is a decent amount of support for the OIL TEMP being the real factor and not full thermal saturation of parts. That is, that the AW chemistry can't work due to being an (what's the term) endo-thermic reaction (??) in reformation. The apparent cause and effect is transparent though. Your oil temp is at normal operational temp when the engine is at full thermal saturation ..and that's where the unavoidable wear stops.

I would do something like this ........if I could get everyone to cooperate. Right.

 

[mxhdroom]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: mxhdroom
Absolutely. My block heater is plugged in at anything under -10 Celsius. If I forget it, the Sentra reminds me for the first 20 minutes or so by doing a darn fine impression of an old diesel.

Most of us up here in the GWN don't live without them.

G.


Yessir, I believe most vehicles sold in Canada for the last 20 years came with a block heater.


It depends on the manufacturer; some of them still consider it an extra-cost option.

G.

 

[mxhdroom]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
Especially in freezing weather when a too thick oil is used ,warm oil is better in general but how long does a properly cared for engine last as is? I would use a syn oil before going through the plug the car in type of thing.


Synthetic certainly helps, but I'm using Petro-Canada 5w30 Maximum with really good cold specs, in the Sentra and it still makes a huge difference if I plug it in. I think you'll find even those of us running full syn here plug our cars in anyway. I have an inline water heater and it not only keeps the block slightly warm, but means my heater pumps warm air faster, which is very important at -30

!

G.

 

[Steve S]

I would die if I was exposed to 0 f*

 

[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"

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: saaber1
The pad heater company claims the heat rises and warms the whole engine including internal parts, f.e. from the FAQ on the site:

Q: Are the pistons included in the list of Heater INTERNAL components and if so what temperatures are they warmed to?
A: Pistons are generally warmed to 30°C (85°F) or so as governed by variables in engine type and design.


Seems Wolverine also claimed it heated whole engine, but I don't buy it. With the 250 W pad I noticed the hood would have snow melted off where it was not backed by the support structure after sitting 12 hours during a snow of 1-2 inches. But if the engine heated up like the ad claims, then why when I first started the engine could I feel the pan and the cold returning oil coming back down.

My feeling is that you would have to be boiling the oil in the pan 24-7 to have the engine warm in winter. That would not be good merely from an energy use standpoint, let alone what it might do to your oil.

But the 250 w pad keeping the oil 70+F (I measure temp on outside of pan at sump), I don't see as being at all damaging to the oil, perhaps even good for it.

 

[pepper32]

I use the block, oil, transmission and battery heater. Using synthetic oil.

 

[gogozy]

i also wonder, is there any difference in term of wear, oil life, when using hot oil to heat cold engine, compare to having hot engine heating up cold oil. and would oil company engineer oil differently?