engine heaters,blankets or...

[Lee4212]

I see many types of engine heaters to keep it warm in winter like freeze plug heaters,tank types that push warm coolant around,blankets,magnetic block/oil pan warmers. I'd like to get something but what's best and...what really works. We had a '76 & '78 riviera (back in the day) and both had tank types that worked very well.
I have an '05 base impala, 3/4 v/6 (she's a champ) and i'd like to help keep it warm this winter....Katz tank types or what. I'd probably would have to have my shop install the tank type unless it's easy enough to do at home. Many thanks for your thoughts !

 

[Linctex]

Oil pan heater first. That's the priority, everything else comes later.


"freeze plug" style block heaters are by far the next best kind - they immerse right in the cooling jacket of the block itself.

 

[demarpaint]

For easier cold starting an oil pan warmer wins in extreme cold, it mounts to the lowest part of the engine, the bottom of the oil pan and heat rises. For faster heat and window defrosting a block heater wins. I have both, I order my vehicles with a block heater and added a Wolverine oil pan warmer.

 

[JLTD]

+1 on the Wolverine brand. Though I have not yet used one, have done a LOT of research and reading - including member TiredTrucker's posts... who IIRC used 15w40 and a block heater. In Alaska.

 

[Garak]

You can also accomplish a lot by having a permanent mount, automatic battery charger. You want an engine to turn over rapidly in the winter, that'll do it.

 

[Rolla07]

I use 0w oil and installed my own block heater. Works great!

 

[WobblyElvis]

IMO
An oil pan heater is not going to be of much use. They are aprox 150 watts and a very inefficient as they mount externally. Any reasonable grade synthetic oil will flow well enough at the expected temperatures. Internal frost plug heaters are what I would look for. Stronger at aprox 450 watts each, and if you have the ability, you can put two into the engine. Use a timer to turn them on a couple hours before use, and you will have instant heat. Not all engines can except frost plug [block] heaters.

 

[Audios]

I put a Frost Heater in the TDI, its an inline coolant heater. Went right in the feed line to the oil cooler, and up into the head. Works great and warms the oil and coolant pretty quickly.

 

[Donald]

I had a freeze plug heater installed in my 1980 diesel VW Rabbit. Worked great. Engine started easily in cold of winter. Bonus was hot air in the cabin before I was down the drive.

 

[Danno]

The easiest by far to install is the Wolverine oil pan heater. Clean the oil pan, apply the heater pad, seal the edges with the RTV supplied, route the cable and good to go.
An effective is the block heater - in your climate, any 5w30 would be fine, assuming its in grade.
Because starts in the morning was "mission critical", I outfitted over 200 Ford Transit diesels with factory block heaters, oil pan heaters, and trickle chargers.
If they were plugged in, never had a no start in the morning.
Interesting thing is we would have the random CEL on the 3.2L Transits, due to the oil pan heater overheating the oil, and the sensors kicked it out as an exception.
Used 200 watt Wolverine heaters in a 10 liter sump iirc.

 

[StevieC]

I have used oil pan heaters in the past which can be a pain to stick to the pan with today's weird shaped pans, and then cord running is a pain as well to try an avoid anything that could cause damage both from the road debris and heat from the exhaust.

Honestly I find it easier to plug in the block heater on a timer set for 5 hours before I leave (today's block heaters aren't as strong as they used to be), and then use a 0W or 5W synthetic oil with a good MRV value or cold pour point if MRV isn't available. I have quite easy starting and heat within a few minutes this way even during the cold snaps we get during February where it can be quite frigid. I did this with my Journey and had nothing showing on the UOA but all 0's and 4ppm of Iron on a 9K run. (Not a full picture, but somewhat some evidence that this works)

To contrast this my dad's 2012 Caravan with 300K has used conventional its whole life without being plugged in and it's just fine so anything I do above that is more than enough. Keep in mind most people operate their vehicles this way so it has been engineered to take these cold temperatures with no assistance of being plugged in somehow.

 

[emg]

Our Forester came with a block heater and battery heater. I usually don't bother with them in the garage because that doesn't get too cold even when it's -30 outside, but I plug both in at work.

Block heater helps the engine turn over and get to a decent temperature faster, battery heater helps the starter get it going.

 

[littleant]

Originally Posted by demarpaint
For easier cold starting an oil pan warmer wins in extreme cold, it mounts to the lowest part of the engine, the bottom of the oil pan and heat rises. For faster heat and window defrosting a block heater wins. I have both, I order my vehicles with a block heater and added a Wolverine oil pan warmer.

Yes sir you are right. 40 below last winter. Oil pan heater on my 02 jeep for 1.5 hours pulled the dip stick and the oil was warm.