Dead block heater

[dieselsmoke]

I had just put in a new block heater into my 1994 1.9 jetta and the stupid thing is dead. It is a pain to change them since the antifreeze has to be drained. Is it better to use one of those oil pan heaters instead or is it not as good as a block heater???

[rallydiesel]

Block heater is better. I have a oil pan heater on my tdi and my car has to work to start at -40C. My IDI with a block heater starts no problem at -40C when plugged in. Also, the block heater only takes an hour to heat the block. If the block is ice cold and you have an oil pan heater, it can take 8 hours to get it warm enough to start. This is at -40C or colder mind you.

[dieselsmoke]

are you running synthetic oil in your car? Once my new engine breaks in I will be switching over to synthetic and have heard it makes the car alot easier to start in the cold weather. Is it true that all of the 2004 and up tdi only use oil pan heaters and not block heaters??

[rallydiesel]

The tdi has synthetic and the idi has 15w40 conventional. I used to use 0w40 syn in the idi. I find the 15w40 works just fine, even in our harsh winters, as long as it's plugged in. Yeah, I don't think the 2004 and up tdi's have freeze plugs that will fit a normal block heater. You could buy something called a Frost heater, which is a high output coolant heater. Unfortunately it goes between the rad and the thermostat, so it won't heat the block that great since the thermostat will probably still be closed for a while.

[rallydiesel]

Here's a pic of the backside of a brm engine. bew would be similar. No freeze plugs to be seen.

[tSoG-84bit]

for the record, when talking about -40 degrees, it's unnecessary to define whether you are talking about F or C, because they reach -40 at the same temperature.   on topic: block heater is the way to go, but if you don't mind using a lil more electric, a pan heater doesn't hurt either...

[dieselsmoke]

what does the coolant heater look like for the 2004 up tdi engines since they don't have frost plugs? After thinking about it I thought that it would be more important to heat the oil than the coolant since warm oil would allow your car to start easier and have less cold start wear on the engine, the coolant being heated would get you heat faster in the car but the oil would still be cold and not flowing as well correct? So is vw using the oil pan heaters on the new cars or some kind of coolant heater??

[rallydiesel]

VW is using neither. It's the dealers that are putting on the heaters. Some dealers use the oil pan heater and some the coolant heater. Here's a link to the most popular coolant heater.

http://www.frostheater.com/

[Henchman]

Why not just get one of those magnetic block heater and stick it on the back of the block, near where the exiting one is?  It may take a little longer to heat up?

Ian

[madrogers]

on my 2000 tdi i installed a raidant block heater.a Temro parts # 3400008, it is a 300 watt heater 3 inchs by 7 inches  and made a littel bracket and bolted it  up to the back side of engine above the l/s diveshaft It works great (look at the pic in per post it fits on that flat peice of engine block on the l/s side)

[Vincent Waldon]

Here's a northern Canadian's perspective, FWIW:

A block heater is probably the best combination of effective heat and energy usage.. 'cause it heats the block directly thru the block's coolant.  400-600 watts on average... if you're really concerned you can run a couple since there are three frost plugs to chose from... assuming you have a non-TDI engine. They should last for decades... so the fact that you've been thru two in two years is surprising.  Are you sure it's the heater again this time and not the cord?  

Second best (energy-use wise at least) is a convection coolant heater...  on VWs generally installed in the lower oil cooler line since it's nice and low and not blocked by the t-stat like the lower rad hose is.  This is what we TDI folks do, since our blocks have no frost plugs.  750-1000 watts... the nice feature is that you get warm air out of the heater almost immediately.  Terry at Frostheater.com makes a drop-in kit for each specific TDI engine  with exactly the right molded hoses, laser cut bracket, etc... very clean install.  You can get the raw heater from your FRAPs as well... Phillips/Tremro seems to be be brand of choice.  CT has 'em listed as a "block heater cord" on their computer which causes problems.

Third best imho is an oil pan heater... great to have warm oil but the entire rest of the engine is cold until the engine actually starts and circulates the warm oil.  And you want the engine warm for easier starts, right?  They tend to be pretty underpowered too... 200-300 watts, and sometimes fall off as the glue ages.  VW will generally apply these on TDIs when pressed, although there's an OEM coolant heater you can insist upon.

Worst is the dipstick heater... all of the disadvantages of an oil pan heater and even less heat.  

[dieselsmoke]

I am almost 99% sure it is the block heater. Which is weird since those things hardly ever go. I metered the cord by using an ohm meter at the end of the plug (two prongs) and got an open instead of getting close to 0 ohms. I unplugged the cord from the block heater itself and metered each end of the cord and got close to 0 ohms which means the cord is good. I guess the quality of these block heaters has gone done over the years...maybe made in china?

[Powered by Spearco]

Jonathan, wheres my money!!!

[rabbitman]

Jonathan, wheres my money!!!

I think I read a thread about someone not shipping stuff out??

[iHasaBucket]

since this thread has been dead for a min, i'm pretty sure this isn;t going to be considered hi-jacking, but what do you guys think about woverine pan heaters? i live in WI where the winter temps can dip pretty bitterly cold. unfortunately i have to drive my '85 TD this winter w/ no block heater and cold starts have been quite an issue. I just switched to 10w-40 from 15w-40 so hopefully that helps a little, but I feel like I need to do more. I was looking at getting a pan heater, but i have a few questions about reliability and use. First off, how often does one have to be replaced? I don't intend on driving this car every winter, but in the case that i have to, i would like the heater to be in working condition. Second, how long before starting the car should I be plugging the thing in for? I don't want to burn the oil by having it heat a concentrated spot for too long. I 've heard anywhere from 15 min to an hour or so before hand. thanks for the help