looking into a Wolverine pan heater...

[iHasaBucket]

what do you guys think about this brand? i live in WI where the winter temps can dip pretty bitterly cold. unfortunately i have to drive my '85 TD this winter 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

[Vincent Waldon]

Hi there... the oil pan / block heater / coolant heater conversation comes up a lot these days since winter is kicking butt,  so if you search a bit you're going to find a lot of recent chatter on the topic.

Here's one thread to get you started:

http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=24327.0

[rodpaslow]

Do you have a block heater?  This will do a bit of both, heat the coolant and the oil and do a much better job of helping the cold start issue tham just an oil heater.  We get down at times like now(Jan) to -40°.  I have two block heater, starts no problem that cold.

Time- block heater about 1 hr is enought to help alot.  2 hrs is better.  An oil pan heater-I used to have one in another car-but it was a pan heater that covered most of the bottom of the oil pan.  No problems with burning or hurting the oil.  I don't think it gets hot enough to do damage to oil.

[iHasaBucket]

no block heater. just been cycling the glow plugs and crossing my fingers. thanks for the quick replies, i'm pretty sure my question is answered, but i'll post in that thread and see what happens. thanks again!

[rabbitman]

Just go to your local auto parts store and get one, 100 or 150 watts would do it.

There's no such thing as cooking your oil with one, if that's all you had you could leave it plugged in all the time and it would help a lot.

Best would be a block heater AND oil pan heater. Depending of what wattage of stuff you get it could be 600-700 watts and then it would only take 1-2 hours at -20F to start pretty good.

At -54F mine with 200 watts of oil pan heater's and a 450w block heater takes a good 5-6 hours to start nice, at -30 3 hours will do and then it starts almost like in the summer.

[Smokey Eddy]

a block heater can be had for anywhere from $10-$40. They are just a kettle element and work fantastically for heating almost everything under the hood if left on long enough.
Great little device and ... relatively easy to install in car...
i suggest you get under it to do so and dont be afraid to use some strong language to get the frost plug out.

[R.O.R-2.0]

to get the soft plug out is cake.. drive it clear into the block, turn it sideways, pull out, install new plug, or block heater in this case.