oil pan heater

[oilslick]

I picked up a 150 watt oil pan heating pad at napa for 33bucks,this thing is awesome I hope it lasts, you cannot even touch it when it is plugged in ! It came with a peel and stick adhesive on the back. Anybody have any experience with these? I had to do something in a hurry since it got cold here and I discovered all my truck has is a cord for a block heater!!! no heater just a bunch of brass freeze plugs
This afternoon I plugged it in for an hour and the oil on the dipstick felt lukewarm with air temp of 16F, tommorow morning I will run it a few hours and check temp again to see if it gets much warmer.

 

[ak diesel driver]

usually they are put on with silicone. It will help but is no substitute for a block heater

 

[Ratman]

Yep, they do help in the cold. Nothing like feeling the hair on the back of your neck standing on end while watching that oil pressure gauge "lazily" coming up to pressure, -listening to every rattle and knock... I will tell you this though, -they eventually come apart and need replaced. I've used them for years on my gassers, -even before I had my beloved 6.5. The last one I had on the 6.5 came apart on the freeway (I heard pieces hitting the bottomside of the truck), -luckily no shrapnel hit any cars behind me......:hihi: I usually get a couple years out of them before they come apart.

 

[Franko914]

usually they are put on with silicone. It will help but is no substitute for a block heater

For the stick-on type oil pan heater to last longer, you should "pot" the edges, i.e., run a generouse bead of high quality high heat silicone around the edges of the heater-to the oil pan. This will help seal the edges from the elements and prevent water/debris from getting in between the heater and oil pan surfaces.

 

[Acesneights1]

Hmmm...This could be a good idea for my diesel skid steer. It has a Deutz, can't use a block heater.

 

[JiFaire]

BBQ Charcoal starter, Kenny ...



Make a squeeze-bracket to hold it about 1/2" from the surface of the oil pan, shroud it in a bit with steel sheeting and you got yourself an Air-Cooled Block Heater. Don't put it right on the pan, don't shroud it completely in... leave room for air circulation. You don't want to boil your oil.

These are basically what we used to put on the old VW Beetles

 

[btfarm]

Winter of '76-'77, I had a '66 Chevy van parked outside. Brutally cold winter. Kept a trouble light under the engine cover overnight. I was leaving for work around 0500. When we had a 3 day spell of nights that hit -20 I went out at 0400 and lit a small charcoal fire in a trash can lid to slide under the trans that was filled with 140w due to it's poor condition. Then we got huge snows so I banked the snow up on 3 sides real deep. Gave me a nice wind break to help keep the light bulb heat in.
Those were the days 'eh?

 

[Franko914]

Winter of '76-'77, I had a '66 Chevy van parked outside. Brutally cold winter. Kept a trouble light under the engine cover overnight. I was leaving for work around 0500. When we had a 3 day spell of nights that hit -20 I went out at 0400 and lit a small charcoal fire in a trash can lid to slide under the trans that was filled with 140w due to it's poor condition. Then we got huge snows so I banked the snow up on 3 sides real deep. Gave me a nice wind break to help keep the light bulb heat in.
Those were the days 'eh?

Still here... when barbecue season is over, I pick up a couple of the throw-away charcoal-in-a-tray from the local CVS/RiteAide for "emergency" situations as you described. I place it on top of a long handle shovel to be able to reach easily under the truck. Fire extinguisher handy, of course.

 

[Acesneights1]

Just picked up a NAPA magnetic one today. 39$ for 250 watt.