$60 Oil Pan heater. Perfect or waste?? Canadas COLD Yo!

[CanuckQx4]

Ive never drivin my Qx4 in the snow yet and am not looking forward to it. We get down to -20 most morning and would it not be benficial at all to have a near warm engine?? My car has a good battery but I dont know if the oil actually hates being that cold etc..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Engine-H ... 334a8e2596

I have a few extra yellow top batteries in the rear of my car so this 12V 150wat stick on oil pan heater looked pretty nice. I figure I can simply wire it to a toggle switch and turn it on when I leave the the car overnight.... It said there 250watt version has a 20amp current draw...

Would it do its job?? Is its job worthwhile??

What do you guys think??

[Jesda]

Using a synthetic oil seems like it would provide the same advantage in extremely cold weather.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

You don't have a block heater?

[CanuckQx4]

no

[PEZi]

Using a synthetic oil seems like it would provide the same advantage in extremely cold weather.

^ this

[CanuckQx4]

Not switching to synthetic fluids @ 120k miles

[PEZi]

nothing wrong with switching at that mileage.... switching BACK to regular oil after going synthetic is where problems arise

[CanuckQx4]

ya not interested in that

Just didnt know if the oil got cold enough overnight that a heater stuck to the bottom of the oil pan run off my batteries would be worth the fire hazard lol

[Razi]

I switched to full synthetic at 150k miles, now I'm at 170k, no issues.

[Oatmealman]

My dad use to tell me stories of how they had to drain the oil from their semi engines to get them to start it'd get so cold and then once they got em running they'd dump the oil back in.Gotta love the freezing cold.

[themadscientist]

What would Hugh do?

[S13_love]

Honestly...that particular heater doesn't even look like it would even work that well.

Just didnt know if the oil got cold enough overnight that a heater stuck to the bottom of the oil pan run off my batteries would be worth the fire hazard lol

I highly doubt there would be any fire hazards unless that heater was installed in a horribly botched manner.

Like the other people have said...you really might want to consider switching to sythetic oil. It kind of does help...from what I've experienced personally. (Although I'll admit, when temperatures were lower then -20 degrees (F) ......it was still a pain in the f***ing a** to start up )

Just curious, do you park your QX4 outside or in a garage? Just thought I'd ask because if you park it inside a garage, then there's absolutely no need to buy a heater.

[hitbychance]

I have lived in Canada my entire life and have never needed a oil pan heater or block heater. You shouldn't either.

[Mazza]

I have lived in Canada my entire life and have never needed a oil pan heater or block heater. You shouldn't either.

Yeah, my dad grew up in Northern MN, and I've stayed a while there too, I am curious why you "need" a heater,

Its been a pain to start stuff sometimes, but nothing we couldn't handle. I really don't think its worth all the hassle or the money.

[elwesso]

From what Ive seen, most gasoline engines dont need engine block heaters unless you're like up by the north pole.. Also, engine block heaters arent meant to keep the engine "warm" in the sense that when you turn the car on, its fully warmed up.. it will just keep things warm enough so stuff doesnt freeze.

150 watts isnt very much either..

[PapaSmurf2k3]

150 watts isnt very much either..

My dad has actually used a 60 watt light bulb in his boat engine compartment to keep things from freezing before. It doesn't take much!

But yeah, OP, I'd definitely go with synthetic oil. What year is your car? I know all the automotive testing I've done at my job(s) benchmarks "little to no change in performance" to -40 degrees. Most of that was dealing with transmission components, but I would think the same applies now for just about everything.

BTW, transmission fluid at -40 degrees is thicker than cheap maple syrup.

[Solar_Runner]

Get a block heater, they work great. I used them while stationed in N Dakota (Minot). Your car will start much easier and have the added benifit of pumping warm air through your heater and defroster much sooner too.

[Dattebayo]

How about a brain pan heater? I think that might work better.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Get a block heater, they work great. I used them while stationed in N Dakota (Minot). Your car will start much easier and have the added benifit of pumping warm air through your heater and defroster much sooner too.

Who'd you upset to end up there?

Block heaters, or another setup that heats the coolant, seems like a pretty good idea. A heater that works! Bueno.

[alms24sebring]

I would guess that it would start up only slightly easier with halfway warm oil. I would be nervous about letting it run off the battery all night especially in very cold windy weather. I guess $60 synthetic every 5000mi is a safe option. I would also use the max of 70/30 coolant ratio.

I thought if you use syn. after regular oil it created seal problems, not after you switch back from syn. hmmm, good to know.