Auxiliary engine heaters, thoughts???

[TDS-MN]

Hey All, especially those of you that are also living in the colder areas,

I've been wanting to add an auxiliary heater / block heater to the truck, since it parks outside and gets plenty cold sometimes.

There are so many options out there. Freeze-plug heaters, in-line radiator hose heaters and circulation pump heaters that will warm the anti-freeze. Also dipstick heaters, and magnet-mount heaters that you can attach to the outside of the oil pan to heat the oil.

Who's got experience with the various types and has opinions on the pros and cons of each?

I had a circulation type on an old Suburban I had for a couple years. Would warm the antifreeze and also had a small pump to circulate the heated fluid thru the coolant passages, when it was plugged into the 120V AC at home. One plus of this one was, there was some heat right away, did not have to wait for the engine temp to come up for long.

My thoughts are that the warm antifreeze circulating thru the block also kept the oil somewhat warm, because that truck never struggled to turn over even when it was well below 0deg.

I've had a few cars that had the factory-installed block heaters, guessing they were just freeze-plug style. I have not yet tried the ones that focus heat on the oil/pan.

Noticed a local store had ALL of their varieties on sale this week. Would be a good time to make the purchase, but would like to know if I'm choosing the best option or not. Looking forward to hearing yoru thoughts.

 

[chulisohombre]

in alaska most have the inline heater hose circulater block heater.i also had a hot pack for the battery.never used the oil pan heater.i never had a problem starting my car unless i forgot to plug it in.i feel as you do that the oil should stay warm enough with the hot coolant runnin around the block.we also ran 5w30 in the winter to help the oil not sludge up.10w30 in summer.

 

[Garageman1212]

All the cars up here have factory block heaters and they are more than sufficient ive started cars in -45. The gensets ive worked on have to go to full load and rpm as soon as they start and so they have circulating block heaters that keep them almost at operating temperature, they work great. The oil pan heaters are the best for the engine cause cold oil is almost like mollassas it takes almost a minute to get up to the valvetrain. The warmer it is the thinner it is and the less time your engine runs without oil pressure. Battery blankets work too. Personally i would go with an circulating heater blows heat right away defrosts windows in no time. Any of them will work though.

 

[Thunder]

I always liked the circulating ones. Fairly Easy to install and you have heat when you start up the engine. Very nice when its below 0. They keep the oil warm enough.
The cons to the circulating ones is they use quite a bit of power.. But power consumption can be reduced by putting them on a timer to come on a few hours before you need to start the vehicle.
The soft plug heaters work good but can be a PIA to install if you cant get to the block where they are located. They also use quite a bit of power when plugged in all the time and should be on a timer too.
I have tried the magnetic/dipstick heaters but they just heat the oil. The coolant still stays cold. The pros of them is they dont use a lot of electricity. Some are thermostatically controlled too.

 

[TDS-MN]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I was leaning towards the circulating pump one again. Always felt as if it even kept the oil warm enough that the engine turned over pretty easily on the old truck. And I do like the ease of install. Guess that will be my next project.

 

[cabledawg]

I had an old van that had the circulating type and it worked great until the element fried. It caused a leak in the housing, which I didnt find out about until I was down the road. Not trying to deter you, but after a few years, you gotta keep an eye on 'em. A trick with the re-circ style is to leave the defrost vent open. I've been told (never tried it myself) it will keep your windsheild fairly ice/snow free while the block heater is on.

Right now I have the freeze plug style and they work great. Even in the coldest winter weather (nothing like -45, but we had sub-zero last year), they keep everything warm. The one in my wife's burb actually gets warm enough you can feel the warm coolant in the radiator after a few hours. Simple and easy to install. The cords are replacable as well.

 

[Seafarer76]

I've always used the freeze plug type. I bought a couple of the GM oem ones for my Blazer and Camaro. They aren't too hard to put in.

I never got the one installed in the Camaro, and now I live in New Mexico, so I have a spare still in the box.