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Dipstick oil heater?

2545 Views 25 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  jjsagain, 
aaron7
I've heard of them for old cars, but can I get one for my 89 SR5? I'd really like to heat the oil than starting it dry on negative temperature days!
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Flashmn
You arent starting dry in any case, oil sticks on surfaces. If you have light enough oil it will flow even if temperature is low.
Blockheater is more useful, it heats up the water.
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aaron7
Well, I have 10w30, and overnight the oil settles to the pan, so in the morning it is a dry start, not to mention like this morning when I started my car it was -4 degrees farenheight!
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Flashmn
Wrong. Not all of the oil settles in the oilpan. Alot of it is still in the head and other parts of the engine, and it will stay there.

IF the engine would dry during the night, it would quicky become very loose as friction between metals would wear it out very fast.

10W- oils are good to -18C
5W are used to -30ishC
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aaron7
Oh... hmm. I guess I'll have to figure out what sounds like a leaf in the belt when it's very cold then...
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Flashmn
Might be the idlerpulley bearing, etc.
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9
I once saw a magnetic heater you could stick on your oilpan,
i do think cold oil effects the engine, and do think it would be beneficial
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D
Warming the oil just makes it drain down faster. But it helps it flow better on start-up too. Dipstick heaters have/had a reputation for cooking the oil however. They make block heaters that screw into your engine which are much better.
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REN69
Flashmn said:
Wrong. Not all of the oil settles in the oilpan. Alot of it is still in the head and other parts of the engine, and it will stay there.

IF the engine would dry during the night, it would quicky become very loose as friction between metals would wear it out very fast.

10W- oils are good to -18C
5W are used to -30ishC
Click to expand...
What do you mean by "good" to -18C?? is that how cold you can use them and then it becomes too thick?
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Flashmn
-18C is the limit for 10W then it becomes grease. If temps go lower, go for 5W.

I once saw a magnetic heater you could stick on your oilpan,
Click to expand...
And military trucks here have a holder for a gas blowtorch to heat the oilpan.
But seriously, from my experience, the only working device is the block heater.
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T
you can get dipstick heaters that are like 200W..... IIRC the ones i sell at my work are flexible enough for a 4afe/4age
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B
I too prefer a heater that heats the water, either a freezeplug deal or inline radiator hose heater. That way your oil AND the darned heater are kept warm
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Flashmn
The one that goes to the freezeplug is better than the hose one.
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T
Flashmn said:
The one that goes to the freezeplug is better than the hose one.
Click to expand...
those are usually higher wattages as well
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Flashmn
I havent checked, I only do the freezeplug ones.
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mr.kenny
Just run Mobil 1 full synthetic and forget about it. You won't be having this discussion.

Synthetics don't change viscosities much & flow well at all temperature ranges we are talking about. :whatwhat:
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Flashmn
Wrong, a blockheater will always help reduce wear to the engine. cold engine has loose tolerances, oils are stiffer, plus the thermal shock in the cylinder when you start. If you want to keep your car and have a problemfree future with it, then definately get a blockheater or a webasto/eberspacher.
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mr.kenny
I see you live in Finland. It is very cold there I am told. A block heater is probably widely used in Finland; but I wouldn't know. In the U.S. it doesn't get nearly as cold as Finland, so you rarely see block heaters being used except on diesels and in Alaska.
In a perfect world engines would be warm and last forever; but we live in the USA.
Usually synthetics are all we need on aircraft, high performance engines & anything we want to start in the winter.:D
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Flashmn
Northern states get as cold, we start using blockheaters when its 0C some even give a 30min sequence when its below +5C.

Aircraft still use mineral oil mostly, and as an ex-pilot, I can tell you, they get overhauled very often, unlike cars which you dont overhaul until 200000miles. :lol:
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D
mr.kenny said:
I see you live in Finland. It is very cold there I am told. A block heater is probably widely used in Finland; but I wouldn't know. In the U.S. it doesn't get nearly as cold as Finland, so you rarely see block heaters being used except on diesels and in Alaska.
In a perfect world engines would be warm and last forever; but we live in the USA.
Usually synthetics are all we need on aircraft, high performance engines & anything we want to start in the winter.:D
Click to expand...
The average temperature of Vermont is quite a bit colder than the average temperature of Anchorage, Alaska.

If you're really worried about dry startups, get one of those electric oil priming pumps. It gets your oil pressure up to spec when you turn the key to on, so that when you start the engine you already have full pressure and don't have to wait for the pump to build it.

-Doc
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