Engine heaters

[eco]

The kind that is magnetic and mounts where ever you want it to....oil pan, block etc.

Anyone else use one?

They are good for peace of mind during the cold months and if nothing else, warm motor oil at start up is a good thing. Quick and easy placement and removal and these things put out an amazing amount of heat.

 

[smokey]

I have used them on the tractors. I prefer the block heaters that heat the water that way you have a warm truck instant heat and it's not scortching your oil. just plug the cord in and in the morning unplug it, no crawling under the truck to unplug and remove it.

 

[eco]

I have used them on the tractors. I prefer the block heaters that heat the water that way you have a warm truck instant heat and it's not scortching your oil. just plug the cord in and in the morning unplug it, no crawling under the truck to unplug and remove it.

Where does the block heater install?

I am new to heaters, but it seems that heating up the oil, oil pan etc. would radiate heat throuhout the motor over the course of several hours.

The oil would likely get no hotter than it does when the motor is running, so I cant imagine that the heater would scortch the oil so to speak.

 

[smokey]

the water block heaters mount in either the heater hose or in one of the freeze plug holes. I like the one in the hose myself easier to install and replace if they ever burn out.
Not sure if they scorch the oil but I have heard it isn't good for it, not sure if there is any truth to that.they also make a dipstick heater that works the same as the magnetic mount ones also.

 

[smokey]

here is a link to a coolant type heater.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/ZEROSTART-...RS/GP_2000837_N_111+10201+600001648_10101.jcw
They stock them here at the local parts stores.

 

[TexasNomad]

Wow must get cold were you guys live.

 

[eco]

Another thing I am wondering is if these heaters are made to be used as a long term preventative tool to keep the motor warm so that the coolant wont freeze and you can fire up a warm motor any time or if it is made to be used just for a couple hours prior to start up (be it a magnetic one or freeze plug one).

For the tractors did you use a magnet one? Did you leave them on all day / all night or just prior to start up?

 

[eco]

Wow must get cold were you guys live.

Not Alaska / Canada cold, but cold enough in the winter where extra heat helps.

 

[Brian_B]

Hmmm...too bad I can't make one of them work going down the highway in the 56. My temperature drops while driving and the heaters back then were not the best to begin with.

 

[smokey]

Used both on the tractors. the air cooled allis was the magnet and the water cooler farmalls where the coolant heaters. I kept both plugged in all winter so they were ready when needed.

 

[eco]

Brian_B - Could you block off part of the radiator with a sheet of plastic or something of the like?

Smokey - Did you keep the magnet heater on the oil pan? Did the heater burn off or otherwise damage engine paint? Did the heat seem to transfer throughout the motor?

 

[Brian_B]

Yes...that works eco. Just annoying sometimes.

 

[smokey]

the paint on the oil pan came off from it. It helped but never really seemed to trasfer heat over the motor just thinned the oil is all.

 

[mtflat]

We use the block heaters all the time (freeze plug variety) especially in the diesel. I prefer the water heater and keep it plugged in for days at a time if the truck doesn't move.

The flathead doesn't have freezeplugs so it's a moot point. I have been known to put a small ceramic heater under the hood next to the distributor or carburator for a couple of hours before trying to start it.

-30 F is hard on everything that has moving parts, including me.

 

[eco]

We use the block heaters all the time (freeze plug variety) especially in the diesel. I prefer the water heater and keep it plugged in for days at a time if the truck doesn't move.

The flathead doesn't have freezeplugs so it's a moot point. I have been known to put a small ceramic heater under the hood next to the distributor or carburator for a couple of hours before trying to start it.

-30 F is hard on everything that has moving parts, including me.

Negative 30....ouch! I don't often get anything below 30 above zero. But I still like the idea of a heater.

 

[Brian_B]

I saw it get to -10 here one time when I was about 17.

Nothing around here would start! I hung flood lights against all the oil pans (we had 3 vehicles at the time) and only my old torino would start that day. I guess it was worn pretty bad (over 100,000 miles) and was not as tight as mom and dads much newer vehicles.

 

[Fellro]

I like the core plug heaters for their effectiveness, but I guess the rad hose type might work ok, my dad used that type on his diesel, not sure it heats as well. The thing to remember about the coolant freezing is these heaters don't necessarily heat the coolant in the radiator. If you run the normal green ethylene glycol at a 50% mix, you are good to -34. Coldest I personally have seen was -36 in South Dakota, never quite that bad here in Iowa.
There is one more style, the tank-circulating style, more of a headache to hook up on automotive applications, but on tractors, they work well. They just go in the heater hose and will self circulate. The problem is that most automotive app's have the heater hose too high for it to work well, so you would have to pull a block drain and hook up a nipple and hose to set up those properly, then t into the heater hose. Many tractors have the hookups low enough to be effective. Our 684 doesn't have core plugs, so we had to use the tank circulating type. The magnetic heaters don't heat the engie good enough to get a diesel to fire, not sure if you were to put it directly to the block, but you have to find a clear spot of block flat enough to have direct contact. I do use them to preheat the hydraulic fluid, the pumps or something must be getting too worn, can't get the fluid to flow well below 10 degrees, so no steering, brakes, lift, anything hydraulic. So bad that the tractors don't even move, so apparently there is a fluid coupler in there somewhere... This has been affecting two different tractors... a 966 and an 856.

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

I saw it get to -10 here one time when I was about 17.

Nothing around here would start! I hung flood lights against all the oil pans (we had 3 vehicles at the time) and only my old torino would start that day. I guess it was worn pretty bad (over 100,000 miles) and was not as tight as mom and dads much newer vehicles.

If you're ever in that boat again, bring your battery inside and warm it up. Just put it in a laundry sink, add warm water to about an inch from the top, and repeat as the water cools. After the bat is warm, go install. You'll be amazed at how much more effective a battery is at 80 degrees instead of -25 (as I was confronted with).

*For those in college, substitute the bathtub in your apartment for the laundry sink, trust me from experience . My neighbors thought I was crazy, they thought differently when I drove away about an hour later.

 

[mtflat]

Negative 30....ouch! I don't often get anything below 30 above zero. But I still like the idea of a heater.

Yeah, we're supposed to get down to around that for a low this weekend. Blizzard conditions - blowing and drifting snow. Winter. The older I get the less fun it is.

 

[Lost]

I used the hose type for one I put in .But have had The ones on/in pans get oil dark quick .