Just curious what everyone here uses, if anything, in the winter, to warm their engines before they start. I am in the Chicago area, and it isn't really needed exccept for maybe 2-3 weeks, but when I travel to MN in the winter I don't think you can avoid needing something a little extra to help your truck out, or risk it not starting. When it is -20 out it just sucks.

I have been using a 250 Watt Heating pad on the bottom of my oil pan, plug it in on a timer 3 hours before work and when I go out to the truck in the morning, the oil is nice and warm and a goof portion of the block. My logic behind this was that having warm oil allows it to flow better and heats the block somewhat from the bottom up. The only other heaters they really have are coolant pumps and dipstick heaters.

Really just curious what all of you use. Thanks.

 

When I am at home, Mountains in Md, temps dropcan get to 18-20 below. When it gets below I just put a floodlight close to block,shining on pan works great. Another tip on colod starting. If it is a no start on really cold days dont waste battery. Pull two plugs and put em in your pocket and go inside for a cup of what ever. Only need to do this for a couple of minutes. (Learned this one in Mountains running cold weather starts.Of course we learned after we made our own super battery, And left the wrecker in the bay charging each nite). LOL after learning this one we woulod pulla couple plugs, tell the owner we should get in wrecker to warm up. After a few min reinstall the plugs and crank from the down vehicle battery.

 

block heater, my first winter tho so its time to try her out, so far (10-15 degrees above 0F) started right up but midwest can be harsh lol

 

My 94 Dakota is equipped with a block heater. I tried plugging it in this winter, and much to my surprise, when I went to start it up I put the key in the ignition and was granted with a surprise shock. For some reason the AC was travelling up into the metal key ring. No idea why, but mine has a block heater

 

They make block heaters that go in place of a freeze plug... All our rigs here have them.. including my ram.(montana gets a little on the chilly side....lol)

 

have any of you guys seen our used one that you put into the dipstick, you plug it in and put it in where the dipstick goes and heats up your oil and does a couple of other little things, its only around $15

 

i've been looking into this too.. trying to find the best/most affordable option.
what types have you guys had experience with and brands???

 

I've got a Katz (IIRC) coolant heater from NAPA that guys in the lower radiator hose. Not too expensive and has been working well for 3 years.

 

that's a good question up for opinions... better to heat the oil, the coolent or the metal block???

 

My vote is for block because of the spark plug thing I mentioned earlier. Also heating the block will transfer to all a slight bit. Second is oil since it sits in the bottom of the case. Third would be coolant simply because Ive tried it years ago and the result was faster cabin heat, didnt seem to help cold cranking.