Oil pan heater?

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As I'm about to run bypass filtration shortly I was thinking of investing in an oil pan heater to keep the oil as fluid as possible on cold mornings.

What is the verdict on them and which ones would you recommend?
 
Yes Wolverine brand my neighbor has one on his diesel truck he installed when the stock engine heater was not working as advertised. He has no issues with the Wolverine heater works quite well.
 
Used Temro oil pan heaters when I use to work in Sioux Lookout, Ontario and worked great. Some cold fronts would bring the temps down to -45C for weeks at a time.:)
 
I used Kats 100w on an Expedition oil and 100w on the trans pan, they worked great and never loosened or came off. I did clean the pan well and put a bead of high temp silicone around them, the truck still has them and still working 8 years on so they last.
On trans pans that don't have a large capacity like a small fwd car I would use the 50w.
 
Will they work on an aluminum oil pan? I always assumed the extra thickness of aluminum and the adhesive would make it not effective.

Was always curious about that. My Focus had an aluminum pan.
 
My Journey has a steel pan and one I might need to replace soon. Really disappointed that at just 2 years the edges are already rusting. I keep them well coated with bar/chain type thick anti-rust spray but its location makes it susceptible to lots of moisture.
frown.gif
 
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Many cars , the bottom of the oil pan is pretty low . Or , at least compared to other parts of the under side of the car .

How do you prevent the heater from being damaged / knocked off ? Maybe putting it on the side , if that is feasible ?

Smae question about transmission pans .

Thanks , :)
 
Mine isn't below the front structural cross member by much.

It's stuck to the pan with adhesive and it has a pretty tough outer jacket it looks like.

Also it can be stuck to the side of the pan if there is enough room instead of the bottom. (Can't do this in my case).
 
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Also was installing the 250w on the diesel Transits with 10 liter oil pans. Would occasionally get a check engine light on random trucks - oil too hot, out of spec reading.
I would go 1 step lower in wattage.

Just my opinion/experience of course.
 
Why not 0w-X oil, and a block heater? It's not as vulnerable as something stuck on the bottom/side of an oil pan. It's been a bunch of years since I've used one, but my Jeep CJ-7 never hesitated to start at -25 to -40F during my two winters in Fairbanks. A battery blanket kept starting energetic at those temps, too.
 
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I use the 5w instead of a 0w because of the requirements of Dodge VVT system. Also with the block heater plugged in for minimum of 5 hours the oil temperature is still only just above current outdoor temperature.
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I use the 5w instead of a 0w because of the requirements of Dodge VVT system.


What? You need to explain your thought process here. There are plenty of Chrysler approved 0w-20's on the market. VVT systems are NOT that sensitive.
 
Hey StevieC,

If you're north of Barrie Ontario, then I'd do the heaters for sure, OR use full synthetic oil, which I changed over to.

I put my dino oil in a cup and a second cup of full synthetic in the freezer and then checked the viscosity after 2 hours,
wow! was the dino oil stiff! The synthetic was still runny! I'll never go back. At this point a heater is no longer needed!

I also looked at bypass filtering, but there are draw backs, more dry start, can't get out ALL the old oil out during an OC,
so I gave up on that and used a pair of FilterMags, oil stays clean for 5-6 months after an OC, better then I could have hoped with a bypass filter!

OIL FILTERING: FULL FLOW and BY - PASS
https://app.box.com/s/m8nyfg0we1oq9o2s3qwgsj62f3z3422d


FILTERMAG vs HOMEBREW
https://app.box.com/s/uxvu8dmscf5wcgftutdm0ejqwgn86tw7
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I use the 5w instead of a 0w because of the requirements of Dodge VVT system.


What? You need to explain your thought process here. There are plenty of Chrysler approved 0w-20's on the market. VVT systems are NOT that sensitive.


I was told by Chrysler when I asked that it should be a 5w20 and not a 0w20. I explained about the what the number meant and flow should have no bearing on this requirement and was told that the engine operates best with 5w20 not 0w20. I even wrote to FCA Canada and requested an answer from the engineers not a form response. I will go through my e-mail when I get home and see if I still have it.

FWIW my neighbour was told the same thing with his new Ram truck. (V8 Gasoline)
 
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