Oil Pan Heater

Lembomw

Lembomw

Senior Member
Has anyone used one of those hot pads that stick to the bottom of the oil pan to heat up the oil?

I finished rebuilding my 30 Tudor this past August and am now doing my 65 Corvette. I need to move the Model A outside one nice days so I have room in the garage to work on the Corvette. I can push the Model A out of the garage but there is a little uphill grade so I can't push it back in. Starting and running the engine for the 30 seconds it takes to get it back in the garage is not doing the engine any good so I need to find a way keep the engine pre-heated while it is outside in the winter cold for 6 or 7 hours at a time.

The oil pan heater seems like the easiest way to do this.

Any downside to using an oil pan heater??
 
We use one on my son's race car engine. I do not believe I would buy one for just the one-time occurrence. If the engine is started and brought to temps every hour during the time it is outside, it won't hurt a thing. Also, a light viscosity oil in the pan won't hurt anything either. Do as the old timers and place a large-watt lightbulb trouble lamp next to the engine to help keep it warm. ;)
 
I live in Canada and we use magnetic block heaters and a lead light hung under the hood on older cars. On newer cars we have electronic block heaters and many of the parking meters and lots have electrical outlets. The simple once in a while method is hang a lead light, just as Brent says. Wayne
 
When my Dad had a garage in Northern Mich we used dip stick heaters.
They when in the dip stick hole and heated the oil. Not sure if they make them any more.
 
An un-pressured (bone stock) Model A engine has oil on the first turn of the crank. In this regard it's actually BETTER than any fully pressurized car! The engine wear comes from "no oil" upon start when you have metal-to-metal contact.

If you invest $30 or $35 in 0W-30 oil, it's thin enough even during an Alaska winter when you start it up. If you then use the hand crank and do a full turn before hitting the starter button, you basically eliminated 95% of the 90% wear a normal automobile engine experiences. It doesn't get better than this, save for a dry-sump system where you pressurize everything before starting the engine.
 
100-200 watt bulb under the pan as stated. Did this all the time on my Deere 750 Diesel in the winter for plowing back east. No plowing here tho....
 
In Northern Wisconsin in the 40's and 50's with a car stored outside in the winter we would put the trunk into the wind, put cardboard over the radiator to be removed when engine warmed up, and keep a 100 watt work light turned on near the engine.
 
brother hesekiel says, don't worry about lubrication. i would worry more about not driving the A to get it warm. i worked with a guy that had a cadillac that he dearly loved but drove very little. like you, he would push the car out of the garage but would pull it back in with a 110v. winch.
 
The short time the engine is run would not get the exhaust warm enough to vaporize any moisture ( water+rust) in the silencer would be a concern of mine.
 
I was thinking the same thing as Jim, winch it back in, or make an electric pusher like I used at the GM dealership in the 70's. It was a Ford starter and 2 large batteries for weight and power. It pushed the dead cars into the shop.

I wouldn't start the engine unless it runs for at least 30 minutes, and even more in real cold weather. My 1929 Chevy and 1963 Studebaker both have locked up engines because I only ran each for 15 minutes back in the 70's. 6 months later I went to start them and they were locked tight.
 
Google engine block heaters and you will see a variety of handy dandy engine block heaters with prices anywhere around $30 to $300. If you have a really nice car, antique or whatever, a block heater of your choice would be a good investment,eh ! And, you can use such heater over/over on any of you vehicles, if living in cold country, or you can move to lalaland where it never gets cold...not recommended tho !
Choice is good :)
 
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1. We used the light bulb trick many times. Mount a light socket on a piece of 1 by 4 in the bottom of a gallon tin can ... 100, 150 or 200 watt bulb depending upon how cold it was going to be.

Place the tin can on some wood so it is right up tight against the oil pan.

Worked well in Michigan and in the mountains here.

2. I use an old self propelled rotary mower with REAR wheel drive to push cars around ... push down on handle for more traction at the rear wheels.

The 1990's Honda is a good one as you can run it with blade clutch disengaged while pushing and the one I have has 3 forward speeds.
 
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Thank you all for your ideas. For the time being I have moved the Model A to the end of the garage by the door and will cover it with a big piece of 4 mill plastic when I am sanding or doing other work on the Corvette that would generate dust, fiberglass particles,etc so that they don't get on the paint or inside the car. Electric winch sounds like the way to handle this for the long term since I will most likely be working on the Corvette for a year or so and do not want to be doing many dozens of cold short starts to get it back in the garage. Doing that will cause a lot of harm to the new engine.

Again, thank you for your input

Mark
 
An oil heater upper is a total waste of time and money.

The piston.cylinder wall temp is the most critical on cold start ups.

Maybe if you are paranoid, put a hair dryer into the carb for your 30 second jaunts in and out of the garage.
 
adapt this to install in the lower radiator hose pipe. walla
 

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