Engine Heater Worth it?
 

I heard on the radio show car talk that these engine heaters, or oil pan heaters eliminate 95% of wear on the engine.

Since our Boxsters take forever to warm up the 9.2 quarts of oil, and the engine feels noticeably different when driving past 3000rpm after a cold start, I was thinking of buying one of these heaters.

However, I do not have a garage. It seems like all of these have to be plugged into an electrical cord. I cannot find one that works on a rechargable battery.

If I buy one, I would not want to leave it outside on an extension cord that anyone could use.

I heard of a few types. One is a magnet. You stick it to the oil pan so you have to get under the car to install and remove it every time.

The other is a dipstick with a heating element. But our dipsticks are very long so I doubt I would find one that fits.

Does anyone here use an engine heater or could recommend one for outdoor use?(no garage)

Block heaters are necessary in very cold climates. Cars left outdoors in northern ontario won't even turn over let alone start without one. The best kind are the ones that replace the frost plugs, not sure if that is an option on a Porsche but the magnetic ones help. Never heard of a rechargeable one.

One thing I forgot to mention is that you need a metalliic surface for the magnetic one to attach to. Our pans are aluminum and will not stick. Not sure if there is another spot to attach to.

Unless you are planning to move above the Arctic Circle, this is totally unnecessary. You will also not find a solar or battery operated one worth a damn, as these things require current (amperage) to create heat, so they are all 110/220 volts.

A block heater will also not warm the oil. To do that, you need a heating pad like device that surrounds the sump, and I have not seen one that would work on a Porsche style sump. Anything magnetic is not going to work as the sump is entirely aluminum.

You would be better off saving your money and letting the car warm up for a few min. when it is very cold, the oil cooler will warm up your oil in the process.

+1. If you're concerned with low temperature starts, switch to 0w-40 if you have not done so already.

I asked that same question about a block heater and I had my 2001 2.7l Box in an unheated garage with no block heater. It even started at -35C or about -30F with no problem.

As the above posters say 0W 40 synthetic oil (Mobil) works for me. Start it and warm it up, then a couple of minutes drive away gently to till it warms up. Surprisingly good winter driver till the snow gets too deep(more than 2-3 inches) and then it drags on the bottom of the car.

The old tried and true preheat method is a reflector lamp drop light with a 100w bulb rigged to a pole so you can easily shove it under the pan and remove it before driving. It provides a surprising amount of heat and if your car is garaged and out of the wind it may raise oil temps 20-30 degrees. This has been used by old timers in the bitter north for a long time. The downside is having a possible ignition source directly under your engine. It could even be put on a timer so it turns on a 3am and the oil temp is much warmer by 7am.

I am not worried about having trouble starting it.

On Car Talk, they said using an engine block heater or a blanket will make your engine last much longer because it reduces 95% of the wear on the engine.

And they said that most wear on the engine occurs at start up because the oil is thick and cold, so for a very short moment, the engine is running with no or little oil during that start up.

So this question is more for reliability purposes for long engine life. The coldest temperature I ever noticed in my area is 9 degrees Fahreinheit, which was winter of 2010 around the time I bought the car. The average winter peak temps are 20-30 degrees Fahreinheit.

The general aviation industry is a huge proponent of preheating. I will not an air cooled aviation engine below about 40df OAT unless it has been preheated.

Our cars run more sophisticated oils, but I am still not a fan of running the car with oil that's below 40df. This is only because my commute in starts with some fantastic back roads, and it is difficult to keep my foot out of it for the first 10 mins.

I disagree with Jeff in PA, I believe a block heater would most definitely heat you oil over time, just as a sump heater will heat the block over time.

Sump heaters are cheap and can be glued to the the pan for semi-permanent installation.

Heating your oil before start up can do nothing but good...

Greetings from just below the Arctic Circle. The block heaters most cars here have are in the 1000W range and are installed in a frost plug hole. Few cars will even start without one at -40 because the oil gets like tar. They absolutely warm the oil, at least to the point where the engine starts freely.

Install an accusump, then you can build oil pressure before even cranking the engine, summer or winter.