Who's running oil heaters?

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gamudslinger88

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Anyone running oil pan heaters? A few weeks ago I installed one on my 06 and I was not impressed. I got the proheat 512, installed on the bottom of the oil pan same as the kennedy diesel site shows. Temp got down to 45 at the lowest and engine coolant temp was 70 when I fired it up. Granted that's better that Temps at 45 but I guess I expected more. Warmup time was the same as not plugging it in and I didn't plug in my block heater (which is shorted because it throws the breaker when I plug it in). I just figured it would be a little warmer since it was plugged in warm and was on all night.

What kind of results are yall seeing?
 
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gamudslinger88

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I wouldn't use one either but I make a short drive during the week. I barely hit operating temp by the time I make it to work when it's 45 to 50 outside. I can't crank my truck and let it run for 10 or 20 minutes either (I stay in a camp ground during the week) so I'm stuck with short warm ups.
 
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Porno Joe

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Oct 11, 2010
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2 things

1- stick on heaters are the worst heaters you can have. for best results you need to be heating up the fluid- oil, coolant, etc.

2- duramax doesn't care about the short trips one bit. been driving short trips in my truck for years and its had no negative impact.
 
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gamudslinger88

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Porno Joe said:
2 things

1- stick on heaters are the worst heaters you can have. for best results you need to be heating up the fluid- oil, coolant, etc.

2- duramax doesn't care about the short trips one bit. been driving short trips in my truck for years and its had no negative impact.
Click to expand...
This is the stick on heater I'm talking about.
https://www.kennedydiesel.com/detail.cfm?ID=57

You say they do not care about being warmed up but it's hard on oil and everything else. Causes excessive moisture and fuel build up in the oil due to never being warmed up enough to burn it off. Short trips and never getting to operating temps are harder on engines than any other kind of driving. IMO warm fluids are critical to longevity of any engine. In fact I read recently that heat is what activates the friction reducers in engine oils.
 
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Porno Joe

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doesnt matter what brand stick on heater, a block heater is far superior to a magnetic oil heater. why do you think all the oems put block heaters in the trucks instead of magnetic heaters?

I'm pretty sure the whole "short trips" thing has been debated many times either on here or probably dmax forum. I'm sure there is validity in the argument that you need to get the oil hot to burn out impurities and prevent excessive wear, etc, but the short answer is I do not recall one instance where someone can point to short trips being the cause of any failure on the dmax engine.
 
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gamudslinger88

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They aren't the magnetic stick on heaters. It's the adhesive backed heating element pad that you permanently attach to the oil pan. I agree the 1000 watt block heaters are great but mine is shorted out I decided to try the proheat pad before draining the coolant again and replacing the element. My point of the thread is I expected more from it and curious what others have experienced with theirs.
 
Chevy1925

Chevy1925

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gamudslinger88 said:
They aren't the magnetic stick on heaters. It's the adhesive backed heating element pad that you permanently attach to the oil pan. I agree the 1000 watt block heaters are great but mine is shorted out I decided to try the proheat pad before draining the coolant again and replacing the element. My point of the thread is I expected more from it and curious what others have experienced with theirs.
Click to expand...

i believe his point is that your stick on heater is still exposed to the elements, as well as the steel around it. trying to keep those hot and then the ensuing oil inside hot is a very tall task to ask from that little heater. if you want results worth seeing, you need to put an element inside the oil its self to keep it warm
 
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gamudslinger88

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I understand your point. I wanted to make sure you knew which one I was actually talking about because proheat and some others make the magnetic stick on heaters and they aren't good at all. I also looked into the immersion heaters and that would be an option if I ever pull the pan for some reason. I'll just fix the block heater and use both heaters before it gets cold.
 
Minnesota DMAX

Minnesota DMAX

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I just bought a replacement cord for my block heater. plugs right into the element. Took 5 min to install and run the excessively long cord

02 CCSB efi live,head studs, S&B intake, 4" straight pipe to 5"
 
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gamudslinger88

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Minnesota DMAX said:
I just bought a replacement cord for my block heater. plugs right into the element. Took 5 min to install and run the excessively long cord

02 CCSB efi live,head studs, S&B intake, 4" straight pipe to 5"
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Mine trips the breaker when I plug it in. I hoped it was just the cord. I unplugged the cord from the element and plug it in and it doesn't trip. I read they had alot of issue with the cords. Maybe I'll buy both and try the cord before I replace the element.
 
malibu795

malibu795

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gamudslinger88 said:
Mine trips the breaker when I plug it in. I hoped it was just the cord. I unplugged the cord from the element and plug it in and it doesn't trip. I read they had alot of issue with the cords. Maybe I'll buy both and try the cord before I replace the element.
Click to expand...

The block heater is 15A @120v long cord need 12-10gauge and a 20a breaker length equals resistance
 
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gamudslinger88

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Running the same 10 gauge extention cord. The cord i. Referring to is the one that plugs I to the element with a male plug end. Sorry I reread and it was confusing. I tried several extention cords. It's a 20a breaker also with nothing else plugged in and it on the power panel outside so it's straight from the sorce. Somewhere between engine swaps it must have gotten damaged or just happened to crap out on me. I was hoping it was the plug got damaged from the motor swap.

Is there a way to ohm them out to test the element?
 
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