Oil Pan Pad Heater

[bluearc74]

Hey all. Well this is the first winter that I will have had my Dmax. In Canada here we have quite the cool temps in our winters and even summers..lol. Anyway I have seen lots of info on those Espar, and Wabasto kits. Only I am looking more for the pad syle pan heater and am looking for advice or where to buy these from;from any others that may have installed them and had the experience to share. I have seen the 250 Watt ones and Canuck tire sells 1000watter or something like that but I thought that might be a little to warm for the oil and might even burn it if plugged in for like 10-12 hours or more?? Not to mention the electrical bill!! There isn't too many places that I go that I can't plug in anyway.

[maxxflip]

They do work your engine will spin much faster with the oil being warm
the 250 watt one should do fine also keeping batterys warm helps out alot

[millwright01]

I run back and forth from mid-sask to the hat. I know it gets cold but I've never had the Dmax not start. I plug it in with the standard block heater and away she goes. If it's oil flow you're worried about, switch to synthetic. Since i did it sure sounds a lot better and cranks easier in the cold. I had pan heaters on other truck and my tractor and they were a PIA. Just my opinion for what it's worth.

[Gameon375]

I'm glad to see this discussion. I live in Willow, Alaska with my first D-max and am going to switch everything to Amsoil. I've also wondered about extra heaters. I do have battery heaters to install before it gets too cold. Last January I drove with a friend up to Fairbanks during a bad cold spell. The temperature hit -56 in one small town. His D-max did just fine. We just drove slow and watched the gages, we didn't want to have to go outside!

[bluearc74]

As for the pan heaters being a PIA did you mean the adhesive pad ones? My buddy has one and says its damn good? As for changing to synthetic I was thinking about it but thought just changing 15W40 regularily with the pan heater would be less exspensive and easier.

[ob_1jr]

the smaller 250 should be fine. I dont know what people are talking about them being a PIA...what i have done and what people do is take some high temp rtv and stick it to your oil and transmission pan. Use some masking tape to hold it into place and that is it. Let it cure. You dont have to worry about the masking tape,...it will fall off, but it is easy to remove once the rtv is cured. I live up near fairbanks and last winter we had 3 weeks of -30F or colder..there was almost a week of -50F. I never had a problem with my truck and it was outside the whole time.

Also, you dont have to keep your truck plugged in all the time. Get a timer and have it set for about 3 hours b4 you leave

[Gameon375]

I would agree with the pan heaters staying put and staying anywhere you stick them. I work up in Prudhoe Bay and some of the trucks have this style with no issues. The battery heaters I spoke of earlier are just a wrap around style. This is making me think of all the things I have to do before it gets any colder. Later

[Tow Master]

I was looking at putting them on my tow trucks before. They are a great idea especially if you live in the north.

IMO your best bet would be to put them on a timer so it doesnt use alot of electricity and come on a hour or two before you need the truck.

[ob_1jr]

I have been told the battery blankets arent that good. I have always used a small pad heater for the batteries and that is what the dealers put on too. I did have a battery blanket on my first truck up here and nefer had a problem.

Originally Posted by Gameon375

I would agree with the pan heaters staying put and staying anywhere you stick them. I work up in Prudhoe Bay and some of the trucks have this style with no issues. The battery heaters I spoke of earlier are just a wrap around style. This is making me think of all the things I have to do before it gets any colder. Later

[bluearc74]

Do you think a guy really needs them on the batteries?