nelstomlinson
Full Access Member
By the way, Franklin2 is correct: do NOT use a 30A breaker on 12ga. wire! Also, do not put a 20A outlet on a circuit with a breaker larger than 20A, because that also is not up to code.
OIL PAN MODIFICATION FOR COLD WEATHER STARTING
- Thread starter CADHOWDY
- Start date
I always remember it as "It's easy as PIE" in some equation Voltage is expressed as E instead of V.
P=I*E
I have worked with silicone pad heaters applied to large Diesel engine oil pans, most are 120 vac 100 watts and work very well when they are plugged in while oil temperature is warm after you shutdown. They help lower starter draw and with increased cranking speed help with quicker starting
Noiseydiesel
Full Access Member
Heaters cook fluid and shorten the life span, be it oil or coolant. A heated garage is a better option.
Oil heater? I suspect I would go with a coolant heater and spare the oil life. Plus with a coolant heater, if you leave the defrost on, I believe it *might* help clear the windshield while parked.
Oil heater? I suspect I would go with a coolant heater and spare the oil life. Plus with a coolant heater, if you leave the defrost on, I believe it *might* help clear the windshield while parked.
nelstomlinson
Full Access Member
All the vehicles up here have the silicon patch heaters on the oil pans. I have pulled several oil pans over the years, and have never found evidence of cooked oil in the bottom of the pans - no coking, no jelly. Same for the automatic transmissions, which also have them up here.
645E3B has it right. You want the block heater, AND the silicon patch heater, at a bare minimum. When it's -40, more heat is better, because we can't always park in a heated garage.
645E3B has it right. You want the block heater, AND the silicon patch heater, at a bare minimum. When it's -40, more heat is better, because we can't always park in a heated garage.
CDX825
filtration nut
Oil has to be well over 300 degrees before heat starts breaking it down and the oil pan heaters they make don't get the oil that hot. Your just keeping the oil warm so it flows better.
When I was still living in Minnesota, I used the stock block heater and an electric battery blanket on both batteries. The battery blankets were 100 watt each if I remember right. I had the blankets and the block heater plugged in to a three way cord that I had zipped tied to the passenger side radiator frame and would then plug into a extension cord when needed. This combination worked really well all the way down to -30*F real temps for me.
nelstomlinson
Full Access Member
Tradergem, that sounds effective. I like to use a trickle charger instead of the battery blankets. I left my truck plugged in all night. This morning it cranked right over and started right away, at -36F by the thermometer which reads warm. The bragging thermometer read -45F, but I don't really believe that one.
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
Yesterday, when I started my truck (I don't know how cold it was the night before), I didn't have it plugged in. I'm also running the same 15w/40 oil that I always do. I SWEAR that I could hear the starter cussing at me. It took three glow plug/crank cycles, but it did start up and run on the third try. I also have an annoying seal on the IP that likes to leak when it's cold outside. I'm sure that didn't help the cold starting one bit.
CDX825
filtration nut
If your starting one of these beast when the temperature is below 25 often 5W40 diesel oil makes a night and day difference in cranking speed. Also means the engine builds oil pressure faster and oil gets to the top end of the engine faster.
IDIBRONCO
IDIBRONCO
I'm sure that it does, but I don't change oils for the seasons. It doesn't get that cold here very often. I also walk to work so this time of year, my truck mostly gets driven on weekends only.
nelstomlinson
Full Access Member
I run the 5W-40 at least half the year. It really does make a difference in how fast it'll crank in the cold.
Diesilee
Registered User
Those of you running the 5W-40, do you see any pressure difference running warm from the 15W-40?
nelstomlinson
Full Access Member
I have not noticed any difference, but I have the factory oil pressure gauge, so all I can tell for sure is that the needle stays near the O in nOrmal.
The_Josh_Bear
Full Access Member
They both have the same hot rating(40), so they should have the same pressure. The 5 will flow much better cold.
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