Block heater

Garageman1965

Active member
Joined
Jul 18, 2017
Location
Moline Illinois
TDI
2005 wagon silver
Has anyone installed or put a magnetic block heater on there TDI, I’m considering this for cold starts in the morning when the weather gets cold below 20* F. Is there a particular one someone can recommend that will somewhere on the block. They usually go on the oil pan, but being it’s aluminum, lol looking for other options. Thanks
 

maxmoo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2000 golf, 2001 golf, 2000 beetle, 2003 wagon, 2004 golf, 2004 jetta, all diesels
oil pan heaters work very well on these engines also.
Cheap, efficent and quick and easy to install.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Ease of install and maintenance vs cost and difficulty list

Easiest to install and farily cheep is a oil pan heater. if i did it again, this is what i would ALSO install as well as a coolant heater.

Frost heater works great and is fairly easy to install but has the most moving parts and is very expencive. The core heater is like middle ground on cost but is definatly the hardest to install and if it fails, is going to be the hardest to fix. Plug vs hose. I have a block heater plug and i love it, works great and pulls the lowest amount of amps i have seen on a heater kit. No moving parts and have survived 2 overheats, and about 100K of miles with no signed of leaking.

Go with what ever coolant heater you want and also a oil pan heater. Or just the oil pan heater they work great but you still have cold coolant, not a big deal
 

narongc73

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
VA/OH
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Actually just get a zerostart so you don't pay the frostheater price. Not expensive at all. You also get instant heat. Oil pan heater while simple, doesn't do anything but warm the oil. I went Webasto and never have to worry about plugging it in. When I get out of work the engine is already at 150F before I turn the key.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Actually just get a zerostart so you don't pay the frostheater price. Not expensive at all. You also get instant heat. Oil pan heater while simple, doesn't do anything but warm the oil. I went Webasto and never have to worry about plugging it in. When I get out of work the engine is already at 150F before I turn the key.
Coolant temps are pointless other than efficiency of the engine, it will warm up eventually, oil is #1 thing to have warm. If you just keep up on your oil changes and do a change before or right at winter, your good. I would rather have warmer oil than i would warmer block. besides you have a oil heat exchangeer anyways so it does help.

Im not completely familiar with Webasto, you are saying you dont have to plug it in? explain please how this does not drain your battery after 10 minutes. even at 2200 Watts ( what the website says is the smallest they have) a 850cca battery would be below 11 volts in only a few minutes, not 8 hour shift at work. Most batteries under 1000 cca are about 35 to 50 Amp Hours. Lets say you have a 50 amp hour battery that is not AGM and you run a 2,200 watt heater. thats what, 180 some amps? so you get about 5 minutes of run time before the battery is DEAD. Or are you saying it runs when you start the car and gets it hot that way because that would also run more than the 120amp alt your cars has on it.

Please explain this to me so i can understand better.
https://www.webasto.com/us/markets-products/light-duty-vehicles/heating-systems/
 
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h4vok

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2017
Location
Denver (ex MN)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDi 5sp 171k
I have a Frostheater and it goes between the head and the oil cooler. It replaces the coolant hoses that would normally go straight from the head to the oil cooler. So it heats the engine block and the oil via the coolant. Another side effect is that it is mounted under the battery and when left on for 3+ hours heats the battery a bit too making cranking more powerful in the cold. Personally I would not waste time and money on a different heater, but that is just me. $140 is a small price to pay for easy cold starts and a plug and play install imo.
 
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scooperhsd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Location
Kansas City KS
TDI
NB, 2000, RED(5 Speed conversion) 2015 Golf SE
Coolant temps are pointless other than efficiency of the engine, it will warm up eventually, oil is #1 thing to have warm. If you just keep up on your oil changes and do a change before or right at winter, your good. I would rather have warmer oil than i would warmer block. besides you have a oil heat exchangeer anyways so it does help.

Im not completely familiar with Webasto, you are saying you dont have to plug it in? explain please how this does not drain your battery after 10 minutes. even at 2200 Watts ( what the website says is the smallest they have) a 850cca battery would be below 11 volts in only a few minutes, not 8 hour shift at work. Most batteries under 1000 cca are about 35 to 50 Amp Hours. Lets say you have a 50 amp hour battery that is not AGM and you run a 2,200 watt heater. thats what, 180 some amps? so you get about 5 minutes of run time before the battery is DEAD. Or are you saying it runs when you start the car and gets it hot that way because that would also run more than the 120amp alt your cars has on it.

Please explain this to me so i can understand better.
https://www.webasto.com/us/markets-products/light-duty-vehicles/heating-systems/

Webasto burns FUEL to make heat, battery would only be used for igniting and running a small pump (maybe).
 

maxmoo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2000 golf, 2001 golf, 2000 beetle, 2003 wagon, 2004 golf, 2004 jetta, all diesels
Actually just get a zerostart so you don't pay the frostheater price. Not expensive at all. You also get instant heat. Oil pan heater while simple, doesn't do anything but warm the oil. I went Webasto and never have to worry about plugging it in. When I get out of work the engine is already at 150F before I turn the key.
^ That's not true...oil pan heaters do warm the whole block significantly...heat rises. Maybe not anywhere near 150f on a really cold day but that is also not necessary. Plus at -35 the oil in your 150f engine will still be -35 and thick as molases.
I'm guessing you've never had an oil pan heater or you wouldn't have said that.
Oil pan heaters are miss-understood and under appreciated on this forum.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
burns fuel, thats awesome. i will check into this. can it be ran when the system (engine) is running? help with coolant temps in COLD -20 weather?
 

crawdaddy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
03 Jetta Wagon TDI/5spd swap
Is there a particular one someone can recommend that will somewhere on the block. They usually go on the oil pan, but being it’s aluminum, lol looking for other options. Thanks
I have an aluminum oil pan and mine is installed with a good quality RTV silicone, must clean surface of pan with solvents before adhering the oil heater.
 

1.4TDI PD

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Location
slovenia
TDI
2.5TDI V6, 3.3TDI V8,3.0TDI V6,1.9TDI PD100
burns fuel, thats awesome. i will check into this. can it be ran when the system (engine) is running? help with coolant temps in COLD -20 weather?
Webasto aux heaters are quite popular here in europe you can set the timer and it will preheat the coolant to around 60°C in cold weather. It can run max for an hour after that the electronics shuts it down. It consumes very litle power only to run the blower, coolant pump and fuel pump. They can run while the engine is runing and help with the engine warm up.
 

scooperhsd

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Location
Kansas City KS
TDI
NB, 2000, RED(5 Speed conversion) 2015 Golf SE
Has anyone installed or put a magnetic block heater on there TDI, I’m considering this for cold starts in the morning when the weather gets cold below 20* F. Is there a particular one someone can recommend that will somewhere on the block. They usually go on the oil pan, but being it’s aluminum, lol looking for other options. Thanks

Oh - to directly answer - all these heaters shouldn't be necessary on a TDI that has
A - good battery
B - correct oil (0wx or 5wx synthetic)
C - Fuel that is properly winterized and treated for your location.
D - follow the correct procedure (read owners manual)
E - is in good tune and operating properly.

20F is nothing nothing for a TDI - they tested the ALH's in Alaska and Canada without said heaters, and they WILL start at -30F - -40F . The heaters WILL make it easier, and the coolant types will get you heat faster

Having said that - I would do a coolant heater over an oil heater - it will warm the block as well as the oil , thus providing heat sooner. I myself have started an outdoors parked TDI at single digits without problems - it sounds and runs like a truck at first, but soon settles into normal operation.

A TDI (especially the older ones) will not warm up much just idling - they really need to be DRIVEN to warm up.
 

maxmoo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2000 golf, 2001 golf, 2000 beetle, 2003 wagon, 2004 golf, 2004 jetta, all diesels
Oh - to directly answer - all these heaters shouldn't be necessary on a TDI that has
A - good battery
B - correct oil (0wx or 5wx synthetic)
C - Fuel that is properly winterized and treated for your location.
D - follow the correct procedure (read owners manual)
E - is in good tune and operating properly.

20F is nothing nothing for a TDI - they tested the ALH's in Alaska and Canada without said heaters, and they WILL start at -30F - -40F . The heaters WILL make it easier, and the coolant types will get you heat faster

Having said that - I would do a coolant heater over an oil heater - it will warm the block as well as the oil , thus providing heat sooner. I myself have started an outdoors parked TDI at single digits without problems - it sounds and runs like a truck at first, but soon settles into normal operation.

A TDI (especially the older ones) will not warm up much just idling - they really need to be DRIVEN to warm up.
I agree with everything you said except....A coolant heater will NOT warm your oil at all.
And an oil pan heater WIILL heat your block significantly.
....based on my experiences with both types of heaters over 40 yrs on heavy equipt and many tdi's in very cold conditions.
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
Biggest draw back of oil pan heaters was coked oil and, being on the bottom of the oil pan, the tendency to get ripped off. Ice chunks off trucks, snow curbs, regular curbs hidden in plow snow, etc.

Second, if you heated the oil, then pump it through a cold block, it cools back down pretty darn fast. Conversely, if you heated the oil enough for the block to be that warm then the oil is getting pretty darn hot and burnt.

I think warming the oil enough to not be thick goo (good on older dino oils), is a good thing, but not as necessary with modern synthetics. It's already going to flow pretty well unless you are out in -50, -60F temps.

I got a FrostHeater when I live in Montana - even on those -40F mornings there was warmth right away. Nice side effect was the thermo cycling of air inside the car and hot coolant in heater core cause the windshield to partially defrost before I woke up. Just let it idle for 30 seconds to stabilize the temperatures between oil, coolant, and different parts of the engine before driving off.

I think ideal setup would be both oil pan heater and coolant heater working together, but would need to find a thermostatic oil pan heater or put it on a different timer.

Jason
 

maxmoo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2000 golf, 2001 golf, 2000 beetle, 2003 wagon, 2004 golf, 2004 jetta, all diesels
Some valid points Jason but I don't think a 240watt oil pan heater, mounted on the outside of an oil pan, can "coke" any oil and certainly not the modern synthetic oils that are engineered to run at MUCH higher temps, in a turbo bearing for instance.
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
I remember when VW used to sell those oil pan heaters. The few pans that I took off were pretty nasty in the bottom where the heater was attached.

Don't get me wrong, oil pan heaters have their place, but since most are not thermostatically controlled its up to the operator to use good judgement. Leaving it plugged in all night to keep the engine warm will not do good things to the oil.

And your correct - good modern synthetic shouldn't break down like the older Dino oil, but also reduces the need for the heater in the first place.

If I lived somewhere like Alaska or Yukon I would have pan heater on engine, trans, coolant heater like FrostHeater, and battery warmer.

Jason
 

belome

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Location
Mid MI
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS TDI 5-speed
This whole thread seems pretty absurd. A frostheater or equivalent will make your car start like it is the middle of the summer in Florida. The oil has to have some heat in it just from the coolant being hot so it isn't like molasses when you start your car. The battery barely works to roll the car over so adding battery blankets seems unnecessary.

Why try to fix what isn't broken... unless of course you live in the Yukon.

Heck, half the people around here talking about frostheaters see -0F and below about 3 times a year.
 

DieselSport15

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Location
Kansas
TDI
2015 Sportwagen SEL, 2014 Touareg Exec.
This is what I'm hoping to be a fix for my North Dakota cold starts! Wolverine pan heater, model 25 (250watts 6" x 2.5") I just cut out the plastic on the oil pan cover because I didn't want to risk it melting and I also cut out a portion of the insulation out of the splash guard. https://ibb.co/fPX9qS
 

Camperbob

Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2018
Location
NW Montana
TDI
2002 Jetta 5spd
I'm thinking about an oil pan heater myself, my Jetta already has a coolant heater. I've always used both coolant and pan heaters here in Montana, and during my time in North Dakota.(as cold as the Yukon) ha.

I've also seen heating pads RTV'd to aircooled aircraft piston engines.(oil pan and top of case.)
 
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Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
I am an new owner of a Frostheater, and I am glad I finally purchased one. We are having an exceptionally long and cold winter here in Northern Nevada; four hours seems to be the perfect amount of "preheat" and this morning I forgot to turn the heater on, big puffs of smoke and a "grumpy" engine as well.
 

DieselSport15

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Location
Kansas
TDI
2015 Sportwagen SEL, 2014 Touareg Exec.
My pan heater is completely covered by the lower "splash guard" so no chance of it get hit by debris and ripping off. I am slightly concerned/cautious though about it somethow causing a fire. Thats why I made that cut out and removed some of the insulation in the splash guard.
 

SilverGhost

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Location
Back in So Flo - St Lucie
TDI
'05 Golf - totaled :(, wife's '13 Beetle - buy back, TDIless
The year or so I spent in Montana I used a Frostheater. That made for wonder full toasty starts even in -40F to -60F mornings. No pan heater needed, proper oil took care of the cold start lubrication. 163k miles before driver cut me off and totaled it, the car drove great and pulled camper and uhaul without wimper.

Jason
 

maxmoo

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2000 golf, 2001 golf, 2000 beetle, 2003 wagon, 2004 golf, 2004 jetta, all diesels
Be careful of those oil pan heaters, I've seen several posts regarding them causing fires due to proximity to the plastic skid pans.

Installing my webasto this weekend. No more cold engine starts. Was looking at the new espar unit but got a webasto for next to nothing
The reason that these oil pan heaters started fires was....

The pan heaters are peel and stick and come with a small tube of rtv which is only meant to seal around the edge of the heater to keep moisture out.
Some guys did not read the instructions and used the rtv to simply glue the heaters on to the pan. When the heater warmed up the paper peeled off and the heater fell down on the plastic skid pan.

I have used literally dozens of these pan heaters over 25 or more years and have never had one fall off or start a fire.
 
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