Not as well a a pan heater, but it sure helps! I get the odd F54 code, but it always restarts in about 6 minutes and its good to go. Had it for 4 years now, never cleaned it, been on two trucks, and its been great for the most part. Used to get the odd F14 and F17 code, but I think my squished intake pipe was part of the cause of that, and the ultra rich coolant in the 12v at first that was gelling in -25 weather.

I run the Valvoline Blue from Cummins, 5w40 in the winter time. Takes a few seconds for the oil pressure to come up, but it cranks over pretty easy.

 

Had to edit my post it sounded stupid, too tired after work to think.

Well Joe, we all know that on an Acura you don't really need too much maintenance. Those things just seem to be invincible......I was actually looking into getting one as a DD, it however fell thru....
As for your truck, you garage it and seldom drive it in the winter anyway. I park outside and is my DD so it needs some love.............I plug in at night, however on some jobsites there's no plug in options or I get caught up in work and forget to plug it or start it during the day.........
After 12-14 hrs of siting at 40 below with no start/plug in, I feel for it when I turn the key.
I'd like to do spring/fall oil changes since it seems I put 15-20K/yr on my trucks all city driving.............Makes it 8-10,000km/filter-oil change. And Amsoil filter is about $20, about $120 for the oil/filter a tad cheaper than doing a complete oil change at the dealership..............

 

180 degree coolant, circulating through that big cast iron heat sink, does a decent job of heating everything.

 

I guess if you never park in the wind or at anything less than -30° then I guess it would. Also it would take more than the 2 hours of run time from the heater to try and warm the bottom of that pan as the coolant is all in the upper 1/4 of the engine block.. But I digress..

 

I don't really have any experience with the espar on a pickup, but I have one in my cat 325 trackhoe, and it works wonders. I have never had to run it for 2 hours to heat the engine. At -30 it takes about 45 mims to get the temp guage up a couple bars. I've been forced to start the machine at -40 a few times, and at that temp it takes about an hour and a half for it to get warm enough that the grid heater doesn't have to cycle when you start. Mind you I have never felt the pan prior to starting, but if it is getting it hot enough for temp guage to come up I'd say some of that heat is transfering to the oil. Will have to check next time I use it. Oh, I have never had an issue with mine, and it's on a piece of equipment, lots of dirt and vibration. I do know it is very important to mount the fuel pump with just the right amount of angle to it or they burn out though. Had a friend who had a lot of issues with his until he read the instructions!

 

I guess I'll just shut up..
15W-40 in my jug in the back of my truck is taffy at -30°C. I love the heater, does a good job and heats the engine, but due to the install it doesn't circulate the entire block. I notice on start up that the oil cooler becomes oil heater and sucks all the heat out of the water in the block.

 

How was the plumbing done?

 

In series with the heater line into the cab heat. So its feeding hot into the heater core, then back through the cold return near the water pump. It tends to short cycle through the front 3-4 cylinders of the block.

 

I sent a email to GCL also...Thx

 

$34 for a Amsoil oil filter...for a 12V

 

The Stratapore is looking pretty good now eh??? lol

 

Tell me about it... I haven't bought the oil filter yet...

 

i think you may need one....

The LF3894 has synthetic filter media - pretty good filter for the money

 

If you can't find the LF3894, you can use the LF16035 from the 6.7's. Same filter just has the flats on the end for the special wrench. Depending on the spot, cheaper too.

 

Holy smokes. That's almost double what I pay. EAO80 is $18.85 for the preferred price. I run my oil to 15K and do a Blackstone oil analysis every time. Money reports and no issues. I've had good luck with it in all the vehicles I've run it in. Sadly prices have been going up with Amsoil. Is what it is. You should be able to get a 6month $10 preferred membership and have it sent to your door and skip the dealers.