Okay, the mornings here in idaho are just starting to get cold enough to make my teg hate to start when I go to work. So, I’ve heard alot about block heaters, but also that they can be somewhat of a pain to install. However, i’ve also seen a couple oil pan heaters & was wondering what the diffrence would be as far as effectivness, seeing as how the oil pan heater appears to be far easier to install, it’s just a 6"x6" pad that you silicone to the bottom of your oil pan & call it a day. Which heater location is better?
Well, here where it reaches -40 in January, the standard is still block heaters. They’re really not difficult to install. You just have to drain most of the antifreeze, change the plug for the heater and then re-fill the antifreeze.
However, this still leaves the oil relatively cold when the engine starts so maybe the oil pan heater would be more effective. On the other hand (yes this is back and forth a lot), there’s a good chance the oil pan heater wouldn’t heat up the rest of the block up much which might make the first couple of cranks pretty tough. Hard to say without seeing it in action though.
On top of either of those two alternatives, you could add a battery warmer. I’ve heard they work wonders.
If I already have a dry cell battery, would it even do anything?
No idea. Probably not. 
I would prefer a block heater… Always heard that oil pan heaters aka toasters could dry-out the gaskets and seals and cause troubles. I installed a block heater in my 90 RS last winter and it wasn’t hard at all, just need a good breaker bar to remove the plug and voila! Didn’t even drained the coolant, just made it quick and hardly lost any.
Car starts just like summer time even in -30C temperatures.
See, I heard that Block heaters are more for if you want your heater to work faster in the mornings, where Oil pan heaters are more engine-friendly, because it gets oil faster…
I don’t think the block heater really gets your heater warm any faster – your engine still has to warm right up before you get warm air.
If you plug the block heater in for 4+ hours (even in really cold temps), it will do a pretty thorough job of heating your engine block, and eventually your oil will get some of that heat as well.
IMO, the block heaters have proven themselves for decades in the coldest temps. Can’t really go wrong with them…
If you can find an in-line coolant heater (hard to find now I think), they’re even better because they’ll circulate the coolant as they heat it.
OK im in Idaho too, but just how cold does it have to get for you to start worring about block heaters, it only gets to maybe 0 F here at the coldest…
Um, no dude…I live in Sun Valley & it’s already gotten down to 6. It easily gets to 10 or more below in Jan & Feb.
It gets way colder down there than it gets here in the valley.
block heater install
you lucky bastards! 0 degrees, minus 10, try minus 30 to 40 for a month or more. Southern ontario doesn’t get it nearly as bad as winterpeg either! Sorry western guys, but i’d never live west of ontario or east of the rockies. Anyway, are you saying that the big hex headed plug in the front of the engine is where the heater gets installed? If so, does the generic o ringed style work, or do you need a threaded style specific for the hondas?
Thanks
don
i live in nova scotia and it was like -15 c here the other day and the integra fired up with a little hesitation and i was considering a block heater also. since it can drop as low as minus 20-30 (-4,-22 f) here in jan-feb.
Yeah you’ll need a threaded one specific to the Integra, but you can get them from generic parts stores like Canadian Tire or Piston Ring or whatever. That’s exactly where they go 
block heater
ok, thanks for the info. I have a couple of o ringed types that i scavenged over the years and hoped to put one in my integra, but I guess not. Off to canadian tire…
Don