All,
I am thinking of installing a block heater, to get me thru winter in the mid-west. The oil heaters work great to speed heating, so I am thinking of using the inline block heaters. Has anyone done this? Would you do it again? My major reservation is the potential for it to fail into the block... I'd probably swap it out every 5 years with the fluid. Just wanted to ask the community.

Thanks for any insight!

 

You know you can buy the genuine Honda accessory block heater kit at a Honda dealership or online dealer
Threads into the block

 

Not the question. Anyone else?

 

i think you can safely install the factory block heater, as information my 2015 Nissan Micra comes standard with a block heater and i use in most days in vancouver, it never really gets that cold here but you have INSTANT heat pretty much and the engine never runs at a high idle when i start it on the block heater

 

I had a block heater OEM done on my 2015, as I had no garage where I lived. Never tried the magnetic heater that goes on the oil pan. In line oil heater never tried but did contemplate once. The block heater plug is on the back of the block and a real pain to get to, you will also lose a lot of coolant when you install it so be prepared to do a coolant change too.

 

Way back when I had a VW I looked at the magnetic heater which clamps to the bottom of the oil pan, but was worried about clearance and the possibility it could be knocked off by a speed bump or thick snow on the road. Not confident the magnet would retain it's strength long term.

I tried a dip stick with a heater built in to it. It didn't fit the dip stick opening and stuck up way too high. Universal fit but seemed designed for V8 big engines and not my small 4 cylinder. I threw it away. Would have been a good idea if it was a custom fit.

Thought about inline heaters (rad fluid not oil) but just didn't like the idea of cutting into hosing. Sooner or later every junction leaks.

Finally settled on an electric battery blanket - warm the battery and let the engine take care of itself (with help of thinner oil in the winter and a standard block heater). This has worked well for me for over 40 years on various cars.

 

I installed an engine block heater a few years ago into my 2008 and I love it! It makes a HUGE difference in how the car starts in sub-zero temps.