engine heaters for TDI-PD?

tdiheater is basically a Zerostart circulation heater you can get at Canadian Tire etc. It heats and circululates the coolant. Works like a charm. I've has one on my TDI for 2 years and would never be without it.

The advantage of the TDIheater you mentioned is that it comes with all the pre-fitted hoses.

A regular Zerostart is about $50+ w/o installation.

The pan heater is an option but kind of a ripoff at $170!!!!!! or $250!!!!

You can buy a stick on oil pan heater and do it yourself for less than half that. They're peel and stick. Remove the skid plate clean it up and stick it on. Then run the cord 1/2 hour tops.

For the most information on VW diesels go to

JoBo

While there are some places that do need heaters, I believe most sold today are not really needed. That engine will start up at surprisingly low temperatures.

Try being in Calgary at -40 C with a windchill without one ;-).

Even at -10 C it keeps the oil toasty and reduces start up friction.

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We do get down to -40 for a few days in our stomping grounds, and on those occasions we plugged in the oil pan heater on the 2002, so I can't say from personal experience whether starting would be a problem without it. The other consideration is reducing wear on the glow plugs.

I prefer to put a heater blanket on the battery for easy starting, but there doesn't seem to be room for one inside the battery box on the Golf TDI, and I don't know if draping one around the box would do any good.

Thanks for the pointers, will look for a Zerostart at the Cranbrook Canadian Tire tomorrow.

I looked at the Canadian Tire selection of engine heaters in Cranbrook yesterday. The Zerostart kit was actually only $44, but of course it requires you to cut into your radiator hoses.

They also had a magnetic oil pan heater, but this is not practical with the VW Golf, since it's not designed to stay permanently on the vehicle, and access to the Golf's oil pan requires ramping the car and removing the sound shield.

I had a look at the site, and have corresponded with the owner. At the moment, this seems to be the most attractive approach.

I also visited the VW dealership and looked at their aftermarket oil pan heater kit. The first surprise there was that I was now quoted $112 including installation, instead of the $170 previously cited. The second surprise was the the hardware they use is a coolant heater element designed to fit into the freeze plug openings of a Honda. I was told that the bracket is modified by the shop to attach under the oil pan bolts at the rear of the pan, and that this puts the heater element in good contact with the metal surface of the oil pan. I got a copy of the installation instructions, and they warn never to power up the element unless it's immersed in coolant. So I wonder both about the life span of the element in this position (where only a small fraction of its surface is attached to a heat sink) and about the efficiency of the heat transfer (ie. how long will it take to get the oil hot?).

I haven't seen the stock VW kit yet, nor a picture of it, but the dealership says it will definitely cost $250 installed.

Padheaters wants only CAD$80 to ship one of their kits to my location. They also suggest that an oil pan heater is a much more efficient way of heating the engine than a coolant heater, and their arguments make sense to me.

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