Botabill said:
I'd like to hear from folks that are in the cold zones whether synthetic replaces block pan etc. heaters. I'd really like to get rid of the pan and block heaters but my experience has been they are really necessary on the cold days in mid Ontario Canada. Where do you hang your hat frank_miller?
Bill
A big fan of synthetic, I'll opt in here. My wife would drive a 1999 Sunfire GT to the bustop and then take the bus to the city, leaving the Sunfire unplugged and exposed in the prairie winters, north of Winnipeg. A wind chill of -40 is not unheard of, nor even that uncommon. I think the issues to consider is the punishment the battery takes from the cold, turning a Dino oil that is thick as molasses, and if the unit fires, getting oil pumping to avoid metal on metal. The synthetic oil never left her stranded once up until we sold it in the summer of 2006 and it was the original battery until summer 2005. We did not even plug it in at home in an unheated garage. In fact I use synthetic in everything and have not plugged in a car in years.
That being said, I will note that the OEM block heater Kubota supplies works extremely well. After an hour, the top of the valve cover is warm to the touch so Dino oil would not be a concern here for those specific factors. I, however, do not hesitate, if it is not too cold, to just fire it up and let her warm in the open garage for 15 minutes. Since I know the oil is flowing right away and the strain on the starter is not excessive. She will spit some black smoke but it is gone well before 30 seconds have elapsed.
One factor that truly reinforces is to take a day that is -20 and go out to your garage where you have a quantity of Wally-World 10W-30 and Mobil1 10W-30 and pour a small quantity into the cap. The Wally-World truly resembles a hardening shellac.
I like to baby my tractor as much as the next guy and using synthetic oil is the best way I know. IMHO synthetic oil can, and does, substitute the need of a block heater under many (but not all) circumstances. There are things I do to my car that I would never do to my tractor.
