[V8] Block Heating

[Kneale Brownson]

You want to be careful about those dipstick heaters.  I used to use on on a tractor too.  They get way hotter than the oil normally gets from engine operation.  Potential fire hazard there.  And I'm not too sure about how good it is to be cooking the oil.
   
  I have a freezeplug type coolant heater on both of my diesel tractors and my diesel Jetta.  I'd really like to find a way to use 12 volts off a spare battery to operate the one in the car when I'm away from my own power source.

Jason Wilkerson <wilke_jb at yahoo.com> wrote:
  I don't have this problem, but I did with an old tractor once. It had no
starting aid at all so it was a real pain to start when it got below 20. 
I wanted to buy a magnetic block heater but they were expensive so I
bought a dipstick heater. Worked like a charm in the tractor - I know the
dipstick in the v8 is curved, but I think that the heater would 'give'
enough to make the bend. It is a cheap thing to try anyway.