Oil pan heater for the Yaris

[David C]

Instead of sticking a pad underneath the oil pan, wouldn't it be better to simply have an oil plug with an heating element sticking out ? Of course you'd have to do an oil change on the initial installation, but at least all the heat would already be absorbed and convected into the oil rather than having a silicone pad that have to transfert the heat from a layer of silicone to a tick layer of steel to finally only the edge of the oil, and in the process also wasting half of the heat thru the other exposed side of the pad (unless you sorry it with urethane insulation foam, etc). A little bit like a still for for brewing or a hot water tank. Wouldn't that work ?

And on the same topic, when it's -10° C and below, how effective any sorts of heating for the oil really is when the car is outside, exposed to wind, all night long ? My car still cranks and starts even below -30° C, but agreed it cranks longer and engine temp will take a good 10-15 minutes of driving before being able to do over 40km/h without rushing the engine. Might help the engine to crank easier if the oil is only a few degrees warmer (like -10° C instead of -15° C), but I can't see how it would drastically help for reaching optimal engine temp unless the oil gets heated above 0° C entirely.

Thoughts ?