oil pan warmer/heater?

[thesprinklerguy1960]

Hello again people of the Goldwing world... I have another question to ask of the learned and experienced people about the oil pan warmer/heater or whatever it is called that sticks to the bottom of the oil pan I think and is wired so that it can be plugged in to keep oil warm so bike starts when it is cold or freezing... My 95 1500se is in a unheated shed with concrete floor and power but would be wasteful to try to heat the whole area so bike stays warm enough to start up... when it is cold outside bike is cold natured and sluggish till warmed up, if it even cranks before draining battery... question is do these heaters help by keeping the oil pan warm and if so then what SIZE heat pad would be correct for the size and access to the oil pan allow for and what type of temperatures would be safe and anything else that might be helpful or am I going in the wrong direction anyways??? Any and all answers will be greatly appreciated... again I am not even a backyard mechanic... we have no local Honda place anymore and I have to do these things on my own with the knowledge I get here from all of you experts and experienced riders/mechanics... Thanks again for any and all responses... Chris

[MikeB]

Hello again people of the Goldwing world... I have another question to ask of the learned and experienced people about the oil pan warmer/heater or whatever it is called that sticks to the bottom of the oil pan I think and is wired so that it can be plugged in to keep oil warm so bike starts when it is cold or freezing... My 95 1500se is in a unheated shed with concrete floor and power but would be wasteful to try to heat the whole area so bike stays warm enough to start up... when it is cold outside bike is cold natured and sluggish till warmed up, if it even cranks before draining battery... question is do these heaters help by keeping the oil pan warm and if so then what SIZE heat pad would be correct for the size and access to the oil pan allow for and what type of temperatures would be safe and anything else that might be helpful or am I going in the wrong direction anyways??? Any and all answers will be greatly appreciated... again I am not even a backyard mechanic... we have no local Honda place anymore and I have to do these things on my own with the knowledge I get here from all of you experts and experienced riders/mechanics... Thanks again for any and all responses... Chris

I do not know of an oil pan heater that is made for a finned aluminum oil pan. I have seen the heaters that are held on to steel oil pans magnetically, but not aluminum.

If your bike is in an unheated shed with a concrete floor and power, it would be best to have some sort of heat in there. The whole bike would benefit from having the temps around 55 or 60 degrees. Even a small electric (1500 watt) oil filled radiator would be acceptable. Actually, it would probably be perfect. I have one in one of my outside sheds and one in my garage. The are thermostatically controlled and don't draw a lot of power.

[CrystalPistol]

Back in the '60s, two of my uncles did what was common, they were both working on a dam construction project, it was cold, so they built a fire under the oil sump of the Cat D-8 ….. fire grew and burnt all the wiring and seat and hoses and much paint off of it, likely some seals as well …. LOL … now.


How often / how cold is it for these rides. Try just a battery tender. Let her warm up some while you put gear on?

[AZgl1800]

my solution was 5w40 synthetic oil.

click, varoom!

[offcenter]

Get a clamp on work light like this one.
Put a 100 watt bulb in it aim it up at the oil
pan.
But if don't be surprised if you get mice in there living
in their nice new heated quarters, happily eating away
at your wiring.

[joeincalif]

.
I don't have that problem since I'm in Calif and don't have to worry about temps getting that bad. And my garage is not heated but fully insulated. Anyway, can't you get some kind of insulated blanket or something like the ones used to wrap a water heater and wrap it up under the bike? Get a small space heater and point it towards the oil pan and turn it on a short time before you want to start the bike. That will heat it enough to get the oil flowing
Another suggestion is you can send the bike out to me in Calif for the winter and it will stay warm out here!!!!

[WingAdmin]

You have to be careful with space heaters, as they will easily put out enough heat to seriously damage plastic bodywork.

For small airplanes, a lot of owners use a 60 or 100 watt light bulb (if you can still find them). They set it up under the engine with a bit of aluminum to make sure the heat gets into the engine. A cover over the engine cowl helps keep the heat in the engine.

Some more inventive owners have hooked them up to a cell phone, so they can turn the light bulb on remotely the night before, and the next morning the engine is toasty warm and ready to go flying.

[AZgl1800]

You have to be careful with space heaters, as they will easily put out enough heat to seriously damage plastic bodywork.

For small airplanes, a lot of owners use a 60 or 100 watt light bulb (if you can still find them). They set it up under the engine with a bit of aluminum to make sure the heat gets into the engine. A cover over the engine cowl helps keep the heat in the engine.

Some more inventive owners have hooked them up to a cell phone, so they can turn the light bulb on remotely the night before, and the next morning the engine is toasty warm and ready to go flying.

back in the winter of '78-'79 my job had me flying a Piper PA22 TriPacer.
as the temperatures overnight were -59°F we would place a 1500 watt electric heater below the oil pan on the engine. hung it with bailing wire, elements facing up.
Then we wrapped an engine cover blanket over the engine, the bottom of engine had about 10 inches or so that was still open.

Used a heavy duty timer to turn on the heater about six hours before we needed to fly out....
usually the oil temp gauge would be in the 140-160°F area.....

The battery was removed, and replaced between each flight...

Made for a very nice, click..... varoom

tough to do that with a Goldwing, it would melt every thing.

[MikeB]

If your bike is in an unheated shed with a concrete floor and power, it would be best to have some sort of heat in there. The whole bike would benefit from having the temps around 55 or 60 degrees. Even a small electric (1500 watt) oil filled radiator would be acceptable. Actually, it would probably be perfect. I have one in one of my outside sheds and one in my garage. The are thermostatically controlled and don't draw a lot of power.

This is an example of the electric radiator I am referring to. Not too expensive and doesn't develop plastic warping intense heat. By the way most enclosed structures are usually warmer inside than out side. If didn't have rodent problems before, I don't think adding a little warmth will create rodent problems.

[WingAdmin]

back in the winter of '78-'79 my job had me flying a Piper PA22 TriPacer.
as the temperatures overnight were -59°F we would place a 1500 watt electric heater below the oil pan on the engine. hung it with bailing wire, elements facing up.
Then we wrapped an engine cover blanket over the engine, the bottom of engine had about 10 inches or so that was still open.

Used a heavy duty timer to turn on the heater about six hours before we needed to fly out....
usually the oil temp gauge would be in the 140-160°F area.....

The battery was removed, and replaced between each flight...

Made for a very nice, click..... varoom

tough to do that with a Goldwing, it would melt every thing.

Yup, you got it! Boy, I sure wouldn't want to be flying a rag and tube Tri-Pacer in that kind of cold! Once you got it going the heater was great, but up until that point...

This is the PA-22 I grew up flying. Someone has converted it to a tailwheel, but it was definitely a Tri-Pacer when we had it. It was white on red when my dad had it, he sold it many years ago and bought a PA-28-180, which he had for many, many years.

C-FPKO

You can see where the main gear was moved forward to make it a taildragger:

Conversion

[AZgl1800]

Nice looking conversion.
I didn't go quite that far.
I removed the Bungee cords from the rudder pedals, so that I could use the rudder w/o the pedals turning the front wheel....

A "Real Pilot" knows his airplane, he don't need those bungee cords.... shssssh!

with my McAllen Gull Wing Tips, and the newly overhauled fresh Lyc-160, my plane was a dream to fly.....
Could drag the tail skid before the mains touched the ground, and stop within 160 feet normally of where that skid touched the gravel road.

Take offs were roughly 350 feet from release of brakes.... ( nominal 5-10 kt headwinds ) in West Texas Panhandle. "Borger, Texas area.... lived 12 miles west of there, and 3 miles north of the Lake on the Canadian river.

I bemoan the day, that I let it go.... loved that airplane.

[kwthom]

How about simple...get a dipstick replacement that has a small heat element in it.

Besides, you simply need to take a bit of the edge off the cold to make it go...

[Wing--Man]

Somewhere I read someone placed a cover over his bike and propped, from moving, a hair dryer directed at the oilpan.

[digr]

Dipstick heater
https://www.autozone.com/external-engin ... 419954_0_0

[newday777]

Hello again people of the Goldwing world... I have another question to ask of the learned and experienced people about the oil pan warmer/heater or whatever it is called that sticks to the bottom of the oil pan I think and is wired so that it can be plugged in to keep oil warm so bike starts when it is cold or freezing... My 95 1500se is in a unheated shed with concrete floor and power but would be wasteful to try to heat the whole area so bike stays warm enough to start up... when it is cold outside bike is cold natured and sluggish till warmed up, if it even cranks before draining battery... question is do these heaters help by keeping the oil pan warm and if so then what SIZE heat pad would be correct for the size and access to the oil pan allow for and what type of temperatures would be safe and anything else that might be helpful or am I going in the wrong direction anyways??? Any and all answers will be greatly appreciated... again I am not even a backyard mechanic... we have no local Honda place anymore and I have to do these things on my own with the knowledge I get here from all of you experts and experienced riders/mechanics... Thanks again for any and all responses... Chris

Hey Chris thesprinklerguy1960

I see this year old post has been brought back to life and wonder how you made out with this as you didn't reply how you've delt with your cold starting.
Did you change to the synthetic oil as John said works?
I know it does and highly suggest it to anyone that has to deal with cold starting temperatures. Rotella 5W40 works very well in our wings and is easy on the wallet, @$20/gallon at walmart. Great for winter riding temperatures and summer too.

[CrystalPistol]

25 watt bulb mounted in a coffee can cut to slide under the bike, or mount it in a stainless steel doggy dish.

There are work lights that use bulbs, put a 25 watt bulb in one of them and lay it face up under the bike? Maybe add two metal wings to the outside reflector to prevent it rolling …. or a pipe through hook?

[AZgl1800]

If you switch to Rotella T6 5W40, your problem is solved.

That is what I am using in my bike, shifts great, starts the same at 20* as it does at 80*

I have watched the fuel light to see how long it takes to go out.....
even at 20* it goes off nearly as quick as it does in the warmer temps.

I always keep a Battery Tender on my bikes, lawn mowers, RV trailer, and little 250cc Scooter.

They all start right up, every time...

[MikeB]

If you switch to Rotella T6 5W40, your problem is solved.

That is what I am using in my bike, shifts great, starts the same at 20* as it does at 80*

I have watched the fuel light to see how long it takes to go out.....
even at 20* it goes off nearly as quick as it does in the warmer temps.

I always keep a Battery Tender on my bikes, lawn mowers, RV trailer, and little 250cc Scooter.

They all start right up, every time...

I think you meant the OIL light right John?

Anyway, I agree. I've been using the Rotella T6 for many many miles. Never an issue no matter the ambient temperature.

[AZgl1800]

If you switch to Rotella T6 5W40, your problem is solved.

That is what I am using in my bike, shifts great, starts the same at 20* as it does at 80*

I have watched the fuel light to see how long it takes to go out.....
even at 20* it goes off nearly as quick as it does in the warmer temps.

I always keep a Battery Tender on my bikes, lawn mowers, RV trailer, and little 250cc Scooter.

They all start right up, every time...

I think you meant the OIL light right John?

Anyway, I agree. I've been using the Rotella T6 for many many miles. Never an issue no matter the ambient temperature.

Now matter how many times, I review what I typed, by brain "read Oil Light"