there are different types of "block heaters". some warm the oil through the dipstick hole other are placed inline in the heather hoses and act like a coffee pot and warm the cooling system.
The thing that makes starting in cold weather easier, is the thinning of the oil. The oil will thicken in the cold and then create more resitance at start up. hence the numbering on oil.
5w30 means that it has the viscosity of a 30 weight at operating operating temprature, but a viscosity of a 5 weight oil when cold. the W stands for winter as a grade of oil to help with the condensation and collection of water due to the temprature changes from start up to operating temp.
First, make sure your using the right oil which will help on start up. But I prefer one of the inline coffe pot type heaters. Biggest thing is keeping things just warm so everything doesn't just act like peanutbutter at start up.
You'll still have to let it idle so as to warm up the trans fluid. And depending on how cold it is, the gear lube may take a while.
don't forget to prep the air tanks so the break lines don't freeze up.
That's why on our dozers and such, the glow plugs are so helpful to help preheat the chambers. Older dozers use to have a decompression lever to hold the valves open and lett the motor start spinning to build up oil pressure before she started.
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