I had a lengthy discussion of Engine Heaters with a guru from Poplar Grove Airmotive.  PGA is a well-respected overhauler here in the Northern Midwest, and has state of art facilities.

He made the statement that he can tell which engines have had engine heaters in them the minute he opens the engines--and he wasn't smiling when he said it.

 

Engine heaters distill water-the byproduct of combustion-into the unheated areas of the engine.  The water beads there and corrodes.  And corrodes, and corrodes. 

 

Thus the water in your engine which would normally be dispersed in the oil in your sump now makes its way onto the sensitive wear areas in the upper areas of your engine, pitting hardened steel wear surfaces and effectively shortening engine life.

 

So you are faced with the question, do you want an early overhaul from engine heater use, or does the heater use lessen ring wear enough on startup to be worth the risk?

 

Forewarned is forearmed.

 

David Jones