On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:54:59 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Jules Richardson wrote:
On Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:08:27 -0700, harry wrote:
The main benefit of an electric oil pump is that you can start it
before starting the IC engine so reducing wear to almost nil.

Does it make a significant difference? It's still going to be pumping
cold oil, and for any engine that was recently run I'd expect it to
have a film of oil still clinging to any sliding surfaces.

And pumping oil through a stationary engine will have virtually no
effect. It certainly won't coat all the bearing faces.

Indeed; and even if it does allow the oil to coat the surfaces more
quickly once things do start rotating, I think it needs the oil to be
warm before it'll really do its job properly anyway.

Pre-heating everything prior to start might be kinder, but that takes
power (or, if you're a little farther north than me, lighting a fire
under the engine block isn't unheard of ;-)

An immersion heater in the block coolant is a good way. Makes for a near
instant heater too.

Yes, common around these parts. I've got one fitted to the van, but have
never used it - when it's -30 outside it's too much hassle to plug it
into the AC and then anticipate what time I'll need it next so I can set
a timer to kick the heater on.

Some vehicles have oil pre-heat - either in the sump, or an external kind
which mounts to the sump via magnets (and I'm really not convinced of the
latter's ability to stay put!).

Oh, and heating pads which sit under the battery to keep it cosy, too.

cheers

Jules