I'd love to know what you did the last 2 weeks then..... LOL I was freezing. I'm rocking' cardboard on the grill like it was 1980 all over again.
Oil pan heaters are generally magnetic are they not? if so, you're gonna have a tough time with that as our pans are aluminium.
I plug my block heater in religiously, but when it hit -27c last week my CRD was really growly-pants about starting and took a couple tries. I'd like to check the current on that 120v circuit with my amprobe to see if the heater is actually working or not. I have heard that there is a certain year and make of minivan that had a 120v coolant pump that you plugged in like a block heater. I'm gonna research that more to see about running those 2 in tandem on one plug. makes way more sense to have a circ pump as well as a heating element rather than rely on convection alone, but i'm in commercial construction not automotive by trade so I could very well be talking out of me arse.