Block heaters and other options for a cold winter.

I recently borrowed a '94 Firefly (swift/sprint/metro) which, despite having been used through nearly a decade of cold Canadian winters, had no cord to plug in the block heater.

Now, it seems to me that it's awfully unlikely that it has no block heater, but I really don't know a damn thing about them. There's an unoccupied square, two-prong plug on the back of the engine, so it seems likely that that's the thing. I found some replacement cords at Canadian Tire, but they all use a rounded three-prong plug. Searching the internet for this part has been pretty hopeless.

So, does anyone know the proper terms for the parts involved, or a good supplier, or can tell me whether I'm just plain barking up the wrong tree? I'd really appreciate any advice on this subject, or general info on block heaters.

One interesting thing I've heard of is a magnetic oil-pan heater, as a cheap, temporary, portable gadget: you reach under your car, stick it to the oil pan, then plug it in. Has anyone tried using one of these? If so, where did you get it, and were you happy with how it worked?

I'd be curious to hear about anyone else's troubles with block heaters and how they fixed them.

Different manufacturers often use their own plugs, newer plugs often differ from older ones so it can be difficult to find parts that fit.

Block heaters (coolant) are of two types; one that is bolted to the block and heats it and the other type has a heat element inside the block (in the coolant ducts). What type to use depends on the casting of the block (open deck blocks usually needs the first type).

Some more info about heaters should be found here:
http://www.defa.com/heating.php3?lang=

th oil pan heater should be pretty good for you if it is pretty cheep, one of the biggest thing to prevent a cold engine from turning over is that the oil pump simpy cant pump thick goo.