Sorry to "rain on your parade" - I have the same heater......

It basically heats the oil that sits in the bottom of the pan, or so it
seems. Doesn't heat up the block. It does not do a good enough job to enable
good starting in our winters.

We have really really cold winters in Winnipeg!

What would be better is a heater that would fit into the frost plugs of the
block - that's how normally a block heater works - keeps the coolant warm.
My 84 Westy doesn't have frost plugs! - give me a break (pun)!

An reasonable alternative to the aforementioned pan heater is a heater that
gets inserted into a rad hose. (thermostat controlled) They really work!
Pretty expensive here ($30 - $40 CDN) for such things - but are readily
available.

Hope this helps.

Marshall Ruskin

-----Original Message-----
From: Fitz-Randolph, Douglas <dfrandolph@TALKAM.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Thursday, June 24, 1999 5:42 PM
Subject: Syncro Engine Block Heater Mystery Solved!! (long story, happy en
ding)

>I realize this isn't really the season when people think about stuff like
>this, but I was sooo excited I had to tell someone who *might* care...
>
>After some particularly cold weather back in February, I started trying to
>find out about getting a block heater for my '90 syncro who does lots of
>nasty things on very cold mornings. Went to the VW dealer - they had one -
a
>little metal "brick" that bolted onto the bottom of the engine case. It was
>part# ZVP 289 104 and, according to the book, fit all Vanagons, EXCEPT the
>syncro. Nothing at all was available for the syncro - Bummer! Then I ran
>across Harry Yates' website when he was selling his syncro Westie - and he
>had a block heater listed as one of the options. I e-mailed him, and he was
>good enough to go out and look under his van to get the part numbers. He
>gave me the following: "CSA Model OP-8 LR 20976 Made in Canada". I couldn't
>find any reference to that part anywhere, and it appeared to be a non-VW
>part. Where to find one? Who knows. Oh well.
>
>I then posted a question about the topic on the westfalia.org forum. Mike
>Soehnlein (Capt. Mike) responded that he had fit the non-syncro VW part
(ZVP
>289 104) on his syncro, but in looking at it, it looked like he had to bend
>the part a bit and drop the skid frame to get it in. Hmmm...
>
>Shortly thereafter, I posted a question to the Vanagon list - several
people
>replied - I believe they were all from Canada - with the same info as
Harry:
>"Model OP-8 etc." It was beginning to look like this was a Canada-only
part.
>David Hayward even had the original part number from his invoice - it was
A
>009 203 H. I called the dealer in BC he recommended, as well as a few other
>Canadian dealers - no luck. The  A 009 203 H  number was obsolete and had
>been replaced with the ZVP 289 104 number. Oh well, I thought, they must
>have found a new supplier for the part when they changed the number, and
the
>new model doesn't fit the syncro.
>
>About a month ago, I was ordering some parts from Bus Depot - Ron had the
>ZVP 289 104 block heater for not too much $, so I figured I'd give it a
shot
>and see just how much I'd have to bend it to make it fit. When I placed the
>order, Ron (correctly) told me that this part won't fit the syncro models.
>"I know", I said.
>
>Well, when the order arrived on my front porch, I went right for the block
>heater. It was in a nice, sturdy little box clearly labeled ZVP 289 104. I
>opened the box and pulled out the shiny little thing and lo and behold -
>what was stamped on it but "CSA Model OP-8 LR 20976 Made in Canada"! They
>were the same part all along!! (And the "CSA" was that electrical
>certification symbol you see on all kinds of electrical items (a circle
with
>the SA inside of the C), and the "LR 20976" must be the certificate number,
>cause my coffee maker's got an "LR number" too!)
>
>It fit my syncro just fine - I didn't even have to drop the skid frame. It
>was as simple as removing one nut and one bolt, bending one of the little
>tabs slightly to clear the stud on the engine case, then replacing the nut
>and bolt. I used a bunch of zip-ties to safely route the cord up to the
>license plate door and voila! One engine block heater installed, probably
>about 40 minutes work!
>
>I wish all Vanagon stories had such a happy ending! Thanks to all who
>contributed.
>
>Doug Fitz-Randolph
>Yarmouth, ME
>dfrandolph@talkam.net
>'90 Syncro
>