Want to install an Engine Block Heater yourself? This guide may help.

That also is where mine failed.

 

It's been just over a year for me. I think mine quit this week....

 

To make the plugging in and out a little easier (for the male/female connection) I've heard that dielectric grease will make the transition a little easier but where do I put the grease...right on the three plug prongs on the male end before inserting into the female end? Just didn't want to do anything I'm not supposed to...thanks in advance for the help!

 

Hate sounding so dumb, but it is 6:30 in the morning and I'm not sure I'm understanding this correctly. New to the EBH situation. Have one which is dealer installed, but they just installed it and didn't route the cord through the grill. Bumped into this thread and all of the pictures.

To save the life of the EBH cord and plug are you saying you attach the EBH plug to an extension cord and then route that extension cord through the grill? Then one would plug that extention cord into another one which goes to the timer? Thank you for the clarification.

 

I think you got it. The idea is that in plugging and unplugging the EBH from the mains you move the plug end of the cable to the EBH. If you make a stubby extension cord and firmly secure the cable that comes with the EBH under the bonnet the only cable you will be bending or that might pull if you are a bit sleepy and back out with it still plugged in is a short 8 inch length of flex, cheap and easy to replace. It also keeps the plug in the EBH standard cord out of the weather avoiding corrosion to the pins.

Might even be a good idea to replace the plug on the short extension cord each fall (autumn) to remove a possible fail point.

 

Thank you both for your input. I sure don't want to have to repair or replace the EBH all of the time, so this solution makes perfect sense.

Might I ask you a few additional questions? Are you coming out of the top grill or the bottom one? Looks like the pictures at the start of this thread show the bottom one. It seems impossible to get a plug through the top one on our 2010, but haven't studied the bottom one yet.

Also, do you have any kind of a cap for the end of your 8" extension or just leave it as is? I live in Des Moines, IA and they use a lot of salt on the roads so assume the plug would get pretty dirty on a normal snowy day. Maybe you just keep a towel handy to wipe it off and wait until it's dry to plug it in.

The dealer just left the cord right there with the EBH, so it's not routed anywhere at this time. I'll take a closer look at the pics included in this thread again, but if anyone has any pics of where they routed/attached the cord on a 2010 through the engine compartment to come out of the grill would be great to see them.

Thank you again for your help.

 

Thank you! Checked 3 home improvement places this morning and seems like an 8" extension might be hard to come by. HD had a 9" but it was industrial strength and the plug was pretty big. Will continue to look around at some other places and on the net to see what else I can come up with.

Thanks again! Appreciate it.

 

If you check some previous threads you'll see that the extension others talk about came from office supply internet sites. It's meant to extend computer cords. Using it does not mean no problems will crop up. You'd have to make sure the original plug is solidly secured to the car to eliminate any flex behind the original plug head since that is the weak point. I've only had one cord failure since I started to beef-up the cord/strain relief with the wire loom. In any event, as jayman likes to point out the EBH cords in general for cars are not the most robust.

Wayne

 

Thanks for the input. Have been reading more threads this morning on the EBH. Enjoyed the older posts regarding the DNA Distribution Tour and the Tour Map. After reading all of this, I sure hope the dealer knew what they were doing when they installed ours. More than likely they haven't installed in as many as Wayne has. When I look on the Toyota website at our records, the only thing I know about it is that is says it is a EBH 900.

Will check out Walmart, Staples, etc for the 8 inch cord. Sounds like I need a 14 or 16 guage from what I read. Will check into a wire loom also. Yes, after reading a bunch of threads, it does sound like the EBH cords aren't that sturdy.

 

I'd make a cord. I know in Australia I can buy the plugs and sockets to make an extension cord. Buy the socket and use the cord from an old washing machine or something else that is designed for a wet environment and has a molded sealed plug. The socket will be out of the weather under the bonnet or behind the bumper cover. Wrap the plug and socket where the EBH and extension join in heavy plastic to protect it from water.

(liability waver) If you don't have the skills to do this have an electrician do it for you.

 

First, thanks a lot for this instruction, I just used it to install my EBH and it made my install absolutely peachy.

Second, just adding to the pile of data, my install was super-fast and easy - it took me longer to route the cable than it did to install the heater element! Locating the hole in the engine block was easy (and 90% of the work) once I knew what I was looking for.

I zip-tied the plug itself on the vertical frame of the front horizontal grills, just next to the driver side fog light - it doesn't move so I think I'll be okay with the cable flex issue. The beauty of this is that I can use the protective plug cover that came with the EBH. Time will tell if I have a good install...

 

Unsuccessful, need help

I am the first to admit when I'm unsuccessful.
I have a 2008 Prius.
I tried installing the EBH according to the guide. It took me a while to find the hole, and I had to turn the clip 90 degrees, otherwise it didn't clip to anything.
So with the EBH in, its orientation is such that the clip is on the down side of the EBH, the flat side of it is facing front and thus the cable would have to be oriented towards the back of the car.
I did try to rotate the EBH and definitely noticed that was the only possible way.
The problem I ended up having is that there seems to be no place for the cable, there is some kind of pipe in the way of the cable, not where it needs to go into the EBH but because it is shaped at 90 degrees from the EBH.
After 3 hours and multiple attempts I removed the EBH using a screw driver to push the clip. All I have to show for it is scratched hands...

I am in the Boulder / Louisville / Superior Colorado area. Is there anyone nearby that would be so kind to help with the installation?

Thanks,
Amnon

 

Installing EBH in Northern VA for $44

The guide posted here is really a great one, but for some time I have been looking for someone in the Northern Va area to do the install for me at a reasonable price. I am glad to be able to report that I found an installer and am glad to let others know about him.

Omar is the proprietor at the Chantilly Repair Center ( Chantilly Repair Center ) on Willard Rd in Chantilly. He is a Toyota Certified mechanic and has done good work for me. Last week while I was having him do a scheduled oil/filter change and a wheel alignment on my 2007 Prius, he also did the install of the EBH for $44. It did not include running the cabling out through the grill - I am doing that. Nonetheless, I thought this was very reasonable. I am not sure that the charge would be the same if you were not having any additional work done on your car - you will have to check with him on that score.

 

I think my EBH died sometime last week or so :/

I'm going to have to look and see if all this snow + road salt has corroded the plug/connector or something later. Though I sorta wish I followed up on this thread and bought extension cord for the plug-in end of it...

The good news is that it lasted 2 years since FireEngineer hooked it up with the strain relief + loom.

I hope that my dealer didn't sabotage my ebh when i took it in to have my coolant transfer pump changed...

 

Please e-mail me the directions for top install. My arms are just too short. I can barely touth the aperture much less hold and insert the cylinder [email protected] Thanks btw I found silicone thermal grease on Google under 2 bucks free shipping