GEN III Engine Block Heater Installation

Hi Grant,
No I got the car in July and of course we haven't had any snow yet. I have steel wheels and plan to get some nice studded tires soon. I suspect will will to just as good as my 97 Camry or better. Still not looking forward to driving with the idiots though...

PM me if you want to talk more about the car.

Peter

 

Yes, but since they're for a lexus they are probably useless. It's just one page printed front and back and looks like it came out of a copy machine.

The cul-de-sac in Naperville sounds like the easiest option for all, and should be fun to see 4-5 2010 Prii side by side. Sent you a PM.

 

OK, now that I'm back from the east coast let's plan the Chicago Block Heater event. Need a day and place. Shall we start a separate thread since this one is more generic.

Wayne

 

We probably should start a new thread. Saturdays work great for me.

 

I am sorry to say, but I no longer own a Prius, so I will not be hosting (i was excited to meet everyone).

P.S. if anyone is looking for a new, never-installed EBH, let me know.

 

If I may, when you route the power cord for the heater, locate it in such a way so that when you forget to un-plug it, driving away will cause it to unplug without causing any damage to the car. You or you "other" will eventually drive away with the car still plugged in. I know I did with my truck, but since I had been warned, it didn't hurt anything.

 

Sorry to hear hope everything is all right.
I'll try to find a buyer for the EBH.

 

I would be interested in the EBH. I live in Bartlett

 

If you haven't heard back from him he's got it listed in the private sales forum.

 

Thanks.
He sent me a PM. I should have the EBH in the mail shortly.

Has any time been set for a EBH install party?

 

I helped Wayne research doing block heaters on the Gen III back
at Hybridfest, and we got a bunch of pictures of our exploratory
process. I've written it up, available here, and referencing
my gen-2 instructions and that other long-running "want to install
a block heater yourself?" thread.
.
I deliberately did *not* include anything about routing the power
cord for the heater. That's something that DIYers can figure out
their own preferred path on! At the end it shows what can happen
when those cheezy molded plugs get a little too much abuse.
.
_H*

 

H

Good writeup as usual

Those molded plugs will fail due to all the flexing they experience. Not only from plugging in and unplugging, but also from flapping around in the breeze driving down the highway

I've never gotten more than 3 winters out of a heater plug before it failed. Don't just chop off right at the plug, as I can almost guarantee the stranded wire inside has failed as well, due to the repeated flexing. Chop at least 2 inches further up the plug

Like you, I much prefer "real" plugs. I like these

http://www.passandseymour.com/pdf/H07.pdf

They have the plastic inserts to hold small, flat cordsets. For making "real" extension cords, the inserts can be thrown away. Actually, for heavy duty cordsets, I prefer this plug

http://www.passandseymour.com/pdf/H05.pdf

This way, the cord goes straight down and there is little strain on the cord

 

Just curious, what is the lifespan on these heaters?
Peter

 

Most blockheaters, I've managed to get 4-6 years before they burned out. That is, not a dead short, but just open. Keep in mind I live in a pretty harsh winter climate, it can get to -40, so folks tend to leave their block heaters plugged in 24x7 once cold weather hits

 

Thanks much for posting the instructions with great photos. You describe going in from the top to do the described installation but imply that it can be done from underneath. Can the install be done from underneath except for the 110 VAC cord routing?

 

Yes, you can install the heater from underneath and not take apart the cowl, my prefered way. You still need to unbolt the wire retainer from the top, but then open the oil change flap underneath and you can easily reach the cylinder to insert the heater.

Wayne

 

OK everyone in the Chicagoland area and anyone else who wants to make the drive, here is the Chicago event http://priuschat.com/forums/il-chic...goland-engine-block-heater-install-event.html.

Wayne

 

I installed the BH in my gen3, and when I plugged it in to test, there was a faint wisp of smoke coming from the heater area. Wasn't easy to see the exact source. I would not be surprised if this is just the heater burning off some lighter compounds and burping them out past the silicone grease, but wondered if anyone else has seen this?

Thanks FireEngineer and Hobbit, very helpful writeup!

 

Thanks to the Hobbit and Wayne, I installed the EBH on my new Gen III yesterday. I have to admit it was a bit of an ordeal. After staring at the Toyota install instructions for 30 minutes and thinking "I can't even understand this", I remembered that the Hobbit had instructions too. After removing the 10 mm bolt holding the black plastic retainer bracket, I could not remove the gray connector that is probably the position resolver connection for MG1 - mostly because I couldn't get a good grip on it. I installed the EBH from the below the engine, as I had done twice before on my Gen II. Cable routing was also a bit of a mystery to me, so I'm not sure I have it in a good location. As the engine was still quite warm, I used a piece of cardboard from the packing box to shield my arm when reaching for the hole from below. I also made a little pigtail cable from an old power strip and a female connector. The connector was recommended by jayman - and it's available at Home Depot (Extra-hard use connector from Pass & Seymour). The pigtail will reduce the wear-and-tear on the original plug that comes with the EBH, as I learned here on PriusChat. I spent about 3 hours on this, and I'm happy with the result. Today morning the coolant temp was over 70 C and the engine cut off (stage 4, I think) after only about 60 seconds from Ready. Ambient temp was about 70 F.

 

I just installed my block heater last night in my GenIII Prius. This forum and Hobbits pictorial tutorial were invaluable. I never would have figured out how to install it without those instructions.

I did everything from above the car, I didnt have to get under it. As I don't have any ramps, I started to jack the car up with the spare tire jack and tried to use cinder blocks to hold it up. But it quickly became obvious that was a REALLY bad idea, so I abandoned the idea of getting under the car.

I then found a solution that worked really well. After removing the wiper tray and unscrewing the wire bracket as Hobbit described, I put a thick blanket over the engine and then climbed up and lay down on the engine. My feet were sticking out over the passenger side fender. I was able to move my left hand behind the engine and up under all the wires and was able to immediately put my finger in the EBH hole.

Then it was a simple matter of pushing the wires out of the way, testing the fit, adding the grease, and sliding it in. It would go in half way, then get hung up on an unseen wire bundle, but after some poking and pushing wires, it went right in.

Total time for the job was just under 3 hours, and that counts the 45 minutes of trying to get the car jacked up, which again, I admit, without the proper equipment is stupid and potentially dangerous. Don't do that.

Gary