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

taking the garage with it!

 

does the priuschat shoppe sell them?

 

PriusChat Shop - Search Results for "Block Heater"

 

Yes. Best price I could find as well.

 

I don't see why one couldn't devise an automatic plug-in arrangement so you could just drive up and have a car-mounted probe plug into a female connector of some kind, a la the aerial refueling systems used by the military. It'd be a dandy project.

 

me neither.

 

Because, the 120V AC power would be live on those pins as soon as the cord were plugged in.
Try placing your tongue across the live pins to experience the safety issue.

 

The prongs are on the car side of the connection. But yeah, this wouldn't fly.

I run my extension cord from a timer, loop it around the leg of a barbecue we have parked at the head of the parking bay, and then about 4~5', to reach the plug-in at front lower grill. That cord is double zip-tied to a lower grill slat, with an inch or two between. In the event I forget to disconnect (happens once or twice per year) the connection pulls straight out, and it's easy enough that nothing gets stretched, ends up dragging on the ground.

 

The prong side is the male connector. I was responding to @mfa-prius about why having the female end there is an unsafe, likely illegal, idea.

 

Well, duh! That's the whole point. But place a timer and fuses ahead of the probe receptacle (I'll call it the "basket"), so that it would be live only during the time you wanted heat, and place a safety switch and the contactors inside the basket, so that it would be hard to get your tongue in there in the first place, and it would be plenty safe. I'm actually pretty far along with the design, and might have a prototype working in a week or so. Another reason to buy my 3D printer . And having the probe visible at the front of the car would be way cool, although the biggest design issue right now is protecting the probe from damage during normal driving..

 

Any better if you back in to park? A connector at the rear of the vehicle might be more out of the way.

 

The male end of the block heater I installed years ago, had a cap on the end to protect the prongs.

 

This new improved model did also, but the cap doesn't fit over the plug. In my design, the original plug would be plugged into a cord connecting to the probe; only the probe would be exposed.

 

Good idea, but my garage is tricky to get into, and I'm more comfortable heading in. Right now, I've got my eye on a circular disk in the L side of the bumper that looks removable. No idea what it is, though, but it'd be a good spot for the probe. I'd like to make the probe retractable, but first things first.

 

Mine did too, till I ground it, and half the plug off, on the road one time.

 

A heads up for you gentlemen with big hands. I tried to install the block heater from underneath but "no joy". I would suggest if you have big hands like me it was far easier to install from the top, yes it took about 25 minutes to get the wiper cowl off. But you have so much more room to work with and you can see a tiny little sliver of your work environment rather than pure feel.

Also cover the exhaust tin with electrical tape as it will cut the ^&*% out of you.

****TIP*** I loosely added a zip tie to the block heater as a handle and slide it off the end after the install. Good Luck

 

They should them in at the factory, in all of 'em!

 

I bought the block heater when my 2008 was new and tried installing it from underneath and failed. I had the car for ten years and never tried installing it again and gave it away this summer brand new.
Maybe if the car was on a lift it would help.

 

Tried to install ebh in my 2007 prius. I got my arm in there and tried to put heater unit in but it is too long to get lined up. The unit is 3.5 “ long. Is there a shorter heater element that I should know about? The kit I have looks identical to the one shown. Thanks in advance, Andy

 

Getting enough room to position the heater element outside the hole it goes into was my problem as well, albeit on a 3rd gen. I loosened and shifted electrical conduits, used cords to pull, pry and tie everything out of the way. It was barely doable, but poor design from Toyota. I’m sure dealership mechanics were cursing.

don’t put the heat transfer grease on ‘til the very last moment, after you’ve got it positioned and trial inserted, are sure it’ll go. Then back it out, apply grease (blindly) and insert. Rotate it and try to avoid scraping the grease off.

see link in my signature.