Hi there, anyone have a Toyota based tech guide for the installation of a block heater? I would imagine the location of the heater element would be in the same place as the prior gen but man there is a lot more stuff crammed in. Would love to see how Toyota tells their techs to do it so I can figure out how to wrangle it in before the Minnesota winter hits with my new to me 2016 Thanks
If there are any and you find one that makes it any easier to install on your model, count yourself in with the other lucky people that actually found the mounting hole in the block. Another easier way to battle winter temps ( if you have a way to monitor coolant temps ) is grille block. I use large soft pipe insulation for the big grille opening and the regular pipe insulation for the smaller grille openings cut and trimmed to fit. I also use the car scanner app to monitor the coolant temp,
I've some gen 3 info, one link in my signature*, for what it's worth. I've done an install on our 2010, and it was a bear, getting all the adjacent conduits, bracket and what-have-you, disconnected and shifted sufficiently to get the damn thing outside the hole and perpendicular to it to go in. And yeah, fourth gen, with the battery in the engine bay, is even more crowded. Paramount tip: don't apply the heat grease till you've managed to get it in. Then back it almost out, reach the grease in on a finger tip, apply it lberally, use it all, then work it back in, twisting, keeping it perpendicular, trying not to scrape it off too much. Attach the wiring clip beforehand as well. * on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures.
Good information from both, I have definitely made use of a grille block and was planning on making one for the upper portion of the non-auto louvered grill for this new to me Prius. Like implied above, I have installed the same block heater on a 2013 Prius C and a 2012 Prius V so I did have a feeling the location for the hole is the same place - it's just that the 2016 appears to have so much more 'stuff' in the way. Was hoping to see some sort of diagram/step by step process that the techs use to figure out my best route of attack, but now I suppose when I dive in, I'll just full send it and learn as I go
I can't remember if I removed the wipers and cowl (again, on our gen 3). That might help, with doing from above. I suspect I didn't though. From above I unbolted some brackets, used cords and whatever to pull everything away as much as possible. Then raised the front end, and removed the underpanel, did the install from below. I still needed to practically pry something with all my strength, to gain a few mm clearance. It's one thing to have the block heater element ensconced in it's hole, but before that can happen it also needs to be outside of the hole, another 4~5 inches back. And that's nigh impossible. Lying under there, basically going by feel, with an arm on both sides of the drive shaft, scraping edges with your knuckles and arms, applying dabs heat transfer grease (once you've got it in once, then pulled it back out). So much fun...
I've never verified that my grille shutters close. I even took the car to the dealer to ask about the possibility of the shutters being disabled (by whomever). I was quoted $100 to check and didn't need to know that bad. Hence the full grille block when temps drop well below freezing for extended periods. Besides it's easy to remove and install as temps change and it does a way better job of insulating the engine bay that the the shutters, IMO, whether the shutters on my Prime actually open and close or not. rambling below I found a piece of straw in the grille once and thought that might be a good way to check if the shutters actually operate, but well, now I don't care until I get techstream and can read more of what the car is doing myself and not have to believe whatever a dealer service department has to tell me. If I had an extra grand I'd already have the new mongoose - super goose bt / usb model that is all the Opus mongoose passthrough in one. I still wouldn't be able to use it on our 2 hondas though without knowing a Honda tech that could smuggle the HDS to me.
Alright update on this! And hopefully I can help anyone stumbling across this in the future - SO, looking in the engine bay from the front of the car, the block heater hole is on the back side of the engine (toward the passenger compartment) with the opening facing towards the drivers side/inverter. You can reach up from underneath the car, snake your hand around/under the exhaust manifold and feel the opening. How I got it in, was to use a helper with two pry bars coming in from above between the engine and inverter, while I had one hand up from beneath. it took a bit of finangling but there is juuuust enough room to start it sliding into the block heater hole. Once you start it, you will then want to apply the dielectric grease as liberally as possible (all by feel) before sliding it the rest of the way in. Finally you have your helper feed you the cord from the front of the engine bay and connect it (again all by feel). Works great and does a great job at giving the engine that little bit of extra heat to reduce the strain of cold starts here in Minnesota and also providing cabin heat quicker!
