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

[Mr.07Prius]

Great to know that someone took the time to do this with plenty of pictures. This will be of great help when I do this mod in the near future before witer gets here. Once again Thank you.

[Green Hokie]

You're welcome, everyone. It's just my way of giving back to this forum & its members who have been so helpful to me.

Wayne, thanks for the additional comments & tips. For me, putting just a small dab of grease into the opening of the hole prior to install made up for some of the grease I lost (scraped off) during the feel & insertion step. That small dab of grease will not fill the opening of the hole completely. Therefore, there's absolutely no risk for air to get trapped as you push the heating element into that slot.

I will try to brighten up the photos later tonight.

[Green Hokie]

OK, folks. Made a few changes to the guide, based on some of the feedback. Should be a little easier to follow now.

[hj0102]

I tried last night, I guess it took around 1 hour. I didn't want to crawl under the car, however, I did it.


I felt some hotness on heater which I put into engine block. I set timer, hope not to cook my prius tomorrow morning.


Thanks for wonderful picture, however my finger can't see that well.

[FireEngineer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hj0102 @ Jul 27 2007, 02:31 AM) [snapback]485999[/snapback]</div>

...I tried last night, I guess it took around 1 hour...
...hope not to cook my prius tomorrow morning....
[/b]

An hour is good for a first time. And don't worry, your Prius won't cook, just simmer nicely.

Wayne

[forwardswing]

Hi,
I want to purchase the EB Heater via the Group Buy but we are on 240 volts in the UK.
I can source a stepdown transformer but any advice on the load the heater would pull on max, so that I can ensure I do not blow the unit.
Many thanks

[Green Hokie]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(forwardswing @ Aug 3 2007, 05:36 PM) [snapback]490167[/snapback]</div>

Hi,
I want to purchase the EB Heater via the Group Buy but we are on 240 volts in the UK.
I can source a stepdown transformer but any advice on the load the heater would pull on max, so that I can ensure I do not blow the unit.
Many thanks
[/b]

Greetings! If I recall correctly, somewhere around 400-420 Watts max. Good luck!

[kohnen]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(forwardswing @ Aug 3 2007, 04:36 PM) [snapback]490167[/snapback]</div>

Hi,
I want to purchase the EB Heater via the Group Buy but we are on 240 volts in the UK.
I can source a stepdown transformer but any advice on the load the heater would pull on max, so that I can ensure I do not blow the unit.
Many thanks
[/b]

The heating element is just a fancy resistor. So, you can use the cheap voltage droppers (they work like light dimmers instead of transformers) that should be available. The heating element won't care if the Voltage to it is a nice smooth sine wave.

Something like the Recoton ADF1650 50/1600W Dual Wattage Travel Converter set at the high wattage (your heater won't care, sophisticated electronics would) would work fine.

(for those more technically inclined, the high wattage cheap converters work by only supplying small parts of the sine wave for each wave. They work like a non-adjustable light dimmer, set to the right level so that a 110 Volt bulb plugged into 220 Volt power would light up at the correct brightness. This approach is ideal for resistive loads, but electronics [computer power supplies, TVs etc.] will choke on it.)

[bruceha_2000]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Green Hokie @ Jul 15 2007, 09:09 PM) [snapback]479353[/snapback]</div>

This is a guide to help you install the EBH from the bottom of the vehicle. Nothing to remove, except the plastic engine cover (which is extremely easy). Here goes.
[/b]

Thanks ever so much. I just installed mine, took 1.5 hours (not including the 1/2 hour to make enough space in the garage to get the front 1/3rd of the car in it!!).
A few notes:

• I apparently don't NEED all of the skin on the back of my right hand or inside my elbow
• Figure out EXACTLY how the plug goes into the heater while you take Wayne's suggestion to put the plug on and pull it off a few times before starting the installation (VERY GOOD SUGGESTION). After the heater is in and you still can't see anything, knowing that the angled part of the plug will be in line with the clip (I THINK, I'm not taking it out to check!!) on the heater will save some time and frustration. Once you get it on, PUSH HARD to seat it. There really is NO easy way to get a good angle for this.
• When you lower the plug down behind the coolant tank, drape the business end over the front bumper. I found it necessary to pull it some with my left hand to get the heater plug in the right general place with my right hand. The plastic over the wire tends to hang up on stuff.
• Take a good look at the 5th picture before you start. It took me some time to figure out that the heater goes in perpendicular to the 3 preceding pictures which are really just to make sure you are shoving your hand in the right general place.
• The slot is much higher up than I was expecting, perhaps the camera shots are compressing the distance
• You can feel the shape of the heater slot shown in the 5th picture. Run your finger to the left and find the hole on the perpendicular surface going forward. When your finger finds the hole, the upper edge of your hand is touching a heater hose (I think).
• 
  I spent a good half hour finding the hole and doing the test insertion a BUNCH of times trying to figure out how I was going to hit it after the heater was all greased up. A slight tilt down on the plug end seemed to work best. Of course, after it was greased, figuring out how to get it back up to the whole without touching anything was still a challenge.
• The lower grills to the left of the vertical support shown in the last picture will deflect some. I managed to get my hand in to grab the plug. I then followed Green Hokie's example and put the plug out near the fog light and the cap out on the other side of the vertical grill support then wire tied the wire to the support. As shown in his picture, it is barely visible when capped and pushed into the grill but easy to get out for use.

OK, now I have a question. For those of you who don't garage the car, do you use some sort of weather protection on the plug overnight? Seems like the connection shouldn't be just hanging out in the rain and snow when plugged in. BTW, I installed a new 20A GFI breaker and new outdoor outlets so I'm not worried about frying anything, just want a dry connection.

Thanks,
Bruce

[CIA_Guy]

Okay...dumb question here....other than waiting for the next group buy, where can I buy a block heater for my Prius? I searched the forum, but didn't see a link to a website.