My Engine Block Heater install

wayne is truly the engine block heater master! glad to know you're set there, rangerdavid

we had a great time meeting wayne, teresa and richard yesterday. have a safe trip back, guys!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Mar 4 2007, 12:32 PM) [snapback]399916[/snapback]</div>

He's up to 18 now. He stopped here a while ago to do mine.

When I told my fiancee of this arrangement a few days ago, her response was along the lines of: "Let me make sure I understand this. This is some guy you met on the internet. You've never seen or talked to him. He's driving to the East Coast from Chicago. To install some part on your car to help you get better gas mileage. And not charge you. All because he wants to help you." My initial response was along the lines of: "Yes. Is there a problem?" After I explained things she was still skeptical. Understandably, I guess.

Tony, my grill is already blocked, so we had no need to make a hurried trip to Lowe's.

Galaxee, I understand he helped you reduce your old parts inventory.

I echo David's thanks, not only to Wayne but also to his family. Teresa looked pretty uncomfortable with her bum foot, but absolutely no complaints. Three cheers for the three road warriors!

 

I cant tell by the pictures but, is this EBH the same as a factory one? or is it just something the gets warm and sits in front of the radiator?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TomorrowMatters @ Mar 5 2007, 03:18 AM) [snapback]400223[/snapback]</div>

It is one that comes from Toyota (at least through dealers in Canada), and it fits into a milled (or drilled) existing hole in the block. I.e., I guess it comes factory installed in some locations, but apparently not in th U.S.

Dave M.

 

Just got in at 7:00 AM from the "Mid-Atlantic engine block heater install trip". Great to meet everyone, just wish we could have spent more time but the cat, ferrets and...oh, my daughter were expecting us home.

Almost 1,900 miles of driving in two days. The Prius performed beautifully. Round trip used 3.5 tanks of gas. Mountain driving was fun, the Kentucky and North Carolina portions returned about 55 MPG and a lot of green SOC staying off the Interstates. Lost some of that in Virginia which was more open and the wind was really whipping. Really tanked the MPG into the low 40's going home through Virginia and West Virginia since we were more concerned about time than MPG.

Anyone else need a block heater installed, maybe somewhere closer like within 40 miles due north in a far northern Chicago suburb B) .

I think I'll go to bed.

Wayne

 

Hi Ranger, Jimbo, and Galaxee....

It was such a pleasure meeting you all this weekend!!! I always enjoy meeting the folks that Wayne talks about, and finally having faces to actually go along with the screen names!

I will tell you this much.. everything I have ever heard about Southern Hospitality is so very true! You all were so hospitable and kind to Wayne, Rich, and myself.. Thank you all so much!!! I truly hope that we can all get together again one day, and I sure hope to see you at the Hybrid Fest this year..

Galaxee.. make sure you and Doug contact us if you come Chicago way.. we will provide you a place to stay and show you a great time here! Chicago is a fun place! I look forward to talking to you further and getting to know you better! And Doug is just awesome.. his sense of humor was great! Reminded me so much of our beloved Tony and of Wayne!! Be on the lookout for an email from me later this week!

Jimbo, I can honestly understand your fiancee's response!! Seeing as there are a lot of wacky people on the internet, I can understand her being a bit wary.. (sp?)... She is a great gal, and I enjoyed our conversation while you guys were busy. Thank you very much for lunch! Ledo's is a great place! Rich ended up eating my leftovers today for lunch since his tummy was not feeling well yesterday.. he is better now.. wish I could say the same about mine!

Ranger, you had no reason to worry about the pizza! I will take N. Carolina Pizza over Chicago Pizza anyday!!! Yummy!! Thank you for lunch.. it was very, very good!!!

Wayne took a little nap this afternoon, then headed to the store, came home and crashed again after dinner.. (7:30 PM), and I expect he will be out for the rest of the night.. took us a long time to get home, and he even had to pull off at a rest stop a couple of times to nap for a bit.. he was so tired.. Hopefully next time, we won't have to hurry back, and can stay longer than a day.. so much to see and do, and great people to visit!! Next time, you hopefully will get to meet the daughter... she is a great kid too! And yes, Rich is an awesome kid.. we are very proud of them both!

Well, I am going to go and try to get some sleep now.. be back to catch up later this week!

Again, thank you so much for all your wonderful hospitality!!!! It was a blast!!!

Teresa

 

Another converted from the masses. Doing number 19 tomorrow.

Wayne

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Mar 9 2007, 07:16 PM) [snapback]403087[/snapback]</div>

You couldn't have said it better, David.

My first morning commute post-installation was with temps in the mid-20s. Didn't matter to Prius with her warm engine. The initial coolant temp shown on the ScanGauge was 136F. Predictably it dropped after the thermos coolant dumped into the system, but it quickly rose again, up to about 160 at the 2-mile mark. The first 5 minute segment saw about 40 MPG, unheard of (for me, that is) even in summer. The entire 9.3 mile commute was 60.3.

Yesterday was even better. Light Saturday morning traffic allowed for pulse & glide opportunities not usually available during the week. Part of the problem previously is that some of those are early in the commute, where historically the ICE is not warm enough for an ICE-off glide. No problem yesterday; I was doing ICE-off glides a mile into the commute, with OAT of 32F. The first 5 minute segment was at about 45 MPG.

Wayne, you'll be happy to know I'm already proselytizing. I've recommended the EBH already in two other threads.

 

FireEngineer: To bad I don't line close to Chicago, as I will have a EBH installed in mine. After reading these posts I am, I am sure that it would help me.

 

I have mine in the box waiting for an install. After reading all the posts I could find and studying all the pictures (especially thanks to Ken!), I could easily identify visually where it plugs in and I could feel it with my fingers--even producing a pop sound when I drew my finger out! I was under the car installing my new BT Stiffening Plate and wondered if I could see and feel where it goes. I wish I had more time or I would have snapped the unit in and ran the coard later.

I am looking forward to using the heater even on moderate days, the way I figure even on warm day's the engine is way below optimal temp after sitting overnite. I am thinking of using it year round at night and adjusting the heat up time every month or so to get the engine to optimal temp to start my day.

What do you guys think of year-round use?

Lee B)

 

well dang, now we need to make it an even 20... who near chicago needs an ebh install?

 

I must be #14 or so - had mine done at the February marathon in Pewaukee.

I mentioned blocking the grill with pipe insulation foam to my son who drives a Honda Civic Hybrid. Yesterday he reported that he tried it & his mileage really improved. Unfortunately a piece of mine vanished - noticed it was missing one day when I went to plug in the block heater. I doubt that I will replace it until next winter.

 

Please would somebody explain what a block heater is and how it works? In real simple terms, slow-like...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusRos @ Mar 12 2007, 05:54 PM) [snapback]404414[/snapback]</div>

Pretty simple: It warms your engine block to substantially higher-than-ambient temperatures. The Prius' fuel economy is better with a warm engine than cold, so the idea is to boost MPG, especially for short drives where FE is at its worst..

As previously mentioned, there is a hole drilled in the engine block from the factory that's designed for the heater. The heater is installed into that hole, and a power cable with a standard 110V AC plug on the other end is routed through the engine compartment to be accessible from the outside, most often through the lower grill I would guess (which is where mine is). The plug is plugged into an extension cord which is then plugged into any household AC jack. In my case, I have it plugged into a outdoor jack through an outdoor Intermatic timer set to turn on about 3 hours before I leave home.