Location Of Block Heater Port On Previa

Do you folks know where the port for the block heater, the little thing that warms up the engine when you plug it in during winter, is located on the engine?

Thanks

Reply to
xmitto
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There are several types of block heaters. The dipstick type just replaces the factory dipstick, and the freeze plug heaters are installed in place of the freeze plugs on the side of the block.

Reply to
Ray O

I think the best ones are the "tank type" heaters - no messing with freeze plugs that might leak on you, they go in the heater hose. Problems being you have to figure out how to splice it into the heater hoses, and you have to have a place to mount it. On some cars, under hood room is at a premium, which is when you fall back to the freeze plug style.

And if you are headed into seriously cold territory, you want to do two more things. First, run a full synthetic motor oil (Mobil-1) to reduce friction losses at cold temperatures and to let the oil get flowing and lubricating far faster. Don't change back and forth, it is very hard on the seals and gaskets - run the synthetic year round, the added engine life is worth the few extra dollars on the oil changes.

Second, add a battery heater. It looks and acts like a little electric blanket (with a sealed vinyl cover) wrapped around the battery. The engine itself can be nice and warm from the block heater, but if the battery is frozen it won't put out enough power to spin the starter motor, and you still won't get the car started.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

The very best thing you can do is move out of the cold country....

Reply to
Scott in Florida

True - or never move there in the first place... But then you get the urge to go skiing or snowmobiling, or other sports that by necessity send you back to those cold places. And you still need to get the car started in the morning to go home.

Block heaters are also good for backup generators and emergency vehicles like fire trucks and ambulances, where you want the engine to start on the first pull and go straight to full load.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

The idea of this "tank heater" sounds interesting to me. First, there is a fair amount of room under the hood in a Previa, and second the engine is not undre the hood. Where can I find that "tank heater" on the web? A search on eBay turned up nothing under the category "Cooling."

I am planning to head to Edmonton, Alberta.

Thanks

Reply to
xmitto

I take my car up to cold country in New England in the dead of winter and have never had a problem starting the car there.

Of course there are colder places like Minneapolis MN. I got off the plane once on a business trip....the temperature was -20 or 30 as I recall. The rental car gal told me it might help if I plugged the car in when I got to the motel and also at the business I was calling on... I did and the car started right up.

I used to live in Chicago and it DOES get cold there, too.

Like I said...move out of that weather. You can also go back if you really want to freeze ur butt off...LOL

Reply to
Scott in Florida

This web site has lots of various winter automotive heating products:

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If the link doesn't work, google "winter hose heater" - the link was the 3rd one on the list.

Reply to
Ray O

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Kim makes the big tank style heaters for trucks and tractors, and they have a few small ones for cars, too - the TPS and TPT models. The TPS comes in 500 watts for "cold areas" and 1000 watts for "damned cold areas".

Not sure whose they carry at NAPA, but they have them.

The battery blanket wouldn't hurt. The engine is protected by antifreeze, and a good synthetic oil will still flow nicely at 60 below. But the battery acid freezes if it hits "damned cold" and the acid is diluted because the battery is not fully charged.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

I'm impressed that you know so much about this stuff when you live in sunny CA!

Reply to
Ray O

One, it's not all sunny beach life. There's a significant population up in the mountains that have to worry about this stuff, so we are familiar with the stuff - just most of us don't have to buy it.

The High Desert gets overnight freezes fairly regularly, as can be witnessed by the insulated water-regulator enclosures and fire sprinkler standpipes there. But normally not Below Zero cold for extended periods.

And two, it's an impressive sound when a properly pre-warmed (with Kim heaters on the coolant and crankcase) Mitsubishi Marine V-16 Quad Turbo Diesel attached to a 750KW 480V alternator automatically lights off, comes up to speed and takes the entire Granada Hills Switchroom building (including 50 tons of air conditioning) with a big Ka-CHUNK of the transfer switch.

Makes my little 10KW generator sound like a flea fart. ;-P

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

I recall arriving in the SF Bay area on Labor Day weekend and visiting the Golden Gate Bridge. The temps were probably in the 60's and the locals were wearing winter jackets. Being from Chicago, I thought that those people had no tolerance for the cold, but a year later, I was among the ranks of jacket-wearers when the temps hit the 60's ;-)

I think modern passenger vehicles can tolerate the coldest temps in California without any special modifications as long as they are in decent shape. Most vehicles running around the Chicago area don't have anycold weather modifications. I think you need to be in Canada before you start seeing the plug-ins on the parking meters.

Yup, that would get anyone's attention!

Reply to
Ray O

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The stuff on Canadian Tire looks good to me. I think I'll wait until I get there. If everythig goes by plan, I should be there before the snow starts to fly.

Thank you all for the information.

Reply to
xmitto

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