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

<xmitto@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1156541310.595601.44890@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> 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
>[/color]

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.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 04:38:29 GMT, Bruce L. Bergman
<blPYTHONbergman@earthlink.invalid> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 19:23:22 -0500, "Ray O"
><rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:[color=green]
>><xmitto@aol.com> wrote in message
>>news:1156541310.595601.44890@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...[/color]
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> 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?[/color]
>>
>>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.[/color]
>
> 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.
>
> --<< Bruce >>--[/color]

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


--

Scott in Florida

'The Land of the Free Thanks to the Brave'

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 14:44:53 GMT, Scott in Florida
<askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
>The very best thing you can do is move out of the cold country....[/color]

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.

--<< Bruce >>--

Bruce L. Bergman wrote:[color=blue]
>
> 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.
>[/color]
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."
[color=blue]
> 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.
>[/color]
I am planning to head to Edmonton, Alberta.

Thanks

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 15:29:20 GMT, Bruce L. Bergman
<blPYTHONbergman@earthlink.invalid> wrote:
[color=blue]
>On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 14:44:53 GMT, Scott in Florida
><askifyouwant@mindspring.net> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>The very best thing you can do is move out of the cold country....[/color]
>
>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.
>
> --<< Bruce >>--[/color]

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

--

Scott in Florida

'The Land of the Free Thanks to the Brave'

<xmitto@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1156607252.965467.213110@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> Bruce L. Bergman wrote:[color=green]
>>
>> 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.
>>[/color]
> 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."
>[color=green]
>> 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.
>>[/color]
> I am planning to head to Edmonton, Alberta.
>
> Thanks
>[/color]

This web site has lots of various winter automotive heating products:
[url]http://gateway.canadiantire.ca/driver.php?fileid=1408474396669671_1408474396670271__[/url]

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

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On 26 Aug 2006 08:47:33 -0700, [email]xmitto@aol.com[/email] wrote:[color=blue]
>Bruce L. Bergman wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> 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.
>>[/color]
>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."[/color]

[url]http://www.kimhotstart.com/kimhotstart/sub.aspx?id=3813[/url]

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.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> 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.
>>[/color]
>I am planning to head to Edmonton, Alberta.[/color]

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.

--<< Bruce >>--

"Bruce L. Bergman" <blPYTHONbergman@earthlink.invalid> wrote in message
news:sja2f21hvvqv8gc34tr8ukeo1nmq7t63vs@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On 26 Aug 2006 08:47:33 -0700, [email]xmitto@aol.com[/email] wrote:[color=green]
>>Bruce L. Bergman wrote:[/color]
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> 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.
>>>[/color]
>>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."[/color]
>
> [url]http://www.kimhotstart.com/kimhotstart/sub.aspx?id=3813[/url]
>
> 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.
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> 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.
>>>[/color]
>>I am planning to head to Edmonton, Alberta.[/color]
>
> 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.
>
> --<< Bruce >>--
>[/color]

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

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 00:31:20 -0500, "Ray O"
<rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:
[color=blue]
>I'm impressed that you know so much about this stuff when you live in sunny
>CA![/color]

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

--<< Bruce >>--

"Bruce L. Bergman" <blPYTHONbergman@earthlink.invalid> wrote in message
news:j1d3f25ul47u4cum9nhedsm0er94jmeij4@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 00:31:20 -0500, "Ray O"
> <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>I'm impressed that you know so much about this stuff when you live in
>>sunny
>>CA![/color]
>
> 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.[/color]

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.

[color=blue]
> 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
>
> --<< Bruce >>--
>[/color]

Yup, that would get anyone's attention!
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Ray O wrote:[color=blue]
>
> This web site has lots of various winter automotive heating products:
> [url]http://gateway.canadiantire.ca/driver.php?fileid=1408474396669671_1408474396670271__[/url]
>
> If the link doesn't work, google "winter hose heater" - the link was the 3rd
> one on the list.
> --
>[/color]

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.