survivorman97

iTrader: (1)

So that lower picture is what you put in in place of the freeze plug on the block? I.E. pop of the freeze plug and pop on this heater plug thing with the cord on it, will it still function as the freeze plug would if you don't plug it in? And with the tranny/oil pan pad what type of adhesive did you use to put it on?

michael1963

Buddy, I had the same type of problems with 4Runner. I spent 7 year up in Cold Lake (yes it lives up to it's name if you haven't been there) and another 6 years in Edmonton...Alberta gets pretty freaking cold and on some days, no matter what you have on your rig or preventive measures you have taken, it will not really matter. The only things I did different in the winter was run a lighter grade oil 5w, installed a battery blanket, installed an internal heater inside the cab (which really makes a difference) and lived with the block heater. Now that I am in Kingston....it's all up hill from here! Good luck on your fixes.

Mike

snowboarder86

Yes with the block heater you have to pop out the freeze plug (mine was a pain but doable) and then you insert the block heater and twist the little bolt on it the tighten it into the block. Yes it still works as a freeze plug, this is the same as a block heater from the factory and is essentially factory. The pan heaters come with there own adhesive you just need to make sure you clean the area very well.

snowboarder86

You are right it is freakin cold here! Running synthetics makes a big difference. I have been debating getting a remote start and a 12V in cab heater that turns on when the engine is turned on. I have seat heaters right now that do the same... just need a remote start.... summer project! This truck has a bit harder time my previous veichles but its pretty wicked in the snow and fun to slide around....

toyota4x4907

I have never bought a heater pad that had its own adhesive....

Use Permatex silicone gasket maker. The red color. Any color will work, red is just what I have always been recommended, use and have had on hand.

michael is right. In addition to these heater elements, better fluids are important.

99blackSE

iTrader: (1)

My block heater is working pretty good but I'm going to set up a magnetic pan heater in the next week or two as well. Probably overkill but I'm trying to nurse her until spring when I can put in a different motor.

survivorman97

iTrader: (1)

So if a person where to start somewhere with putting heating pads and what not on their rig what would you say is the most important place to put one, or where would one do the most good. My guess off hand would be the oil pan and the battery? Im mostly thinking in terms of long-term wear prevention first and faster warm-ups second but I would assume that these would go hand in hand.

michael1963

I would have loved to have a remote starter but decided against it as the installer at the garage said that because I had a 'manual' transmission, I would also have to be in neutral and the parking brake on. Well I can't do that because when it gets really cold, my parking brake always freezes then I can't get it off.
Cdn Tire should still have the internal heaters that you plug into a 100v plugin, if you run it off the 12v (I'm thinking your saying the cig. lighter, correct me if I'm wrong) you have a better chance of killing your battery.
Let me go get a picture of mine and I'll show you.

michael1963

Ok so, here is where I have the internal heater permanently mounted. Passenger's side up and out of the way, except when my wife likes to kick it when she get out. (I'm still convinced she just does that on purpose!) It is only 2.5in thick and fits on the wall perfectly.



Here is how I have the 'flat' cord running to the front of my truck. I could have ran it through the firewall but I installed it in my driveway in Edmonton when it was -30C out....no time for playing around! It's been there for 19 years and never had a problem with it.


This is where the plug comes out from under my grill and attaches to my extension cord mounted to my bumper. When I no longer need it to be plugged in, I remove the extension cord and the plug just hangs down behind the bumper out of site, out of mind.

toyota4x4907

I wold say battery before anything. But battery and oil pan are good. A proper mixture of anti-freeze/water (60/40 or 70/30) will be okay as long as it doesnt get TOO cold for extended periods of time. If you have the dough, get all three, or even get a fourth for your transmission. I have all four, like mentioned before. at -20F and colder, the tranny fluid is thick even after warming up for 15+ minutes. Synthetic fluids will go a long way though. MY 4runner is leaking oil so bad that synthetic would cost me a LOT in a short time. I will probably put synthetic gear oil in tranny/t-case/diffs if/when the temp gets below -35F.

Stuwy123

iTrader: (1)

You have a 120VAC heater in your truck?
Haha.
I never thought of that!
That's awesome.
No matter how cold it is, you always jump into a warm truck.
Hahaha.
I totally want to do that now. My landlord would jump when she saw how much electricity it would cost her to park my truck there. haha.
How much would a block, oil pan, battery and cab heaters draw? Haha. I would definitely get my money's worth for paying $20 a month for a parking stale. Haha.
I'd have a full power bar hanging off my truck.

toyota4x4907

I need to get something like that, Michael. Where did you get yours?

michael1963

Yep, there was always something about jumping into a frozen truck and sitting on a block of ice....never did like that! With the amount of heat that it actually gives off (it has an internal thermostat so it doesn't run all the time, just when it cools down enough), it keeps the seats warm, the windows de-frosted and my gear shift soft. I couldn't run all 3 devices at the same time (I tried that with a power bar and melted it!), I mean the block heater, the batt blanket and the internal heater...I kept blowing circut breakers so, I would run the batt blanket and the internal heater. I would have to hide the plugs behind the bumper so people would only see on cord coming from the truck! lol

There where times in all the cold weather locations we were in, Cold Lake, Edmonton and North Bay that I actually had to put a blanket over the entire engine to keep the cold out and the heat in, it was like one of those horse blankets.

michael1963

Well I'm telling you buddy, you can't beat it for the colder climate locations. I got it at an automotive store here in Canada called 'Canadian Tire'. They are about $70 cdn. If you can't find one let me know, I can send you one.

survivorman97

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I have sythetics all the way around. I have found that finding the right weight in a manual transmission really makes a big difference (I am using BG synchro shift II 75-w80) not much difference in cold weather vs warm. So why the battery pad first? Just curious I guess, is the cold really hard on them?

what kind is yours is it like any of these?

http://www.amazon.com/Kats-22200-Wat...127854&sr=8-10

http://www.amazon.com/Kats-22400-Wat...2127943&sr=8-1

When you use these do you just leave them on all night or just turn them on in the morning?

99blackSE

iTrader: (1)

I would think if you had to choose only one, oil pan heater. I'd be willing to freeze a bit longer for some better protection on cold starts.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Michael1963- that internal heater is great.

I was stationed in Alaska for 4 years. Battery blanket and a block heater worked awesome on my old '84.

I always love watching the arctic newbs backing up and seeing their extension cords pulling out of their grills because they didn't understand why you were yelling 'stop!'

snowboarder86

Its pretty much the same reason why I have been skeptical of the remote start but I had one in my escape and it was the cats meow (an automatic though).

I would run the internal heater off of a relay I installed for the seat heaters (cig lighter dosnt work). It would only let it run if the truck is running so I wouldn't have to worry about battery drain and I wouldnt have to plug it in seperatly. Just plug in the block heater, 10 minutes before remote start it and come into a toasty truck thats warmed and ready to drive. Assuming the parking brake comes off but i havent had trouble yet.....knock on wood

snowboarder86

I use to have that exact same heater ! they work really well. The only reason I shy away from 120v is there is a guy in my office that used one in his truck but he didnt use a block heater since it would trip the breaker at our office parking lot if he ran both. I defiantly want to use my block heater.... thats a nice setup you have though!

sb5walker

Yeah, don't run anything off the cig lighter that takes a lot of amps - there's a little L-shaped fusible link in the back of it that I burned out when running an air compressor. Strange the fuse didn't go out first, but it didn't.

I know from spending a couple winters a few hours north of Ottawa that the plug in heaters are really necessary. But if you need to park for several hours away from AC current, then you're really depending on low weight synthetic fluids and a strong battery to get going. 0W- oils are a big help and they are plenty heavy enough at operating temp - they just flow much better in subfreezing temps.

As far as antifreeze mixes go, 55% is good down to -46˚C (-50F), 60% down to -54˚C (-65F) and 70 down to -64˚C (-84F). Antifreeze doesn't conduct heat well; it's the water that does the cooling, so probably best to use just enough antifreeze to protect against the lowest possible temp, but not to use much more than that. This post has the quantities required to make the various mixes: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...nt-faq-192781/