Block heater on 4E-FTE

[Starlet-supra]

hello, well long story short i live in Canada, where winters get as cold as -40 celcius in winter time. I have a 1994 EP82 GT Turbo Starlet, that unfortunately gets daily driven every day, and she sits outside every day overnight.

Now a lot of cars over here have block heaters from factory, and i noticed the Toyota Tercel's have block heaters as well, and their engine is somewhat similar to that of a 4E-FTE.

My question is, has anyone put or integrated a block heater on a 4E-FTE before?

If not how do i go about doing it.

Would i be better off with purchasing a stick-on oil pan heater??

I always feel so bad cranking her over in -35 weather, amazingly enough on some of the coldest days where most cars wouldn't start she fired right up, and always starts up on the 1st crank. I just want to do something to keep that little block or engine oil somewhat warm during overnight.

 

[Phil]

I wonder does Alfradio have these issues with the cold? maybe he could help?

he knows the tercel world inside out as well.

Phil

 

[Starlet-supra]

I wonder does Alfradio have these issues with the cold? maybe he could help?

he knows the tercel world inside out as well.

Phil

that would be great if he could chime in and give some advice, or shine some light on the situation. I just started her up this morning in -30 celcius, started up no problem, but could tell the entire engine was frozen

 

[Guye]

that would be great if he could chime in and give some advice, or shine some light on the situation. I just started her up this morning in -30 celcius, started up no problem, but could tell the entire engine was frozen

Oh my God! I cannot even imagine what such temperatures would be like.

 

[Jay]

I'll be honest and admit I've never even heard of one till now. We're usually more concerned in keeping our oil cool.

Would it be worth asking the Oilman what oils would be better suited to that environment? Can't imagine regular 10-40w will be ideal in those conditions?

 

[karl.]

I had a quick look at the tercels there and they say the Toyota one is ok if its fitted from new but they almost always leak when fitted to a used block.

They say cutting the bottom rad pipe and putting a generic one in there seems like the best job.

 

[dark_knight]

This would be a very interesting project. I'd like to see how it pans out. Hope you get some help. Jay is right. Pick a proper oil for those conditions then consider a few options with regard to warming the coolant and/or oil..

 

[Starlet-supra]

for engine oil during winter conditions i run mobil 1 5w-30, which is the best for our cold temperature's. As for the coolant heater where i have to cut my rad hose to fit one, i don't like those nor do i see them heating up a large portion of my coolant. If i keep the heat off, the temp needle beings to slowly creep up after about 5 minutes of idling. I was more so wanting to keep the block warm overnight.

And i can't tell you how painful it is, driving it with a frozen transmission. Every gear is very sluggish and frozen when its -30. I do really feel bad for the car having to be driven in these conditions and i do let it idle for at least 5-10 minutes before i begin driving.

It is just i have no other choice as it is my daily driver.


I will begin taking some precautions and seeing how the oem 5E-FE block heater is fitted onto the block, compare it to the 4E-FTE block to see if it can be made to work. If not, then next best choice would be oil pan heater to keep the engine oil at least 0 Celcius over the cold winter nights.

 

[dark_knight]

Let me get this right; your concern is to keep the fluids warm (or at least above negative temps) as the engine is OFF and the car is spending the night at minus 30?

 

[Starlet-supra]

Let me get this right; your concern is to keep the fluids warm (or at least above negative temps) as the engine is OFF and the car is spending the night at minus 30?

yes, the engine oil or the engine block to be warm. Well i wouldn't say warm, because that is almost impossible but at least have them sitting somewhere between 0 celcius and -5 celcius as opposed to the outside temp of -30 and below

 

[dark_knight]

Heat up the whole garage and rack up your power bills.. lol
Anyway, I've been a summer bunny all my life. I'm fresh out of ideas on how to stay alive in your sub-zero temps.. let alone keep a car warm..