I forgot to mention that I fabricated a drain coolant nipple by drilling out the coolant drain bolt and brazing it to a 1/2" copper elbow. This allows using the lowest point on the tranny for max heating.
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Careful with the immersion heaters, if the temp gets too high you'll coke your oil.
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I was looking at oil pan heaters up till now. The Prius transaxle coolant passages are a much better and more efficient way to heat the transaxle from the inside out. The oil heats up too using this technique.
I would love to see a cutaway of the coolant passages through the transaxle. Post 'em if you got 'em
The
engine could still use a pan heater or lower block heater though because the coolant passages are so far from the oil.
While poking around under the car I noticed a coolant drain on the back side of the engine below the exhaust manifold which would be perfect for the lower port of a tank heater as there is plenty of room there. The top hose could go to the heater core outlet on the side of the head. This set up would blow away the block heater, in terms of speed and temperature preheat, for about the same price.