DIY Freeze Plug Engine Block Heater Install, 1989 Corolla

[christofoo]

I hunted around the web before I did this, but never found a tutorial showing a freeze-plug engine block heater installation on any car. (EDIT: I should say I didn't find any that I thought were more than a little bit helpful and/or pertinent.)

... probably because it isn't a common thing to do. If you live in the great cold north, your cars come new with OEM heaters, and if you don't, you presumably don't need one.

I added a heater and did it the OEM way, and wrote a tutorial.



You can read all about it here:
DIY How to Install a Block Heater, 1989 Corolla | Christofoo Review

Of course the details depend a great deal on make/model.

Let me know if you find it helpful.

Cheers,
Chris

[ps2fixer]

Just a tip about the copper exhaust gasket, watch the bolts carefully for the next 2-4 weeks. My camry got a new exhaust manifold back and that ended up being a problem area. It came loose enough to leak twice in 40k miles. My car has 3 bolts in that area, looks like yours is only 2.

Nice tut, I might have to do this someday. What kind of costs did you run into for this?

[christofoo]

Originally Posted by ps2fixer

Just a tip about the copper exhaust gasket, watch the bolts carefully for the next 2-4 weeks. My camry got a new exhaust manifold back and that ended up being a problem area. It came loose enough to leak twice in 40k miles. My car has 3 bolts in that area, looks like yours is only 2.

Nice tut, I might have to do this someday. What kind of costs did you run into for this?

Thanks.

Heater: $40 IIRC ($18 for Kats brand online)
Manifold gasket: $19
Exhaust pipe gasket: $3

So it could be as little as $21 (+tax) if you get Kats and take a chance and skip the manifold gasket. My grand total was $62. I had all the tools handy.

Assuming you don't have the warm-air-intake like my 4A-F (and everything else is the same) I would consider leaving the manifold in place for the operation. (But don't be too surprised if it doesn't pan out.)