I ran the heating setup for one hour before leaving for work and it hardly warmed the car much. Only got it to 38c. I kinda knew it wouldnt do much but its what i had.
The gearbox heater worked well though. Before installation i filed smooth the mating surface on the heater to improve contact.
The hill down from my house used to have me deccelerating slightly in this cold weather but last night it kept its speed and actually sped up a little in parts. Shifting was smoother and i had 2.7L/100k on the gauge upon parking at work. Result! Thats down (or up..) from the 3 to 3.2L/100k i have been getting lately in this cold weather.
So it worked! But it looks very ugly. I was thinking about the electric prius pump and thought i might ask a few junkyards is they have any. Then hook one up to a small power supply. Should be much tidier than the beast i have currently. As for the heater, i might buy a Kats tank heater or maybe just a 1kw element and make up the tank myself.
Anyone got a prius coolant pump lying around?
ollie