New Member in Alberta-a few questions

[Body File]

Hey All,

Recently joined the club. After stalking the forsale postings for quite a while finally jumped in and bought a super clean Jasper. You should see the faces i get driving this thing around northern alberta!!!

But its catching on. I can`t pull over without one or two gawkers grilling me about it. And ive sent two co-workers off to my dealer in Van. We`ll have to see if that pans out!

The only hitch I see coming is the great white winter of N Alberta-pooh!
I`ve been digging all over the site and found lots of good info; also, lots of conflicting info.
-I bypassed my GCU with a HoldDown switch (gcu still not working)
-got big ol snow tires
-winter grade diesel additive
-ordered new glowplugs and better batteries

But now I`m stuck on which way to go with the block heater / recirculating heater / oilpan heater question.

The van will be outside for the whole winter. Its just too tall for my little car garage
But i do have plugins at home, work, and pretty much everywhere else here.

oh ya, did i mention weeks at a time at -45C?

Soooooooooooooo,

I've heard that the recirculating water heater kicks ass, but ive also heard that there is some valve somewhere that stops the warm water from circulating. There's either the inline heater (low watt) or the 1500w Temro one. The mechanics at Canadian Tire said they couldn't find any room any where to install either one. they sent me home empty handed.

the block heater sounds nice, but will it really keep my van safe at those low low temps? I can install that one myself, but am having trouble finding a part number or specs for it.

and last and according to most, least is the magnetic oilpan heater. is it worth it? would it help if i installed one alongside one of the other two options?

I didn't really feel stuck or under the gun on these winter conversions until this morning: 5C out and we've got HIGHS of +3 this weekend. i dont even want to tell you the lows!!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated! and if anyone has pics of a temro or inline heater install that would be kick-ass!

Ha! i just previewed this post-LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG

[Golf Cart]

Body File,

Welcome to the club.

Might be an idea to track down some of the seasoned Calgary members for their input on winterizing. Last time I saw -45 was my chequeing account after the wife left Costco. I used to deal with northern diesel winter grades and as far as I know , the ratio is 80% Stove oil , and sometimes 90% to 10-20% diesel.

I always went with block heaters in all over my diesels ( Ford & Volks). I havent had my Exceed long enough to get to a block heater into it yet. I was told the block heaters were for keeping the oil fluid enough to pump on cold start-ups, and keeping the frost plugs in their respective orifices.

I'll take the Wet Coast over a Cold Lake ( cept if its fishin season)

[konadog]

Welcome! Can't help ya with your questions about keeping the motor warm in the winter - On the east coast of Vancouver Island a block heater is a fuzzy hat. I liked your post though. Not loooong at all, but entertaining for sure Maybe post your query in tech and troubleshooting, more of those with answers might see it. Good luck. -45, ugh, I'll think of you when it's a deep, bitter, rock bottom -8 burrrr

[Erebus]

Welcome to the forum, and being a Delica owner.

I've got a lower-rad hose inline heater. Not overly impressed. Since I got mine a year ago, someone has figured out the part number for a classic block heater that goes in the frost plug. Only drag is that you have to remove the starter to install it, so it ain't cheap unless you do it yourself (instructions are available here on the forum).

The best system of all is the Webasto heater. Runs on diesel fuel, so doesn't need to be plugged in. But costs 1000+ or so, if memory serves.

Do a search on "block heater" and you'll see lots of threads on the subject.

For winter, make sure your glowplugs are in good shape. I had a problem with mine last winter and boy did new ones make a difference!

[bae146]

Block heater
Napa # 605-3509

Frost plug type coolant/block heater:
Temro pn 3100051 (Canadian Tire)

I would go with the block heater and a stick on oil pan heater. I dont have the part number for the stick on silicone heater for the oil pan but they are available at greggs distributors. I think the 250 watt units are good for what we need.

Get your glow plug control fixed or you will go through a lot of glow plugs if you overheat them. Usually the capacitors go on the board and they are cheap to fix, you just ned a good electronics shop to help you out. Or I think Glenn from Coombes auto on the island carries exchange units. Welcome to the world of Mutsubishi.....

[storm80y]

I had mine installed at Kirkham Auto Calgary last week and it's made a great difference in morning starts with the recent "cold".
When I rang around I couldn't source one locally but got it shipped promptly from Glen at CC.

[snelson]

Hey Storm80y - ballpark $$ for the block heater install? Just curious who to use, Kirkham or Pro Active..
Steve

[Erebus]

Hey Storm80y - ballpark $$ for the block heater install? Just curious who to use, Kirkham or Pro Active..
Steve

I'm the one who introduced Kirkham to the Delica (although Green1's was the first they actually worked on) -- they serviced my previous vehicle for over 10 years. I highly recommend them for anything they are willing to do -- and they will tell you if they don't want to try something. And they will also listen if you provide them with instructions or part numbers, or even supply the parts.

And the more Delicas we get going there, the more they will know about Delicas, and at some point they will be sending mechanics to get certified on diesels and turbos.

FYI, they are just off Macleod Trail between Heritage and Southland (Calgary) 403-253-2033

[brewskie]

When I bought my van from Mardy this summer he installed a block heater for me. It was a fair bit of work to slap it in as I recall Mardy mentioning. The guys at my local shop here in Winnipeg specialize in diesel and figured it should do and to steer clear of the lower rad hose heater. If I need a bit more heat they recommend adding an oil pan heater.

Cheers

[storm80y]

block heater: 58
postage (greyhound): 25
install: 220

You should probably ring them to get a personal quote as I had an inspection done at the same time. I think mine was the first block heater install the mechanic (Brent, I think) had done, so yours may be quicker/cheaper. I couldn't do it at home as I don't have access to a garage/workshop atm but they were friendly and I'd take any work I couldn't do back there.

As it was starting to get cold here in Canmore (below -5), I was having to do 3 glows in the morning and then it was still spluttering a little but it starts perfectly now with the block heater.

[Body File]

Thanx for all the info, its nice to get so much feedback!

We've decided to go with the block heater from temro-ordered the part and am now waiting for Cambodian Tire to bring it in.
I saw some great resources for install, but couldn't find anything reference routing.
Any ideas on where to route the cord???

Also, has anyone flushed and filled their fluids with "winter" grade? ie diffs, tranny etc

[Erebus]

I saw some great resources for install, but couldn't find anything reference routing.
Any ideas on where to route the cord???

Remember that it doesn't have to come out the front!

Depends on where you want it coming out. When I had my coolant heater installed, I had the guys run it with an extension cord, so that it comes out the back on the trailer hitch. I normally back into my driveway, so that puts it closest to the outlet on the house.

In your case, I'd be tempted to have it come out on the passenger side, on the step. Quick simple, easy to get at, close to the heater anyway. Just a thought.

[GISdood]

Also, has anyone flushed and filled their fluids with "winter" grade? ie diffs, tranny etc

I did this with our Tacoma in the past, and Mardy did the same for me when we had him service our Pajero - replace all your diff and transfer case fluids with synthetic. It makes a HUGE difference in extreme cold temperatures.

[dfnder]

I stay away from switching between regular oil and synthetic because in the past when this was done you would spring leaks in gaskets. I have avoided synthetic since then but maybe things have changed considering that it was many years ago. Anyone?

[BCDelica]

I stay away from switching between regular oil and synthetic because in the past when this was done you would spring leaks in gaskets. I have avoided synthetic since then but maybe things have changed considering that it was many years ago. Anyone?

Big fan of the benefits of synthetics, but as with ULSD, personally wouldn't consider 100% synthetic fluids in a vehicle older then 15 years.