We have a daughter in Chicago who delivered twins (a boy and a girl, both healthy and happy) this past March. We drove the van back and spent about six weeks there as the support team for the before, during and after process. It was a great experience and having the time to do so is one of the great benefits of being retired.
Having been born and raised in Iowa I’m no stranger to winter conditions and how they affect a vehicle. I will admit, I’d forgotten how quickly road salt can make an impact…
As a teenager I installed engine heaters on two of our family vehicles. For an old carbureted motor, they ensured that we could get the engine started on cold winter days. Coupled with a timer to turn the heater on in the morning, it made for a great addition.
Planning ahead, more winter trips will be in order, thus I have recently installed a lower radiator hose heater in the van. Hopefully I will never need it, but that’s the same comment that applies to all forms of insurance….
Here are the installation details for those of you who are interested:
There is not a lot of room for access, that’s nothing new for any of us. The van has an engine skid plate, thus that needed to be removed to provide access from below.
The heater is available from O’Reilly Auto Parts, it is a Zerostart 600 Watt Model 150D with a bore diameter of 1-1/2” and a electrical draw of 5 amps. Check your lower radiator hose diameter carefully as this will vary by engine. For you Sprinter owners, Flint is a NCV3 with a 1-1/2” diameter lower radiator hose, but I believe that the VS30’s have a 1-1/4” diameter lower radiator hose. For this application there is a 1-1/4” bore diameter 375 Watt heater available. Check this!
Here are a couple of pictures of the heater:
Here is a diagram showing the radiator hose layout, the circled area is where the hose was cut and the heater was installed. Yes, it’s a tight fit.
And here is a picture of the heater installed, look for the metal body behind the hose in the front. I told you it was a tight fit!
And when it’s all said and done, this is all that is visible. The plug is on the passenger’s side front, easily accessible when needed.
I also replaced the upper radiator hose at the same time, it just seemed prudent to do so.
The lowest temperature I have started the van in with a cold engine was last year along Highway 395 near Lee Vining CA, it was 11 degrees and the van started without a problem. We did see -13 degrees later that day just outside Bridgeport CA, but we were driving with a hot engine thus there was no issue. I know many of you see colder temperatures on a regular basis, for us living outside the Bay Area in CA cold temps are a drive away. At any rate, I like to be prepared, thus the heater install along with an extension cord that allows us to plug into the inverter (or shore power or a generator) when and if necessary.