Hello all,
I haven't been on here in a long time as I took a hiatus from my Pajero for a while due to insurance reasons (yay Ontario :P). But earlier this spring I got the Paj back on the road and decided to at least hang on to it until after winter. Thus grew the motivation for me to persue this long overdue mod.
In my research I've read plenty of threads where guys have simply stated that they just picked up such and such block heater from their local parts store and had a shop put it in, but I didn't find anything very definitive on this so I took a leap and did it my own way. Now I figured I better share my findings with the rest of the community.
To start I found that the part number someone else had recommended was a smaller size intended to go on the right side of the 4M-40 block under the manifolds & turbo. I scoffed at this seeing as there was a nice, relatively accessible frost plug on the left side of the engine behined the injector pump.
Unfortunately this is a 50mm frost plug which just happens to be extremely uncommon. I did a bit of digging and found a handful of part numbers, most of them turned up zilches from the three parts stores that I deal with regularly. Finally the one I found was the Philips & Temro (Zerostart) #3100071, it is a 1 15/16" (near as makes no difference, 49.2mm) block heater with a fairly compact element that fit nicely inside the block. Napa crossed the number to 605-3033 and had one in their Toronto warehouse, but they wanted $120 (with my shop discount)! Part Source had one in Montreal for only $25, but I ordered both to make sure they were the same thing... turns out they are (seriously, WTF Napa).
So... to install-
You will need
-10mm and 8mm sockets
-Pry bar or a punch & a hammer
-Dremmel tool with a carbide grinding bit
-Approx 6L of mixed 50/50 Ethelyne Glycol Coolant
Place a catch bucket under the left side of the block... you will make a mess since there is no coolant drain that I could find that is below the frost plug on the block, and draining the rad will not save you any.
Remove the intercooler assembly, and locate the frost plug on the left of the block behined the injector pump right between the oil dipstick and the "4M-40" stamping. Using a pry bar or a long punch and a hammer, gently tap on the right side of the plug, closest to the firewall. It takes a bit of finesse because you don't want to punch the whole thing into the block but you need to get it sideways so you can grab it with pliers and pull it out.
Now, note the two bolt holes next to the frost plug. they protrude from the block and are so close to the frost plug that they will hit the lip of the block heater and prevent you from installing it without modification.
Hold the block heater up to the hole and trace where you need to grind with a marker. REMOVE THE O-RING ON THE HEATER BEFORE YOU START GRINDING!!! The last thing you want to do is destroy this o-ring. Grind away the lip on the two sides of the heater and test fit to ensure the remaining lip of the heater sits flush with the block. Re-install the o-ring.
Wipe the hole with a rag and dab a bit of coolant onto the o-ring of the heater, push the heater into place and turn the 8mm bolt clockwise until it is just lightly snug. It's just a brass butterfly clamp so you don't want to break it off inside the block and it doesn't have any effect on the sealing of the heater, so just snug is plenty.
Now simply fill the rad back up and check for any immediate leaks. Then run the cord through the grille and plug it in to the heater, lightly zip tie it to the battery hold down, but leave it a little slack on either end to allow for the engine to shake (as a diesel does) and for the cable to be tugged at the grille (as a person does). Re-install the intercooler assembly and start the engine and get it up to temperature. Rev it up a bit (2000rpm is plenty) to increase water pump flow and heat generation as you work the air bubbles out, keep at it until the thermostat opens up and the cabin has heat, all the while keeping an eye out for leaks and topping up the coolant as required.
Get yourself an outdoor HD rated mechanical timer (I don't trust the digital ones), and an extension cord and away you go. Set the timer to turn on the heater around 2hrs before you want to start it.
Hope this helps people who like me couldn't find much useful info on block heaters for their Paj or L400, even if it doesn't get that cold where you live it's still a good idea to plug in your vehicle as the oil will have a much easier time flowing up to the cylinder head when it's already warm.
