Engine Block Heater for 2014 Mirage?

[DemiRage]

I can't get a clear pic of the location but will try to pinpoint it in words...
If you stand in front of car and look down to bottom of intake runners to the rad hose on my car I see this..
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9v9eqh1k3l...G0052.jpg?dl=0
(rotate pic left 90° to get proper view.)
the Orange rubber is the end of block heater so straight in from there.

This picture was used to locate the cartridge hole in the engine block. Just felt around under the air intake. Then an inspection mirror was used to see what was there



I used a Kats 11812 cartridge heater.



Spark Plug boot grease was used to coat the heater and some was also squeezed into the hole in the engine block. There is probably a better medium to transfer the heat to the block but this is what was available at the autoparts store. Going by feel and also using the mirror, the heater was inserted into the hole. The clip was rotated to the top in order to hold the cartridge in the hole. Sorry no pictures of this, it was in the teens out and speed was of the essence.



This pic shows the heater cord crossing to front where it is zip tied to the radiator enclosure, the end of the orange tie is just visible (you can see why I not a photographer). I first dropped it down to the lower grill as done in a normal install (no picture) but decided to keep it inside the engin compartment.



This photo is from the engine looking foreward and shows the cord zip tied to the radiator housing and then tied again just to the left of the passenger side headlight (not visable). From there it goes around behind the washer resouvior and is ties to a wiring bundle towards the rear of the engine. It is shown plugged into an extension cord.



The down side is that the hood needs to be openned but the only place it is likely to be used is in the garage. Also gets me to check the oil a little more often.

I put it on a $9, heavy duty, timer from Home Depot. Two hours of on time seems to heat the engine quite a bit. On auto the car heater is blowing a 4 bars within about 2 -3 minutes, and that is below 10 degrees f. Cold engine light is off in about 3 blocks. Sweet.

[MetroMPG]

Thanks for posting that.

[Daox]

Very nice write up! Thanks DemiRage.

[IchabodCrane]

Nice..
So the hole in the block is open when no block heater is in there??? Might make install harder if one waits for a year or two before adding block heater as dirt/grime/corrosion could collect in the hole, no?

[DemiRage]

Nice..
So the hole in the block is open when no block heater is in there??? Might make install harder if one waits for a year or two before adding block heater as dirt/grime/corrosion could collect in the hole, no?

The installation instructions recommend cleaning it out with compressed air. Thanks again for the earlier post, it made the installation possible.

[strawboss]

Ok.. as promised.
The block heater dealer installed on my Mirage is Mitsubishi part# MZ314528.
This should catalogue as the block heater for the 4cyl lancer motor. This is what fits..
I plugged it in with my Kill A Watt and it runs at 375 - 380 watts.
My dealer wants $80.00 Can. For one.

If this Lancer blockheater is a match for the Mirage's then here is a reasonably priced alternative.
http://www.etrailer.com/heater-2015_...shi_Lancer.htm
(No reason to think that it isn't a match as there is only 4 or so sizes of cartridge heaters made for engine blocks anyways)

[DemiRage]

That is the Kat's 11812, same model installed on my Mirage. It is also available from CARID.com (got mine there) and there were some on EBAY and AMAZON when I looked. Dmitry at CARID took the trouble to make sure which one would fit the Mirage, and that is the Kat's 11812.

[fifteenwindow]

We ordered 2 of these 11812 heaters through CarId in November, 2014. They are still on back order and are expected to ship in March. The listing said they were in stock, back in November. Each month since the order, we have gotten an email from Dmitriy/Stacy/Vicky/Seth/Felix/Anita asking if we wanted to cancel the order or wait. Fair warning.

Update 3/11/15 - still on backorder, new ship date to be mid April, 2015.
Update 4/22/15 - still on backorder, new ship date to be May 27, 2015.
Update 6/6/15 - still on backorder, new ship date to be July 9, 2015.
Update 8/25/15 - still on backorder, new ship date to be October 5, 2015.
Update 9/29/15 - still on backorder, new ship date to be November 10, 2015.

Several times since we placed this order, CarId has had this item for sale on eBay. I called CarId and spoke with Dmitriy in July, 2015, and he told me that since they only had only one in stock, they would not honor my order. I asked if they would hold onto the one they had and ship it to me when a second heater comes in. Dmitriy told me he would pass my request on to the warehouse manager. That was all he could do.

We canceled the order after CarId had our money for almost a year and would not ship us any block heaters, as they sold several through eBay during that time. We bought the same Kats 11812 heaters through our local NAPA for $37 each.

[strawboss]

I found a Zerostart/Temro cartridge heater that matches the Kat's11812, the part number is 3100111.
I measured the element at .70" diameter by 3" long but when I went to fit the part I found I can't get my hand in there from above, looks like I'll be doing it from below (when it's warmer)
(Oh, and it cost $60 all in at carquest here in Ottawa)

[strawboss]

Have just installed the block heater ( from above) I found the easiest approach was by leaning over the passenger side fender and inserting the heater blind, by feel. Also found the oil filter....it looks like I will also be threading the replacement on by feel, ironic that both of these components were completely open and easy to service on my smart fortwo, probably the only two service items that were!