3rd Gen Block Heater Recall

In addition to plugging in a block heater, when it gets -20*C, I hook a smart trickle charger to my battery.

 

I did that for my buddies mazda, we put a y plug in the grill and when he plugs the car in, it trickles and warms. Best combo.

 

i dunno, the older i get the more hazardous a warm trickle is!

 

they did it a bit differently in mine, bundled up the excess cord down below the battery where it goes to the bumper plug. Not sure why such a long cord?

 

When I lived in Alaska, the standard was plug in at 20F.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoaQadr7NtQ

 

They are universal among Toyotas. So super long and we bunch them up as tidy as possible.

The new ones are sectional. The recall are one length

 

cool, thanks! I did end up buying a new battery, and the difference is obvious now when I start it. Failed load testing.

 

so my dealers service rep got back to me this past week on the recalled block heater.

because my truck is a canadian market truck, toyota america has deemed the block heater unnecessary for the american market, and will not perform the toyota canada recall for the replacement. the service advisor told me that if i wanted the recall performed, i would need to bring the truck up to a dealer in canada to have the recall performed.

he said i was more than welcome to contact toyota america to voice my displeasure and try to convince them to cover it, but i really don't see a point to the effort. when an aftermarket block heater is only $70...

 

Hmmm, that's too bad. I would assume if you're in some of the northern states like North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana that a block heater is required.

 

maybe. but i'm near chicago. it's admittedly more of a novelty for me, but a warm truck is a warm truck. now i'm just doing it specifically because someone told me i don't need it.

 

So, does this mean that if I want one of the updated OEM block heaters for install in my US Taco, I need to cross over into canada to get the work performed, or at the least to buy the part?

 

You certainly could do that. It would be much less hassle to get an aftermarket one.
Link to my post of what I used here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/block-heater.591203/page-3#post-22010494

Parts were under $100 at the time I bought them and that includes the fancy port I installed.

 

i think a lot of it has to do with the separation between canadian and american 'toyota' brands. it's the same brand, but different legal entities.

i suspect you'd have better luck considering that your truck is being serviced in the same brand area.

 

I asked about one yesterday when I was in for service. The guy acted like he was unaware of the fire issue with the block heaters, but he did say that although they had installed a number of them in the past, they became unavailable. My guess, due to the fire issue. That was on the US side of the border. I absolutely hate that grinding sound on startup when it's -12F.

 

That's correct. Toyota Canada and Toyota USA different legal identities and I think there is some territory protection mixed in with that. Often new cars in the USA are cheaper than up here even with the exchange rate not in favour of the CDN dollar.

Back in 2008 during / after the financial crash, up here we were less affected by it and the CDN dollar was worth more than the US one. The dealers down there were selling off trucks and SUV's at bargain prices so many Canadians, including myself, purchased vehicles south of the border. Almost no manufacturers would honor a cross border warranty on a new car but some would on used vehicles. So I bought a 6 month old Nissan Xterra for 25K less than what I would have to pay up here.

 

I remember this. I didn't take part personally but some co-workers did and got fabulous deals south of the line. One I remember was on a gently used Tundra.

 

It has already been said but is worth repeating: Forget getting an over priced block heater from Toyota; instead get a KATS block heater online from eTrailer for less than $100. It only draws 400watts so it is unlikely to trip a breaker or cost much to run. I plug mine into a timer and only have it on for about about 3 hours prior to starting the truck.

 

Ayyyyy