I was researching EBHeating for my Prius for winter and came across this: "Some cars, such as the second generation [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius"]Toyota Prius[/ame], pump hot coolant from the cooling system into a 3-litre (3.2 U.S. qt) insulated thermos-style reservoir at shutdown, where it stays warm for up to 3 days." How true is this and does it apply to the third gen Prius? I'm thinking of blocking the grill this winter, but if above statement is true then I might not have to invest in a EBH. What do you guys think?
it does not apply to gen 3. on gen 3, they revamp the exhaust system. basically sending the exhaust thru a heat exchanger type setup to recapture heat which is used to warm the radiator to warm the block much quicker now what is this new innovation worth?? i say "4-8 mpg per minute for a minute"... why? my commute is 7 miles one way at speeds primarily 35-40 mph. i normally reset trip B every morning so i can keep an eye on my mileage especially now since its getting colder. well, last Wednesday, i forgot to do it right away, i parked pointed the wrong direction, so i started do a 3 pt turn and then head out. i had just finished the turn when i realized i had forgot to reset trip B so i reset it. got to work and was at 58.6 mpg. i normally am at 49-53 mpg. so i did it fri, sun, mon and yesterday receiving similar results. that tells me, that the warmup is relatively fast. background info; morning temps running from high 30's to low 40's. no grill blocking
Hey Dave! Thanks for all the info!! That's not too bad at all. I might not even need to grill block till the very depths of winter. Thats funny that we have almost the exact same commute
actually i recommend blocking your grill. i would have normally blocked mine by now, but just trying to reproduce results i saw last year when i saw more than a 5 mpg difference between blocked and no block. if your temps will be in the 50's and lower. then block 75% upper, 100% lower on a gen 3. you will be fine.
Engine block heating is an additional method to warm up the engine. Yes, the 2004-2009 Prius has the engine coolant and the 2010 Prius has the exhaust heat recovery, which help to some extent, but not as much as an EBH does. The fluid might stay warm for 3 days in my car, but that would be barely above ambient. Overnight in my garage it will typically drop from 160'F to 100'F the next day, and the car won't enter stage 3 or 4 (with auto-shutoff available while coasting) unless the temperature is over 157'F. Since I have a short commute, this means most of my commute is spent warming up the engine, and my winter mileage goes into the low 40's mpg compared to low 50's mpg in the summer. An EBH dramatically improves it, at least 10% (but only on the morning commute, since I can't plug in at work). But it's not free, so it just depends on what's important to you and how long you'll keep the car.
I block mainly to keep the winter road crud out of the radiator and engine compartment. Also I think it helps when your gliding to keep the engine temp up.
Thanks for the info guys - super helpful!! Now I know to block the lower grill i can use foam pipe insulation - but how about the upper grill? Tape? Will that ruin the paint? To answer your question nerfer, I Do plan on keeping her a while- I even have long-term plans for her LOL But that would be in the far future thanks again
Grill blocking isn't only about warming your engine faster, it's also about keeping it warm without burning extra fuel. Tom
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...62556-2010-prius-grill-blocking-strategy.html I just squeeze the foam btwn the grille bars. No tape required. You can awlays use zip ties if you're afraid they'll fall off.
In my experience the thermos didn't do much to keep the coolant warm as my casrs live outside. The 2010's upper grill block is a cut to fit cross section of pipe insulation.
