Cooler temps now, ICE jerks or lurches when starting

Can you ski that one mile to work?

 

You're talking to guy who lives on the west coast, got a block heater installed at time of purchase, and uses it almost without fail for first cold-start of the day, for a couple of hours, winter and summer.

 

Walk, jog, bike.... Who needs a car?

The gaskets started leaking oil in my Camry. They became brittle, because I only lived 2 miles from work and the poor engine never got hot! Now that I'm retired, I make sure and get my Prius on the freeway at least once or twice a week, to blow out the cobwebs. And I don't mind the ICE coming on around town, I figure it's getting good exercise and I want all the system to work properly and stay lubricated.

But what do I know. (Rookie!)

 

Don't let it idle to "warm up" the engine ever. It is a waste and illegal in most countries. It doesn't help at all the fuel economy or improve the lifetime of the vehicle.
And don't start your trip with EV mode on because it will not help your fuel consumption in any way. The electricity in the battery will have to come from some fuel sooner or later.

 

So did we ever determine what causes the lurch and jerk?

There sure are a lot of Prius oddities. Maybe I can start a new thread, and everybody can list their favorite weird thing.

 

Minnesnowda....

 

SSdesigner, do you use chains? How is your traction in the snow with your Prius Two? Snow tires, OEM tires, which ones do you have?

 

Open the windows briefly before parking. The few seconds I do that... from the ramp entrance to the parking spot ...is enough to vent the moisture. Drying the interior like that prevents fogging.

Note that I've been driving Prius here in MINNESOTA for the past 16 winters. Each of those generations of Prius performed fantastic in that extreme cold. There's nothing better to start a cold engine than a massive battery-pack.

I drive away immediately too. Engine warm-up takes longer when there is no load on it.

 

TOYO tires? I have those on my Prius Three.

If you ever start spinning the wheels in the snow, let us know if you hear a loud bang when the traction control comes on.

 

Why do you need a remote starter if your garage is heated and you drive in EV mode ?

 

I would sure like to know how a Gen4 performs in -40° weather. I hope the Prius owners in cold-weather states keep us up to date on how their car is doing in the winter.

 

Did you mean ECO MODE?

EV is only for very short distances (I find less than a kilometer) and it wouldn't use the ICE at all.

 

Wasn't there something in the spec's, about the lithium ion battery levels not starting below some threshold low temperature. By design, as a safeguard I guess.