Mornings getting colder

ICE can't run without spark, pulling the ignition coils will prevent spark. Should be able to drive without the ICE kicking on and wasting gas. It'll probably throw a check engine light, but who cares? They do seem rather buried down in there, so if you were going to constantly be taking them off and putting them back on you may want to come up with something else (a kill switch maybe?) but if you are really worried about the ICE running for such a short period of time this would stop it.

 

To completely pull out 3rd gen coils, you need to remove wipers, wiper motors and bottom-of-windshield cowl. Fourth gen, probably worse.

 

first time, maybe. All you need is to pull the connector off of each coil pack. Looks like once you got the plastic out of the way and safely stored in your garage you could reach in and unclip or clip all four. They seem to be held close enough on their own you won't even need to label them to sort out which goes where.

 

i wonder if danny sells the block heater in the priuschat shoppe?

 

Yes.

2010-2015 Toyota Prius Exterior Accessories - Free Shipping, Discounted Prices

 

Man I hope this is totally TIC.

 

I toyed with the idea, with a previous car, but went with block heater. Both have benefits, but I think block heaters (coolant heater) have caught on much more, maybe more effective.

 

Once again, sorry for my late answer. yes it does. I might be able to find you installation instructions.

edit: here. Sorry for the Finnish text but I'm sure you'll find the correct place to take the cables through.
http://www.defa.com/file/f6fb67719111/Toyota%20Prius%20Plug-In%201.8%202ZR-FXE%202012-.pdf

 

thank you!

 

FYI there was an electronic hack that was quite popular for Gen2 and lesser extent Gen3 to minimize the warm-up MPG hit. Search on "Thermistor hack" if I recall.

Prius is a 50-state car which means we all have California cars, so the Prius is going to jump thru hoops to meet the CARB start-up emissions.

 

If you're in Atlanta area I can probably install one for you for less than the cost of the OEM part.


ONEPLUS A3000 ?

 

If you need help finding heating accessories I might be able to help you. My country is far north and we have these heater kits preinstalled in most of the new cars sold here. Just ask. Sending stuff is quite expensive, Finnish post is costly but if you just cannot find the equipment anywhere else that might be the only choice.

 

That happens if you have the heater turned on. The engine has to run to warm the coolant which the heater uses to warm the cabin.

Instead, set the heater to MIN and warm yourself using the (electric) seat heater. If the windshield starts to fog, turn on the (electric) rear defroster and blow cold air on the windshield (defrost vents) and turn on the AC. This will direct dry air onto the windshield which will defrost it.

And that's how you drive in the cold without your ICE starting up.

 

It happens with or without the heater turned on. In my case, I always have it off. Windows are just starting to fog as I pull into work, but the ICE always fires up regardless.

 

Rebounds in a PIP.

 

The climate control temperature must be set to MIN. And you have to drive a PiP. Yeah.

 

OK, I now see that we're talking about totally different temperatures here. The AC stops working when the temp drops to +5C (41F?) and we're having here temps like -30C (-22F) so there's no use for AC and we MUST use the heater also. That's why the engine block heater and interior heater are a "must have" in my country.

 

I found these two posts fascinating when put together. So in the far north, the block heater is raising the coolant temp up to about 0C / 32F, right? And the oil in the pan isn't being directly heated at all. So "stone cold start up" is something well below freezing.

Here in MA, we get maybe a couple weeks where the morning temperature is in the 0 to 10F range, and the engine warms up past 32F probably by the time I've backed out of the driveway, so it's not spending much time at all in such cold conditions. After driving half a mile, I have to accelerate up a moderately steep hill and the heater comes on strong at that point

I've only experienced trying to start a car at -25F once in my life, and first had to bring the (practically new) battery into the hotel room to let it defrost before the car would crank. When it did start, it was only on a couple cylinders and made some horrific noises. Yeah, a block heater is definitely needed at those temperatures. Any colder and I don't know how you even get the fuel to vaporize.