Will blocking your grill kill warranty?

Since this is a new car with significant changes from the NHW11/NHW20, I'm more interested in getting some baseline data to compare with 'grill blocking.' Understand I have no problem with folks doing grill blocking but I'd prefer to see and "A" "B" "A" test:

• Day 1 - sub-freezing trip without grill block
• Day 2 - sub-freezing trip with grill block
• Day 3 - sub-freezing trip without grill block

In particular, record all three trip meter values for each day so we can compare and contrast. To 'normalize' the warm-up, start the car and let it run until auto shutdown. Then reset the trip meter and do your day-job. This removes the initial vehicle warm-up from the test data so we get an idea of the impact on dynamic performance.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

For us newbies here, what's grill-blocking and why do it?

 

Read all about it.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...62556-2010-prius-grill-blocking-strategy.html

 

Unfortunately, there's far too many factors at play. Between temperature & traffic differences, just those alone make repeating a commute measure quite a challenge.

I've got lots of anecdotal evidence those. Watching the ScanGuage makes it quite clear that there's a benefit. I can't quantify it though.

By the way, the practice of blocking has been around for decades. This is nothing new. I did it with my 84 Omni, which was incredibly convenient the with that particular grille. It only took 4 seconds to slip a plastic cover into place.
.

 

Thanks to Spiderman for giving me the link to "read all about it."
The bad news is that going back through the threads, there seems to have been a good bit of controversy about what grill-blocking does and how.

So, have the tech-types here done testing on whether
Grill blocking increases MPG on Gen III in cold weather? Warm weather?
How much?
Consensus on how this happens?

Any advice on whether it has disadvantages--there were one or two statements on the other threads that "cooler is better" for the electronics in the engine compartment? Does this suggest grill blocking shortens life of electronics? Evidence concerning this from Gen II or other cars?
Thanks.

 

If something ever happened, why would you ever tell Toyota that you had ever blocked the grill?

 

Thanks. Yeah I know... going through those long threads suck. When I put in my blocking earlier this fall I saw like a 2mpg increase. Temps were in the lower 30s to upper 40s. Now that is just a general observation and I didn't actually take careful measurements. I blocked my lower grill 100%. The smaller upper grill I will likely leave unblocked until I get my ScanGuage hooked up (Christmas present). That way I will know what my engine temp is. I may still leave it unblocked if my ScanGuage can not read the inverter coolant temp. That is probably of most concern (over engine temp).
With that said, you will have no problem with blocking the lower grill assuming the outside temp remains say below 60. Caution should be used blocking the upper grill as that is where the radiator for the inverter is. If that gets too hot, there could be repercussions as others more knowledgeable than me have pointed out.
Hope this summary helps.
Peter

 

What he said.

 

Do the ice road trucker newbies wonder if blocking their grill voids their warranty?

Think of it as a coat for your ride. Think of your OWN body when it needs or doesn't need a coat. You take it off when it's hot, so you don't damage your self.




It's just a common sense matter. Like Tony said ... it's been done now for decades ... ever since the ICE coolant first got frosty.




.

 

I go along with Mike L. and Strangelove, how would they find out? If the car completely disintegrates just pull the pipe insulation out of the grill while you are waiting for the wrecker. Even if the blocked grill had nothing to do with the failure, which it wouldn't, it's better not to tell them. Remember the guys fixing your car may not be very bright and they definitely are not on your side.

 

Any definitive answer from Toyota on this ?

If buying a used Prius, I would definitely find out if the current owner used grill blocking to improve his fuel economy at the possible expense of future issues. There are always tradeoffs and I am sure Toyota is well aware of them.