05' getting 40mpg if I'm lucky

If it has been blowing it is too hot. Lets try this at a different angle... Why does the car get so hot? When it is 40 outside, and you park in a parking lot with no shade, the insides of the car are going to get to 50 maybe.

Can you park under a tree for a couple days? What about a sun-shade/screen?

Basically lets try eliminating that mad AC usage and battery heatup at the get-go by keeping it cooler to begin with.

 

This is normal operation.

Tom

 

new here but have u had the a/c checked it may need regasing it, the a/c is down on pressure it will keep running hot but will feel cold when tested on the face and cabin will feel cool ,but wiil take much longer to get to temp.

 

....I'm beginning to think this information forum is primarily made up of Prius nerds.
That's no slam, believe me, I work at NASA with the best of them and alot are Prius drivers...just the Prius types that other car drivers hate, morally right in the center lane, never exceeding the speed limit and coasting to stops to attain their precious mpg calculations.
Hey, it's a free country.

That said, I didn't buy one to have another hobbie to take up my time.
(20 year Toyota driver here BTW). I'd like to assume I can drive this little gas-sipper like a Corolla and need to be nerd-stracted by the little mpg display...
But drive it non-the-less and expect mileage somewheer in the claimed range.

So, 'not conducting the test properly' isn't gonna cut it F8L ol' pal.


Suffice to say, I won't be driving with one eye on the screen, conducting tests and keeping spreadsheets, driving sans AC, nor riding on over-inflated tires to attain the almighty MPG.

...and thanks recycleman for being so levelheaded.

 

Don't get testy with me just because you don't know how to conduct a simple test then cop an attitude when people call you on it.

Nerds are cool nowadays..... even cool enough to get into the Playboy mansion. LMAO

 

Word on the street is that a battery on its way out could take years to actually throw a code. Having the problem persist for a couple years is not uncommon. There's not a whole lot you can do right now that makes sense economically, other than watching your local junkyards for a fresh battery out of a 2009 wreck (any mileage).

 

You can "believe your battery is on the way out" as much as you want, doesn't make it true. If you don't want to test it, then just drive it let it be. Toyota techs won't help because they are only code monkeys like every other dealership. No code, no banana. You wont take the real help because it is too much work. So you are left with extreme diagnoses that have a high probability of being hooey.

Sort of like diagnosing yourself with the plague because you have headache.

 

you work for nasa... the parking lots tend to be safe... get a car cover.. people tend to usually respect a car with a cover and it keeps the car super cool since it never actually soaks up any sunlight.

if i was in your situation, i would bring my cover to work. i have a lexus rx cover... works great on the prius.. almost touches the ground and doesn't look too baggy. the antenna cover is a little short though.. hehe..

 

It sounds like you are the perfect candidate for a solar roof option in the GenIII. The whole point is to run the AC off of solar while parked to keep the cabin reasonable. Perhaps go to a dealership that allows extended test drives or even rentals of a solar package (IV?) and see how it performs. It would probably make your life much easier because it would be cool immediately, and 0 hit in gas mileage.

 

tankin' it

Fill up 1 (top-off on the way back from Vegas): 325 miles/8.9 gals = 36.5mpg (computer read 40.5mpg)
Fill up 2: 378miles/10.2 gals = 37mpg (computer read 41.5mpg)
Fill up 3: (just for kicks) 167 miles/3.974 gals = 42mpg (computer read 40mpg)
How am I doin' so far? :tinfoil3:
Sorry, I used the word 'nerd' too many times, should have included 'geeks'...

A couple questions... I don't hear any sort of fan noise at all in this car. Only thing I hear is right after it's shut of some electrical buzzing on something coming from under the hood foe a few seconds.
Where is the fan located and where is the duct you cleaned out?

Also, I ran it for a good 25 miles on the last bar blinking before filling up. If the ICE runs out of fuel, will the electric motor still work....say if you have to creep to a gas station?
Now there's a n00b question! hwell:

 

V8Cobrakid - I'm out at Dryden, the place where the sun is always overhead and shade is a premium...oh and the wind blows constantly. That's why the first thing I did was take it to the tint shop and bought the high-dollar ceramic stuff for all the windows including the windshield. I have a Heatshield coming as well.
Car covers don't work real well out here. Between the sand and the wind it's a battle.

Oh, and in the 3 years here I've never locked my car, keys in the ignition...:madgrin:

 

You need more tanks then that over more miles to guesstimate MPG the way you are trying to.

The buzzing is normal. It is the coolant thermos being pumped up. There is an entire orchestra full of noises from the Prius "after dark". Some as late as 5-7 hours after shutoff, it will do some fluid maintenance. The Prius is never off, just waiting.

Yes if you run out of fuel you then get a maximum speed of 52mph and can go in EV mode until it dies. But doing so any more than 1 bar on the MFD means you are below 40%. Get it below 30% and it may or may not start again. Get it below 25% and it will not start. Then you require a shameful tow to the Toyota dealership. There they will call HQ and fly in one of the few chargers around the world and a specialist. They will surround the car with caution tape and hook up the AC wall charger to the HV battery, 12v battery, and hybrid ECU. After charging it to ~60%, they will turn the car to READY test it and give it back to you. Sound expensive? Definitely. So you have to ask yourself if running a couple extra miles when the car tells you to FILL UP NOW is really worth it...

Hmmm... Do you leave your Prius key in the ignition, in the car, or within 3 meters of the car?

 

...no, I bring the P-key in with me, I don't trust the NASAgeeks when it comes to a Prius.
If I leave it in the car at home is that a bad thing?

When you say "can go in EV mode" you mean it automatically will switch to the electric motor, correct? There isn't some sort of EV button I don't know about is there?

It seems that even if the EV batteries were close to complete discharge that the car would still start with the 12V battery if the car was gassed up. Make sense?

At any rate it seems logical to me that the car would be designed to be able to run the tank to empty and have the electric motor as a back up.
Maybe I'm just thinking like an enginerd...

 

Yes. You will drain your 12v battery faster. This puts a larger strain on the inverter, and lower fuel economy. Not to mention the 12v will die faster.

Not switch to, just only use. Both electric motors and the engine are always connected. When the gas cuts out (either controlled or because of lack of fuel) MG1 and MG2 takeover. They are limited to 52mph without the ICE spinning.

There actually is.

Doesn't make sense, and is wrong. You have no starter. The engine is started by spinning MG2 dry, then injecting fuel and running. If there is no juice to power MG2 to a sufficient speed to get the ICE going, it won't keep a' turnin' when gas is injected and it will fail and shut down. The 12v battery has 1 main duty. To flip a relay. When you start the car and hear that first relay click from the back, the 12v can be completely removed from the equation. The HV battery is engaged and is the sole source of electrical power. If it is depleted, you don't go anywhere, and you have a chicken and the egg problem.

It does work that way. But a couple killowatt hours powering a couple thousand pounds at 50mph means if you had a "fully" charged battery (80%, all green bars) you could go about a mile. Maybe eek out a mile and a half if you were a hypermiller. It gives you enough power to pull over and off the side of the road essentially. It is not supposed to be supplemental power for miles and miles to find a gas station.

 

...yoiks! Thanks for 'splainin' that. Then I will not push the gas meter to it's minimum.
I dis not know about the no starter deal.
So where is the EV button?

 

Do you hear a crank sound every time the engine comes on?

The EV button is pin 27 of connector H14 on the Hybrid Vehicle ECU behind the passenger glove box.

 

hi all in my job i work on air con the most common fault i get is the air con taking a long time to get to tempature . when checked i find the the matix where the fan is ,is blocked with crap so the fan is not doing its job, the techs at toyota could miss this as the car will say its working ok. the aircon unit on the prius works like a house unit and not like units fitted to other cars.

your saying toyota can not find anything faulty on your can and there right .a blocked matrix is not a fault ,think all working ok but as your saying the car is hotter this year so go to a air con car shop and get it checked.