The ultimate radiator block is one you can adjust so it is pretty closed up for warm up and then can be adjusted as needed from the cabin, or by a thermostat, so the car warms up and stays warm, but not hot enough to run the fans, as that would waste energy.
I agree like the old Saabs. I wonder if you could hook up radio control servos to zip and unzip the blocker. Mount the control box infront of the cup holders. Then you coud use your installed Mac Mini and the CAN-View to monitor and control it, based on the ICE and Coolant temps. :lol:
Hi hdrygas Like you I have many trips under 10 miles with even colder temps. I use a block heater but not a radiator blocker like you. Doesn't the thermostat cut off the coolant from the radiator until the block heats up? If so, to what do you attribute the benefit of the radiator blocking? Your discussion suggests that after a longer period of driving there is the potential of overheating with radiator blocking so the talk of radio controls and servos. In your experience, have you reached the point of diminishing returns for the trouble of stopping and unzipping the blocking or have you found a balance between convenience and overheating?
my experience with rad block is there is almost no over heating assoicated with it in the Prius. I've done 100+ mile freeway trips and no problems. I've only once had the temp over 100C = 212F on the hi-way and it was only for about 2 minutes, that was a nasty little hill of 11%grade for 3/4 of a mile and it was at 87C at the bottom. Most of the time it's in the hi 80's to mid 90'sC, 87-95C, and the cooling fans don't come on till 100C. Our ambient temps are almost identical to the south sound. The block isn't a problem. The cooling system in a Prius is oversized for the car in a normal Pacific North West winter. This year I'm not taking it off till I absolutly have to, probably mid May. Edit: actually the temp that we really need to monitor isn't the ICE as at this time it's not been a problem, the one we really should monitor is the MG inverter temps as they spike a lot quicker and higher than the ICE. Edit#2:there is even a temp switch in the lower inverter section of the rad that has it's own control relay in the control system for the cooling fans to turn them on independent of the ICE cooling requirements.
Interesting! I have ScanGuage but not CAN-view (not available for '06/NAV). How would I monitor the MG inverter temp? Or if I am careful to monitor the coolant, am I probably safe?
at this point in time there is no way of monitoring the G2 Prius inverter temps. On the Classic with the MiniScanner I can monitor MG1 and 2 temps and MG1 and 2 inverter temps. Hopefully eflier will soon discover the MG's and if available the inverter temps. With a ScanGuage as it only reads OBD11 data and MG's and inverter temps are not part of the OBD11 monitoring criteria there is no way of getting it.
Ahh the servos and Mini were a result of the wide Rube Goldberg streek in my personality. I just love to tinker, I think that this might just be a little over the top. Doable but over the top.
I have been looking for likely candidates for this information but have not been yet able to find one. Norm and Atilla have been very helpful, but it may be that the only way to get this information is to interrogate the HV ECU and wait for the data back. That appears to be what the THHS does. There are 2 inverter temps that can be read by the THHS and the MG2 temp. Atilla has gotten the information but only by interrogating the ECU and reading the data back. Apparently MG1 is not monitored but calculated. I keep looking when I have a couple of hours to spare. I am operating on the thought that inverter and MG2 temps should be stable and at ambient in a cold car in the ACC position. In the ING and Ready position the inverter coolant pump comes on automatically so one would think that if you turned on the AC at max in the ING position the inverter numbers should rise and the MG2 should still be stable. In Ready and using EV (forced) and moving the car the MG2 should now rise and the ICE remain stable. So far no luck. Norm did not want to use the CAN-View as a scanner and send data over the bus for fear of interfering with critical functions such as braking and ABS etc.
I suppose if all else fails, one could monitor the sensor output voltages directly, and A/D them into a meaningful readout. Hmm, maybe it's time for the "can-view generic 4-input analog converter" add-on board... with a way to program the curve mapping [to deal with things like thermistors]. . _H*
what I found and this is on the Classic is that MG2 temps rise slowly till they are a match for the ICE temp. MG1 rises much quicker on hills and it'll rise up to match the ICE, steady state driving on the freeway. Come to a hill and MG1 climbs along with the Inverter for both 1 and 2, then MG2 rises up and will peak higher than the ICE. The inverter temps climb at an astonishingly fast rate compared to the MG's but cool very quickly as well. I'll have to take you for a drive and you can have a look.
the thermistors are already there and the data goes to the HV ecu but it's trying to find their address on the buss to be able to make CAN-view display it. Figure out the address and were 7/8th of the way there. Norm will take car of the other 1/8th.
This is what I got from Atilla: Getting to my point. I am working at improving my m.p.g. and have added a block heater and designed a radiator blocker that attaches to the front end bra. I had the ScanGage to monitor engine temps and have now upgraded to the CAN View as it was a out of the box solution that I could handle. With the radiator blocker I worry about the inverter temp, MG1/2 temps as well. I know a Prius Tech and he gave me a show and tell on the THHS and we compared it to the CAN View. I know that the THHS can get at the data I want, but I have looked high and low at the raw CAN data and can not find any good candidates. I had a year old copy of your CAN Bus data and decided to get a new one to see what might be there and I see that you have listed the information under solicited CAN messages. I was suspicious that was the case because there appear to my novice eyes that there are direct connections between the HV ECU and those sensors so it made it possible that the inverter temp (listed by the THHS as inverter1 and inverter2 and MG2) were not broadcast on the CAN Bus continuously at all. Can you clarify any of this for me? Am I searching in vain for this information in the raw CAN Bus data displayed by the CAN View? Well, as far as I know, these are definitely solicited messages. I was able to solicit info on the catalyzer temperatures, but even those did not work on the Japanese models for example... Nevertheless, digging through some older emails, this is only what I got : Try sending out ID: 7e2 02 21 c3 00 00 00 00 00 (len:8) you should get back ID: 7eA 10 27 61 c3 ?? ?? ?? ?? (len 8) 2nd byte 27 is data load, 4th seems to be confirmation of block c3, bytes5-8 are start of data Now send ID: 7e2 30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 (len 8) // get more data And you'll get the rest of the data ID 7ea 21 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ID 7ea 22 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ID 7ea 23 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ID 7ea 24 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ID 7ea 25 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? In all those questions marks lies MG1 and MG2 RPM, torq, temp, inv temps as well as engine speed request and eng speed So far we think : last byte on line 23 is MG1 inv temp (subtract 50) fist byte on line 24 is MG2 inv temp 2nd byte on line 24 is motor 2 temp, 3rd is motor 1 temp (kinda jittery) the 2nd+3rd bytes on line 22 seem to be requested engine speed. DCDC temp is in another packet... Try sending out ID: 7e2 02 21 c4 00 00 00 00 00 (len:8) you should get back ID: 7eA 10 11 61 c4 ?? ?? ?? ?? (len 8) 2nd byte 11 is data load, 4th seems to be confirmation of block c4, bytes5-8 are start of data Now send ID: 7e2 30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 (len 8) And you'll get the rest of the data ID 7ea 21 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ID 7ea 22 ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? I can only assume there are other goodies by asking for 02 21 c5 or 02 21 c2... After you get the first line, send the 30 00 00 etc line and see how much comes back. I haven't played with this extensively, as I had no need for it. This is all on the HV ECU obviously (7e2/7ea) Have fun and let me know how it goes! ;-) Attila
interesting news. I was starting to think that it wasn't just in the raw can data available to CAN-view. That's why nothing looked right on the can feed.
OK Frank that went over my head slow down small words one syllable or less! Please explain am I missing something. Frank should all of this be moved where more minds can impact this?
you know I doubt that most normal people could begin to figure it out. The only possible ones are those with access to the THHT. Norm is seriously working on it. Wether or not it's successful or not won't be know for a while. What Attilla is doing is sending a request over the CAN to tell the HV ecu (hybrid vehicle) to send the data blocks, the address and other data is in it. Then you have to figure out what all the data is about. So do you really want to become and electrical engineer like Norm and go back to school for all the math and stuff or do you want to read the CAN-view. I'll go on a limb and say I think he'll eventually find it but it'll take time. Then we get to flash the module again.
Would it help to use my splitter and the CAN-View and THHS at the same time? Ifixem might help. I saw the data on the THHS during a demo. I could ask. I also invited him to the Alternative Energy Fair. He has access to the shop on the weekends. BTW my mpg on the MFD continue to rise I have 297 miles on the tank and CAN View reading 49% full and MFD at 56.6 and rising each trip. 5 min bars are near 50 for the first bar then going up 3 and 4th bars around 75. All in the last tank (but with the new blocker :mellow: . Can't run a decent experiment and make conclusions if you change two variables and I am wondering it that is what is happening. If it's too good to be true it's too good to be true.
OK to draw this up on the original topic at least, I had to go to Seattle last night and was on the freeway for the last 120 miles and ended up at 55.76 mpg calculated. I still think this is too high for conditions and want folks in the PNW to let me know about their last (next) fill up.
Feb 11th : 52mpg calculated, 47.1 mpg MFD Feb 24th: 38.9mpg calculated, 45.9 mpg MFD Looks like I have 1.4 more gallons in the tank this fillup.