I live in MN Where the temps get down to -30° and below in the winter. Can my gen 2 prius sit outside and operate properly in these conditions?
Welcome to PriusChat!! How many miles on the vehicle, and do you know the service history? You should be fine, just like the gen2 folks over in Mongolia and Siberia. Use a winter weight oil, and check the radiator (not the overflow tank) for pinkish coolant. Do a load test on the 12v battery; though it won't be turning over the engine, and only used to start up the computers. You may want to use some 'pipe' insulation noodles to block the radiator in the front of the car, which will allow it to run warmer on less gas. FYI : you're moderated until you've posted 5 times.
Toyota makes a block heater for the car; something to consider. IIRC US dealerships often don’t stock it. Oil pan heaters are worthwhile too I think, though I haven’t got into it. Can you do anything to mitigate “outside”, say one of those aluminum frame and tarpaulin car shelters?
I also live in Minnesota, and park outside. My Prius has never failed to start and drive in cold weather in the 6 years I’ve had it. The lowest temperature I recall seeing on the display is -20 Farenheit. You can definitely tell the car is working harder, though. The engine tends to run more often and at higher revolutions per minute in order to generate enough power and warmth, which also lowers efficiency from an average of 45 miles per gallon on my car to 35 mpg or lower when it’s very cold out.
It's not always obvious how much trouble the engine is or isn't having with cold starts, because it gets cranked by MG1 at what sounds like a running RPM, and might all be happening as you're already driving down the road. When my old Gen 1 was up in the 2xx,000s and getting a little balky with cold starts, sometimes I would get three blocks from home before the ding and the triangle, and then be awkwardly situated at the side of the road. Those times, I kind of wished for the old days of hearing "rrr, rrr, rrr" and knowing there was trouble before leaving my driveway. In the Engine and ECT data list, there are a couple of interesting PIDs, "judge time engine ignition" and "judge time engine output". I believe those show you, from the last time the engine started, how many seconds from the start of cranking before the ECM was sure ignition was happening, and how many seconds till the engine was producing respectably more power than MG1 had to put in to spin it (or more simply, until it was for sure started). It might be worth looking at those values now and then, in cold weather especially, to see if there's any trend with the engine taking longer to start, when some attention to usual suspects like throttle cleaning, plugs, etc., might be in order.
Yes. Adding more air in winter to account for colder temperatures is required. That’s common to all vehicles.
Thanks to all who responded. I do keep the Prius inside when not being used. So far the only difference that I’ve seen from summer operations is that the mileage has dropped from a 43mpg average to around 38-39 thanks again for all the responses.
