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During my city commutes I've noticed that the Gen III doesn't warm up any faster than a Gen II. With morning ambient in the mid-sixties the Prius doesn't get to the 157F stage 4 until 4 miles into my 14 mile commute. Doesn't open the thermostat until almost 11 miles into the commute. And I have noticed that there are times the engine will cool enough to affect MPG. So it's time to install an engine block heater in the 2010.

To give the first 2010 install a proper intro, I'll do it at Hybridfest/GreenDrive Expo. Anyone who is going is welcome to come have a look, even crawl under the car (up on ramps). And for those people with cameras, please come and snap away, I need the pictures for the write up of how to do it. Most likely it will be done Saturday, so plan ahead.

Wayne

Hi Wayne;

Fortunately in my area of the country the Gen III's come with block heaters but I totally agree on the effectiveness of the block heater even during the Summer season.
The initial warm-up hit on FE is astounding to say the least... maybe it is just me but it is more so than on the Gen II under the same circumstances.

Cheers;

MSantos

I'll be happy to crawl on under there with ya for the photoshoot,
like we did at Jud's a while ago ... if the timeframe is right
and I'm not pulled off doing something else at the time! I've
got a couple of lights I can bring to bear for better shots, too.
And it's a good chance to explore the underside of the
third-gen anyways...
.
I finally installed an ECT fakeout on my '04, and that actually
really helps shortcut the games needed to get to stage 4. Wondering
why I didn't do this years ago, but it was useful to have the
various other reports from the field to instill confidence.
.
_H*

I use an engine block heater year round. Makes a big difference even on warmer mornings.

Engine block heater noob here:

Has a comparison been done between the energy needed to heat the block using electricity vs. using gas? I guess you'd have to make some assumptions to equate the two sources, but here's hoping someone has done the math already.

-Simon

Yes it has. Search Bailout's posts for particulars.

Big problem for me on my short daily commute. Nissan Altima Hybrid.

But a block heater is likely not a good (workable) solution for me... I wish there was an easy override.

Grill block anyone?

I'll be happy to crawl on under there with ya for the photoshoot,
like we did at Jud's a while ago ... if the timeframe is right
and I'm not pulled off doing something else at the time! I've
got a couple of lights I can bring to bear for better shots, too.
And it's a good chance to explore the underside of the
third-gen anyways...
_H*

Always welcome your help. And bring a meter for the hybrid battery,maybe we can figure out the best glide part of the HSI indicator.

Wayne

We also use ours year round, virtually all the time, for the first start of the day. The Honda block heater is 400 Amps, and I think I worked out it costs maybe a dime an hour, even less, to use it. We typically run it for two hours.

Should that be 400 watts? 400 amps would be close to melting your engine :eek:

From this morning;

Miles/Temp/MPG

.5/121/24

1/130/35

1.5/141/39

2/150/42.6

2.5/157/40.2

3/154/48.5

3.5/155/50.2

4/166/51.4

4.5/164/54

5/170/57.7

5.5/172/60.5

6/175/60.8

6.5/175/64

7/175/64.1

Ambient was 66F, roads were wet as it just finished raining as I left for work. Final segment was 16.7 miles / temp 191F / 70.8 MPG / Average. speed 18 MPH. Because of the rain, the segment was about 6-8 MPG below what I have been doing.

After the engine reached thermostat opening at about 184F/9miles the engine did not shut off for a glide, but stayed on for a good 1/2 mile glide for some reason. If I would start out at 110 with a EBH then I would have reached 157F within 1 mile or less and 184F before 3 miles.

Wayne

I am having the same experience. Maybe if there was enough of us, we could get someone to fabricate us a figerglass block.

Anyone interested.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/31.jpg

Hi Wayne:

___Very interested in this subject (no kidding ;)) but I have seen glides allowed in the 130's plus the full on EV capability after an S1 like warm-up in minute #2 per the 1-minute bars. 3-Minutes out and she is allowing the 100 + stuff but it may not be sustainable as I was on the Interstates by that time not seeing the 4 through 10-minute action. We also had a solid S4 and 0-RPM glides without any Idle check above 157 degrees F when leaving Harry’s home on the back roads last Friday morning??? It just worked and within 5 miles, he was in the low to mid-80's.

___S1 through S4 is possibly much different than the Prius-II and if you know what the sequence of events of the -III are, would you mind posting it here?

___Thanks in advance.

___Wayne

"Should that be 400 watts? 400 amps would be close to melting your engine"

Very likely, my mistake.

FWIW, my Mom's Mazda takes a LONG time to warm up to operating temp on days under 70*. The first 7 miles only gets it into the 160's. It may make 180 on my full 10 mile drive to work.

I am having the same experience. Maybe if there was enough of us, we could get someone to fabricate us a figerglass block.

Anyone interested.



You mean a fiberglass engine block??

Well Engine Block Heater installed, future thread for that. Results first use after a 6 hour preheat. Outside temp was 60F, battery SOC 3 bars, starting engine temp was 148F. After starting the car I went to unplug and put away the cord, total of about 30 seconds. The car didn't start the engine warm up!! Only after I started to drive did the engine kick in and go through a stage I warm-up cycle which seemed a bit shorter. The temp went down to 125F and then back up to 139F when the engine finished it's warm-up. Results below can be compared to the results from a few posts back, remember the outside temp was about 6F colder.

Miles / Temp / MPG

.5 / 157 / 25

1 / 159 / 42

1.5 / 168 / 46.9

2 / 166 / 57.7

2.5 / 175 / 56.4

3 / 170 / 65.7

3.5 / 173 / 69

4 / 177 / 68.2

4.5 / 184 / 67.4

5 / 184 / 69.4

5.5 / 186 / 69.9

6 / 181 / 75.6

6.5 / 182 / 75.8

7 / 186 / 76.7

Final results when parking 16.6 miles, 177F temp, 85.1 MPG, 18 MPH average, SOC 2 bars (never went above 3). Interesting note, the ScanGage MPG was 71.7 for the trip. Engine block heaters are needed for pulse and glide in the Prius III.

Wayne

Wow! Your EBC got your temp to 148deg? Mine in my Altima Hybrid gets me to no better than 128deg... That 20deg would make a HUGE difference!

Wow! Your EBC got your temp to 148deg? Mine in my Altima Hybrid gets me to no better than 128deg... That 20deg would make a HUGE difference!

Part of that could be that the EBH is very close to the engine temp sensor at the confluence of the exhaust gas heat recovery and cooled EGR returns. As I said, when the engine kicked on the temp dropped eventually to 125F before heading up again.

Wayne