I need an answer. . . FAST!

[Jasonsprite]

you will also loose the trip A and trip B info when the 12V is disconnected

[kkascha]

Ok here's an update:

I finished the trunk area and four doors. The doors took about an hour each, from taking the panel off to measuring, cutting, and installing my makeshift sound deadening material. The trunk took somewhere around six hours total, but that is a very rough estimate.

I will add pictures later but for now here are some details.

I looked up other people soundproofing their cars and found that most people use something like Dynamat. I also read websites saying that Dynamat was overpriced and that its a very simple combination of materials, so I decided to try and make my own.

I used a foil insulation on top of synthetic carpet cushion.

Here is the foil insulation I used
Reflectix 24 In. x 25 Ft. Staple Tab Insulation - ST24025 at The Home Depot

I can't find the exact form of carpet padding I used, but here is a picture of basically the same exact thing.
http://www.lafiber.com/imglib/CarpetCushion2.jpg

Now if you're thinking that carpet padding is a bad idea for insulation, and that that is the cheap route to go, after you remove the interior panels you will find the exact same thing installed by Toyota. I think insulation is insulation, I'm not saying Dynamat isn't worth it, as a matter of fact with the amount of labor that goes into soundproofing I might even feel better spending more money even if it is for the name, but I do think that there are MANY alternatives, be creative.

I used the foil as well because most products like Dynamat have a foil on top. I think the idea is that the padding will reduce vibrations from the metal surface and the foil will reduce sound waves through the air. I'm not exactly sure on that but it makes sense to me.

I am not going to be doing to floor anytime soon because I ran into some problems, and now I am semi regretting my decision.


Ok first of all the carpet cushion plus the foil insulation added up to a thickness of roughly 1/2" Now there are some areas where that is no problem, but there are other areas in the trunk area where that really is a tight fit when you put the panels back on.

The doors were really simple. Look up zenmachine's pictures on soundproofing as those were the same exact pictures I used to help my project. There are two screws in each door. One is behind a plastic panel about the size of a box of cigs where your fingertips touch when you open the inside door handel. It is behind the door handel. Pry that out with a screwdriver or something similar and there is one philips screw waiting for you. The second screw is under the small rubber pad in the door handle. Just pry off the rubber pad, which is super easy because only gravity is holding it down, and unscrew the second philips screw waiting for you.

Now comes the semi painful semi scary part. There are interior panel screws made of plastic along the edge of the door panel. All you need to do is pull hard on the door panel and it will come off. Its a good amount of pulling force required, and I was not comfortable doing that to my new Pearl.

There are about five things you need to unplug when you take the door panel off. One wire, exactly like a brake cable on a bicycle with the metal ball at the end, for the door handle and one similar wire for the lock. These are very simple to do. Only common sense is needed here. Then there are two wires, one for the door lock and one for the window button. And finally there is a wire for the small light at the bottom of the door. These cables are like ethernet cables. Very easy to plug in and out, idiot proof, and they are all different sizes so you can't mess it up.

I'm getting tired of writing some I am going to come back with more detail later, but if you have a specific question shoot and I will try my best to answer it.

[hobbit]

I'll be very interested in whether some of the dealer-set options
stay set properly after 12V disconnect. If they don't, requiring
another shameful trip back to someone with a Techstream, then
I think that will say it all about the merits of such design.
.
_H*

[kkascha]

To be honest I'm not sure when I'm going to do the floor, today was very discouraging.

Two unrelated events happened to Pearl and I today. I was trying to get to 700 miles on a single tank of gas and ran out of gas on the highway with 689 miles, but I was able to electric only my way to a gas station. I averaged 61.8mpg for the tank.

Second I got pulled over for my window tint. I have 35% all around, and the cops tint meter rated it at 31%, which I understand since the window is factory tinted at 75% I believe. He just gave me a warning, but I do not like to ruffle the police's feathers.

There is something very un-nerving about taking your Prius apart and putting it back together with no experience, and there were many times when I looked at all the parts on the floor and thought to myself, why am I ruining my brand new car. . . .

Another thing that is discouraging is the fact that the sound proofing is most definately effective, its just hard to quantify. I mean if you put new rims or window tint on your car its very easy to see your hard work pay off, but to enjoy soundproofing is somewhat more difficult.

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by kkascha

. . .
Two unrelated events happened to Pearl and I today. I was trying to get to 700 miles on a single tank of gas and ran out of gas on the highway with 689 miles, but I was able to electric only my way to a gas station. I averaged 61.8mpg for the tank. . . .

Details?

BTW, don't sweat the small stuff. You're doing good work, learning what works and doesn't. This is not for the faint of heart and you're pathfinding.

Bob Wilson

[kkascha]

Details? Sure!

I was averaging around 61.8 mpg for the tank so I figured that 61.8 x 11.9 is about 735, so I should be able to get 700 miles fairly safely. I wanted to take a picture of the 700 miles on my trip meter. Well at 689 miles I was on the highway when I felt the engine turn off. I realized that the amount of throttle I was giving Pearl she shouldn't have turned ice off, and then I realized, after I tried to accelerate harder, that I was out of gas. Luckily I was 1/2 mile away from an exit, I ran the red light at the bottom of the exit (making a right turn and looking carefully of course) and surprisingly was able to use the battery to drive me to a nearby gas station. I thought that when you ran out of gas the car didn't let you use the battery for power, but I'm positive I drove at around 20-25mph for much more than I could have glided.

[kkascha]

Just an fyi I spent less than $100 on materials for my soundproofing experiment, and I used 3M spray on adhesive to stick the foil on the carpet pad, and the carpet pad on the car.

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by kkascha

Details? Sure!

I was averaging around 61.8 mpg for the tank so I figured that 61.8 x 11.9 is about 735, so I should be able to get 700 miles fairly safely.

If that was indicated MPG, we're finding they are 5% off. The real value would be:

61.8 * .95 ~=58.7 mpg
11.9 * 58.7 = 698 miles

One Prius owner reports he has put a little over 13 gallons in by slowly filling up the tank. I typically use the 'two click' method and my data suggest 12.1 gallons usable.

Originally Posted by kkascha

. . . I wanted to take a picture of the 700 miles on my trip meter. Well at 689 miles I was on the highway when I felt the engine turn off. I realized that the amount of throttle I was giving Pearl she shouldn't have turned ice off, and then I realized, after I tried to accelerate harder, that I was out of gas. Luckily I was 1/2 mile away from an exit, I ran the red light at the bottom of the exit (making a right turn and looking carefully of course) and surprisingly was able to use the battery to drive me to a nearby gas station.

How much gas did you put in the tank?

Originally Posted by kkascha

. . . I thought that when you ran out of gas the car didn't let you use the battery for power, but I'm positive I drove at around 20-25mph for much more than I could have glided.

You were running under power and felt the engine power fade. At slower speeds, you might miss the engine off as it transitions to battery power. My out of fuel cases occurred at low power settings and only the last one when I pushed the accelerator could I tell the engine was out of fuel.

Let me guess, you saw no error lights.

Bob Wilson

[kkascha]

Well aside from the last blinking pip, there were no additional error lights or noises. I put 11.8 gallons in the tank, which leads me to wonder which number is wrong. Is it the distance traveled? MPG? Or even my math or the gas station pump? I'm not sure which one, maybe a combination.

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by kkascha

Well aside from the last blinking pip, there were no additional error lights or noises. I put 11.8 gallons in the tank, which leads me to wonder which number is wrong. Is it the distance traveled? MPG? Or even my math or the gas station pump? I'm not sure which one, maybe a combination.

I'm finding the miles are accurate and the pump is generally accurate but filling method is important:

689/11.8 = 58.4 MPG
(61..8-58.4) / 58.4 = 5.8% error

The "two click" method is:

1. fill at slow speed to first click
2. wait 10-15 seconds for foaming to stop
3. fill slow until second click

What gasoline are you using? In North Alabama, Shell, Exxon and Chevron, 87 octane seems to have higher energy content. Higher octane and other brands seem to have lower energy content.

Bob Wilson