Gas Change this Early??

[tomdeimos]

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.

[hdrygas]

Originally posted by tomdeimos@Feb 21 2006, 08:10 PM
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.

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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.

[Allannde]

Originally posted by hdrygas@Feb 21 2006, 05:24 PM
  With no blocker at temps in low 40's to high 30's 7-8 miles of my 9 mile am commute.  In the evening I am unzipping the lower blocker to keep temps below 200 F.  On the freeway with both open I am running 185 to 195.  I think that I am getting a 3-5 mpg boost at a minimum.

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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?

[Frank Hudon]

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.

[Allannde]

Originally posted by Frank Hudon@Feb 22 2006, 12:01 PM
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.

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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?

[Frank Hudon]

Originally posted by Allannde@Feb 22 2006, 11:16 AM
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?

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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.

[Allannde]

To quote myself "...if I am careful to monitor the cooling am I safe?"

[Frank Hudon]

Originally posted by Allannde@Feb 22 2006, 11:58 AM
To quote myself "...if I am careful to monitor the cooling am I safe?"

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yes.

[hdrygas]

Originally posted by Allannde@Feb 22 2006, 10:30 AM
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?

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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.

[hdrygas]

Originally posted by Frank Hudon@Feb 22 2006, 11:43 AM
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.

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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.