Grill blocking and warranty

I don't know if it would be used as an excuse to deny warranty coverage or not, might be up to the individual dealer.

I would take mine out if I needed to take the car to the dealer for maintenance. No point in giving them any ammunition to attempt denial of a warranty claim.

 

+1

Any problem that possibly could have been made worse by less than normal cooling could end up getting blamed on them.

Even an honest, competent dealer might mistake them as the cause of a problem, in which case you would be on the hook until they found out there was another cause for the problem (if they ever did).

 

Although I am in general agreement with Tony I've taken the 2006 & the 2010 to two dealers a few times with the grill blocking intact. The 2010 trips were: Stuck shifter, oil change, tire patch. The last 2 trips for the 2006 were for the 12v battery. No one at either dealer made any comments.

 

Yeah I really doubt any dealer will give you issues. If the maintenance has nothing to do with the grill block they won't even mention it.

 

My dealer hasn't ever said anything. Of course, here in Minnesota that was once a common practice for all cars & trucks anyway. Back then, it was never an issue. So, I don't see how it would be now either.
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Apologies if this has already been covered--I couldn't find it searching the traditional terms...

Has anyone (presumably using a scangauge) seen their temp go up more than you'd like while grill-blocking? If so, can you recall how much blockage/what air temps/driving conditions?
Thanks
~T

 

With OAT in the 60sF and a full block, I saw fWT go up to 209F. I removed the bottom slat of the block and it was good from then on. Now with temps no higher than the low 40sF I have the full block in again.

 

If Toyota thought it was safe to grill block why didn't they include one, or maybe even a automatic one that opens and shuts when the computer tells it to? If it really improves mpg and has no negative effects why didn't they do it? But anyways you should remove it, I'm sure if you ever had a warranty claim on the ICE or the $6,000+ transaxel or any other part that needs cooling I'm willing to bet they don't cover it under warranty if they know you use a grill block.

 

The "Variable Air Inlet" probably won't sell as many cars as the stuff they decided to include. They also prefer a lower tire pressure to provide a cushy ride so the car doesn't squeak as much even though your FE & tire life will decrease.

Many years ago one of my college courses was taught by a part-timer from GM. He said any change made to a vehicle had to have a 100% rate of return as it may not last more than 1 model year.

Most drivers don't care about instrumentation so there's no return on installing useful gauges. They like graphs so we have graphs.

 

OK...I pick up my new 2010 Prius tomorrow . How are you blocking the grill (what do you use)? Thanks

 

Because the official fuel economy tests (the only numbers they're allowed to quote) are carried out at higher ambient temperatures where grille blocking would not help. They would improve real world fuel economy in cold conditions, but not the window sticker MPG.

If a variable block improving aero on the highway was implemented (like the cruze eco has) they could quote a higher window sticker value, and could also program it to stay closed in cold conditions. hopefully this will happen on cars in the future.

 

Do a search on Grill Block 3rd Gen, or similar.

The Third Gen Prius has the inverter coolant radiator behind the two two grill openings. Do not block those.

We typically use polyethylene foam tubing water pipe insulator, shoved into the grill work. Its removable, it does not deteriorate into small pieces and block the radiator openings, and you can block as much or as little as you want.

In the 20 degree weather we have now, blocking the passenger half of the lower grill is probably safe, unless your going to go flying 80 mph down the highway, or climb some mountains, or other high output low air flow activities.

The right half of the lower grill provides cooling for the transmisson, and the radiator exposed has not been enough for my Prius to drop down below a fully warmed up stage.

 

Hi Adamace,

They want the car to be able to climb out of Death Valley, at 80 mph, with the 800 pound rated payload, without overheating. That is why the grill is big as it is.

With regards to a variable grill, they want to avoid it freezing up in the winter and causing overheating then.

This is not a an easy problem. Snow blows into the crevices, and melts from engine heat, flows into the crevices and freezes, locking the mechanism. One might actually need PTC heaters in the right place to insure proper mechanism operation. This is getting expensive.