Wrapping stock intake with tinfoil bubble and then heat resistant wrap?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by h1ph0panonymous, Jul 11, 2025 at 3:11 AM.

  1. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    I double checked this morning about the ~13 second delayed shut off of the engine water pump when the coolant temperature was 104F, that I wrote about in post #104. Well it seems that I had short term memory issues when I made that post. At 104F coolant temperature, the water pump turns off at the same time as the shut off of the engine. There is no delayed shut off of the water pump. I am sorry for causing any confusion. The remainder of what I wrote in post #104 is accurate. Thank you rjparker for the short video you posted that proved what I wrote was wrong.
     
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  2. Vman455

    Vman455 Senior Member

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    Well, I hesitate to help out OP because they seem like a real...nice person, but since I am (AFAIK) the only person who has done something similar to what they're asking, here you go.

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    This was completed almost exactly 5 years ago and has been through downpours so heavy I had to stop driving due to lack of visibility.

    External intake, flex tube + PVC elbow (with extra drain hole; there's one in the airbox but can't hurt to have another at the new low point). Note that this only fits because the windshield washer system has been removed; that normally takes up this volume. There is nowhere that I could find to route the intake air from in front of the radiator, as Gen 4 and 5 do.

    IAT at ~90F ambient has been reduced from 12-14F over with no duct (airbox open to engine bay directly)/10-12F over with stock duct (open behind passenger headlight) to 3-5F over (read by a Scangauge II). This doesn't appear to affect coolant temperature.

    If you want to prolong the lifespan of your car, the best thing you can do is stop "redlining" it between stoplights.
     
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  3. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    Exactly. The OP will find this out after he wraps the intake manifold, and the engine coolant temperature has not changed.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Well, given the OP's rather peculiar definition of 'redlining', there's probably not a lot of lifespan effect to be expected from doing or not doing that, anyway.
     
  5. h1ph0panonymous

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    So it does lower heat soak temps compared to stock heat soak temps at stop lights?

    I sit at 190 degrees at stop lights (engine turned off and heat soaking) from stop light to stop light commutes.

    If I can lower those situations to 188-186 I’d be happy with just my wrap efforts, I could try to do what you did with the true cold air intake but who knows how much air restriction I’ll be creating with all those 90 degree turns in the ducting.
     
  6. h1ph0panonymous

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    Prius driven daily closer to the equator seem to form EGR deposits faster than their northern state Prius drivers, therefore any mods to lower temps in anyway, especially during stop light to stop light heat soaking will definitely prolong the life of the car.
     
  7. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    I hate to share the most basic of cooling secrets but... the thermostat controls the engine temperature. If you can find one five degrees cooler the engine will run 5 degrees cooler.
     
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  8. h1ph0panonymous

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    Then I didn’t do it right and will continue isolating compartments and wrapping more parts closer to the engine.
     
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    source of data?
     
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  10. h1ph0panonymous

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    Oh really, so the thermostat generates the heat and or anti-heat?
     
  11. h1ph0panonymous

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    Common sense about the recent RIP post about the New Yorkers’ Prius driver giving the car to family members to drive down south until gasket failed when he had it up north the majority of his ownership and driving of it.
     
  12. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    To make a theory
    It takes a Prius and one post
    One Prius, and a post,
    and common sense.
    The common sense alone will do,
    If posts are few.

    (with apologies to Emily)
     
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  13. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    You have a lot of wrapping to do. You are going to need to buy some more of that foil wrap.
     
    #133 Brian1954, Jul 15, 2025 at 10:00 PM
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2025 at 10:07 PM
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  14. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    This proves what I wrote in post #56 about the OP not knowing how the cooling system works in a car.

    Edit added the following: The first thing you need to do is do some research on how the engine cooling system works in a car and the function of the thermostat in the cooling system.
     
    #134 Brian1954, Jul 15, 2025 at 10:04 PM
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2025 at 11:16 PM
  15. h1ph0panonymous

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    To say ambient temperature doesn’t play a direct roll in EGR->Water Pump->Head Gasket is to ignore all actualities of ambient temperature playing a role in this issue.

    To knock on my idea for decreasing the ambient temperature of the air the car takes in is just doubling down on ignorance.
     
  16. h1ph0panonymous

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    Radiator only clicks on when the AC is on or when engine temps are over 200 degrees.

    I never reach those trigger points. What I’m trying to do is lower heat soak temps during stop light to stop light driving routes pre-radiator trigger temps.
     
  17. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Can this guy be anything but a troll?
     
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  18. h1ph0panonymous

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    Radiator does nothing at a stop light but heat soak because the engine is off and the car is still, not moving through the air..and its fan doesn’t turn on unless the AC is on or the engine temp exceeds 200 degrees. This isn’t rocket appliances. I’m trying to lower heat soak temps through wrapping and isolation of engine compartments and parts pre-radiator fan trigger points.
     
  19. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    No, he is not. He just does not know how the cooling system works in a car.
     
  20. h1ph0panonymous

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    The cooling system is irrelevant in the case of stop light to stop light driving because the radiator is doing nothing at a stop light especially with its fan off during temperatures and settings (AC on) that don’t call for that fan to turn on.

    What is relevant in this thread for the case of stop light to stop light driving is lowering the normal stoplight temp (190) before getting to the stop light. My idea to do that is to work on isolating compartments under the hood and heat wrapping the parts closest to that thing called the engine that generates heat and dissipates into the surrounding parts and compartments next to it.