There are 3 versions for sale:
1. For Gen3 ....mounted in the engine compartment $38USD shipped
2. For Gen2 ...mounted behind the glove box $38USD shipped
3. For Gen2....monted behind a switch knock-out $42USD shipped
Let me know which one you require along with your e-mail address.
I installed this over the weekend and something seems strange. I can see the unit is working because my scangauge tells me that the engine temperature is warmer than it is but the car is still acting like it's still in the warmup phase.
For example, I drive the same route everyday. When I was pulling out into traffic, the car hesitated a lot (twice) and used a ton of battery power. Where I normally have 60% SOC, I had 45%. Where I normally have good acceleration, it seemed like the car was stuck using the majority of the batteries and when I floored it, the system had to transition to more engine power even though the engine was already running.
Is there at least I flashing LED?..this would indicate that the power and ground is hooked up properly.
If you unplug the Spoofer does the problem go away?
If there wasn't power to the board then the temperature wouldn't increase. I re-checked the scotch locks and they are tight with good continuity from plug to plug. LED's are flashing according to your instructions.
Is there any reason why I would use more battery power as opposed to more engine power even though the temperature is reading ~170?
This problem occurred when I was leaving work today. I'll unplug the board and do the same test tomorrow. I didn't time it with a watch but it seems like it takes longer for the car to shut off with the board as opposed to without the board.
You will find that now with spoofer the SOC will tend to be lower because of 2 things:
1. With the Spoofer installed as the warmup cycle is shorter, the HV battery is not charged as much as without the spoofer and
There are 2 reasons that I can think of why the SOC that you are seeing
1: Since the ICE does not run for a long time from a cold start it does not charge the battery as much.
2: With the car now at a faked 170 and so in 'a faked normal' EV S4 mode you are now able to use more HV battery power (and you have not generated much of it so far this trip) thus draining the HV battery quicker. The ECU will detect this and bring the ICE on around 4-3 bars in spite of the Spoofer.
To smooth out the rough restarts when you step on it, you may want to clean the throttle plate and while you are at it clean the MAF and the IAT sensor.
You should sop up the excess oil and cleaning fluid fluid at the bottom of the intake manifold while holding the plate open.
Please be careful as the throttle body sprays are flamable and the throttle spring is strong and will snap the plate (with its sharp edges ) shut on your fingers.
The MAF sensor resistors are delicate so be gentle.
I have noticed that the ECU does a number or Idle Re-cals one as soon as the temp crosses 160 which the Spoofer uses, to get to S4a and another around 180 to get to S4b and sometimes you will notice as you come to a stop and expect the ICE to shut off it just runs at 1080rpm for an 'extra' 15 secs.
I do not think that the Spoofer causes this. Fellow PC user 2009Prius has noticed this also, It may be trying to burn off gas vapour coming from the E10, I guess we will find out with E15.
Lets say you stop at 7-11 real quick to get a Slurpee. You shut the car down and come back within a minute. You turn the car on and the engine temp is 170. The engine runs for about 10 seconds and shuts off. IIRC, this is how my Prius works.
With the spoofer, the engine will idle for a much longer period of time even though the temp is ~170. I don't understand that and it would seem to me the spoofer is causing the engine to burn more fuel, not less. In other words, it seems like the only thing the spoofer is doing is making the computer think the temp is 170 (and display it on the scangauge too) but the fuel consumption appears to be the same.
Granted, I haven't done any specific testing but this is what I see with my scangauge and idle times. Are there any variables on the scangauge that will tell me fuel consumption so I can compare pre and post spoofer consumption rates?
The ECT spoofer was created to automate the process of connecting the shunt resistor at 110 to make the engine see 170 and go into S4a, keep it at 170 deg until the temp goes above 170 then release the ECT sensor so if the engine warms futher the fans will kick in.
The thermostat is the usual wax type and will open an close as it wishes.
If shutting down the ICE early saves fuel then thats good.
If you then EV it in to get the Slurpee you save more fuel getting there with the temp at 125 for example.
If you now start up the ECU will see that you just restarted and the temperature is 170 and will go into this mysterious timed 15 sec process that it does we are not sure, but realize that if will try for a idle check but I do not see the 960 rpm recallibrate process it seems to do a 1080 rpm process.
If you did not have the spoofer it would then have to do a recal from 125 up to 160.
If you do not have a spoofer installed your first stop into the quickie mart the ECT would probably be showing 175 when you shutdown the Prius to go get the Slurpee.
Leaving the ICE will start at 175 and head to S4b.
Lately I have been leaving the Prius in Ready Mode while I check in to MickeyD for a sausage McMuffin just to avoid the restart and idle you are seeing. Only do this if it is safe but then I do not know how may people would want to jump into a Prius as they are so disdained on the road.
I do have a Scangauge but I do not use it much anymore. I do not think it has logging.
I curently use Priidash and yes I know it is a little tedious to install RedHat Cywin-X shell but it does log.
I got a different result on my way home from work today. The scangauge showed similar temps to yesterday but they battery didn't drain as much. I didn't need to pull out fast into traffic.
I don't understand why it idles longer than I *think* it should but what I think doesn't matter because we don't have the software code for the Prius. In the summer I can see the fuel savings to be minimal but in the winter I can see where it would save a noticeable amount, especially if you're making stops every two hours or so.
One question regarding the EV if you or anyone else can answer it. Lets say the spoofer kicks in and makes the computer think it's 170 while the real temp is 115.
When you disengage EV, will the computer need to finish the idle check? If so, going into EV in most cases like this would seem like a waste of time. Is this comment correct?
If it ever starts the idle 'dance' what I have seen is that it will try to take it to take it to completion. If I have to go because the light is now green and there is another vehicle behind it seems to abort the process and keep the ICE running so you can get going. I am not sure if it does the full dance at the next stop but it will do the 'ICE shutdown' if the speed is below 40mph and may or may not keep it off.
I have come to a stop well into my commute and stop with the ICE temp showing 192 and the Spoofer has long dropped off at 172 an the ICE idles for 10 secs. The explantion I thought of is that the ECU keeps the ICE running to keep the coolant pump running to move the hot coolant to the radiator for Gen2.
I you started out in EV mode implying that you may not have even started the idle dance Iwould think that it will do a full one as soon as it can. If you do not have a ECT Spoofer then you may have to do the full 'dance'.
Whether to start off in EV or idle in Park in your driveway for the regular hybrid Prius this has been discussed here at PC.
I think the "idle dance" was my problem on the first day. The engine was running, I hadn't requested EV and the spoofer was spoofing. I had to floor it to get into traffic and the engine felt like it was misfiring. My engine will do this when it's cold (without spoofer) and I have to floor it. Once the engine gets warm, this isn't an issue.
The 'rough' start can be reduced by cleaning the throttle body as I suggested and maybe the MAF and temperature sensor if you have not done so already this year.
PriiDash is an excellent ( IMHO ) way to monitor and log the ECT gyrations that occur on start up. It also monitors HV Fan Voltage along with HV upper and lower battery temps etc.
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