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ICE idling but not on MFD

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by ddan, Nov 7, 2008.

  1. ddan

    ddan New Member

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    Newb here.

    Is this normal? This evening, I gently drove our 09 Prius with 1200 miles on ODO for 2 miles. While stopped in our driveway for one minute with 5 blue bars and stopped for 1 minute, the MFD showed no indication that ICE was on. All arrows were black. However, the engine was on, and idling. To confirm, I opened the door and listened. Indeed ICE was running. The headlights were on and the vehicle was not moving. It was in D with brakes applied. AC was off with climate fan on low. It was 57 degrees F outside. It wasn't just for a few seconds. This lasted about a minute, before I pressed the on/off button, at which point ICE turned off.

    Does the MFD always show when ICE is running? Was this just a glitch?

    Hmm, SGII would have been helpful.

    Thanks for a great source of info.
     
    #1 ddan, Nov 7, 2008
  2. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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    ddan,

    You got it, the MFD sometimes doesn't tell the whole story.

    First off, the Energy Monitor shows energy flow, not whether the ICE --
    Internal Combustion Engine -- is running or not.

    Secondly, the "picture" on the Energy Monitor is somewhat simplified, it shows
    just one ELEC.MOTOR when there are really two. The two also act as
    generators, sometimes with one as a motor, and the other as a generator. It
    would in fact be very confusing if the MFD did show the real, true, complete
    energy flow. Some folks call the picture on the Energy Monitor a "mimic,"
    indicating that it is a dumbed down version of what is really happening. Be
    that as it may, it is a very useful tool -- especially when coupled with a
    ScanGauge
     
    #2 Rokeby, Nov 7, 2008
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    The [Energy] screen shows the FLOW of energy. If the engine is idling but not sending energy to the battery or to the tires, there's literally nothing to show.

    The display was operating as expected.
     
    #3 TonyPSchaefer, Nov 7, 2008
  4. donee

    donee New Member

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    Hi All,

    Yea, its a shame they do not use the idling engine to do at least a little charging. They are idling it to keep things warm, so it might as well do some work.

    BTW, the car does this on the road too. And you cannot even hear the engine, but allot of the time in the first 10 minutes of a trip, when you think the car is in glide, its in an idle-glide, with the engine running. One can see this with add-on insturmentation.
     
    #4 donee, Nov 7, 2008
  5. ddan

    ddan New Member

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    Glad PC is back! I've become addicted. I have learned so much about Prii, hypermiling and just more efficient driving.

    Thanks guys. I thought for a minute that I might have had a problem.

    Rokeby, your post has made sense of what seemed confusing: ICE supplying energy to wheels and electric/motor, with motor contributing to wheels, and nothing to battery. (that was a mouthful; I hope it makes sense).

    thanks again,

    dd
     
    #5 ddan, Nov 9, 2008
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