Winter

Maggie:

I would think for the Boston area your Toyota dealer should be well aware of the winter requirements.

If you have a 2004+, the car is already factory filled with coolant sufficient for all but the most extreme cold (-40 or colder would probably require a higher concentration of coolant, say 60/40 instead of 50/50).

As far as motor oil viscosity, a regular 5W-30 non-synthetic should be "good" to -20 F minimum. Naturally I prefer a synthetic for cold weather operation, but unless your area regularly dips to -20 F there probably is no need.

For this winter, I'm trying out Mobil 1 0W-20 as a "winter" oil to see how well it works in the bitter cold. With temps of -24 C, it appears to have helped the city fuel economy. I'll report back sometime in January with a used oil analysis to determine the effect of the much lighter viscosity on motor wear.

Lock deicer may be a good idea if you regularly park outside. I have heated underground parking at my condo but I still like to give the lock cylinders a quick spritz, just in case.

Hope this helps. Did you get that blizzard CNN was talking about?

Jay

 

Maggie:

ah, the first blizzard is always the best one. Just kidding, they all suck. So does bitter cold and everybody around you in an elevator making gurgling sounds from some sort of upper respiratory bug. You’d think their lungs were bubbling caldrons of mucus.

You know I never like to assume things. Hopefully the dealer used the factory-recommended 5W-30. Unless your area routinely dips colder than -20 F, it should be fine. If in doubt, give them a call to verify the viscosity of oil used.

However if they have filled with a 10W-30 I would NOT recommend using it. The safe “borderline†temp for a 10W-30 non-synthetic is somewhere around 0 F to -10 F. It would probably be prudent to verify this after all.

Your fuel economy is very good considering the ambient temps. It also helps if you can park in heated parking or at least in a garage. Perhaps with the keyfob you never have to worry about deicing the lock cylinders, but if the keyfob battery were to go dead, you’d have to use the little emergency key anyway. If the lock cylinder was froze, you’d then be SOL.

jay

 

Maggie:

Sounds like you should be fine. I don't know how cold it gets in your area, if the temps routinely go below -20 F, consider a synthetic.

jay

 

Should be good then. Drive safe.

 

When you take your Prius to the dealer don't forget to have them chang e the air in your tires and put the WINTER air in.

 

Tony:

So far, with temps down to -25 C, I have had MUCH less of a fuel economy hit. I think a few things come into play here:

1. Finally made a winter front. The lower grille is blocked off with a piece of used black rubberized paper machine felt. Blends right in, looks stock. The two top slits were a puzzle until Frank Hudon suggested that black closed cell foam 1/2 inch pipe insulation. Works slick

2. Mobil 1 0W-20 appears to have really helped the warmup phase fuel economy, though there is no difference at highway speeds. I'm reluctant to tell you to put in a viscosity not recommended by Toyota. I'll be doing used oil analysis to determine what effect - if any - there is on engine wear.

I was surprised at how much #1 helped in city driving. I expected a difference in heater performance on the highway, but the winter front works very well too in city driving at under 70 km/h. The motor warms up much more quickly and will even shutdown at -25 C. It never did that last winter.

jay

 

All the other advise you got was great. The only thing I have a major reservation about a quick squirt of lock de-icer. Lock deicer contains alcohol and acetone which nice washes out the graphite lube in the locks and allows water to seap in. Your best bet is to get some graphite from a locksmith store and squirt that into the lock on the drivers side. That will protect the door lock much better than the de-icer. Use the de-icer only if it freezes which it shouldn't with the graphite lube in there.

 

Pour a bit of isopropyl alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) in the tank and Presto: Freeze Proof Windshield Washer!
(He added 14 years later)

I also keep Wet Ones (hand wipes) in my car and do the same for them during the winter months

 

People with standard E10 fuel should already have over a gallon of ethanol in their fuel tank. While not drop-for-drop equivalent to isopropyl alcohol, it should more than suffice to do the job.

I don't see Presto brand online at all, but the first Prestone product that comes up is $13/gallon for -27F washer fluid. Ouch!

Traveling through Colorado ski country a couple weeks ago, Walmart and others had washer fluid by the pallet, about $2/gallon for -20F, $3/gallon for -25F, and colder stuff for a bit more.

Aiming for a thread resurrection record?

 

I think he meant washer fluid and "presto", you have freeze-proof windshield washer fluid.

 

If he meant freeze-proof windshield washer fluid, then he needs a lot more than 'a bit' of isopropyl alcohol. More like concentrated alcohol with just a bit of water. Even 70% isopropyl alcohol freezes at -20F, no better than the lower grade (methanol) mixture I mentioned above.

When isopropyl alcohol is concentrated enough to be freeze-proof in these winter cold snaps, then it appears to also be a fire hazard in room temperature transportation and storage.

Isopropanol freezing / flash temps: Isopropanol (2-Propanol) based Freeze Protected Water Solutions