Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Orange4boy's Rescue and Revival of a 2003 Prius

orange4boy · 11-27-2009, 09:35 PM

No, no, Not to worry. The regen noise is very faint and high pitched and there is nothing whatsoever coasting in neutral. I wouldn't describe it as a growl and it's only audible when you brake pretty hard. It sounds like the Chewbacca call minus the throaty bits in that it starts higher and lowers in pitch as you slow down. And as tough as the walking carpet is, his voice is pretty high.

I will keep an eye on the temps at highway speed when we go to the in-laws on Tuesday.

Im very curious to see the insides too. I still have to do a big clean up and catch up on some work for a client though, so I'm going to have to be patient.

On another note, I bought some interesting 120V 140watt elements at Princess auto the other day for $4 ea. I had seen them before but had not thought of a good application for them. Now I have a candidate: Oil pan heaters for the Prius.

The elements are CSA approved, U shaped, made of aluminum with a resistive core and have seal on the end which I hope to finesse into two holes in the side of the pan so the element is suspended in the oil. I don't know about rubber seals and oil, though.

I will have to test them first to see that they don't overheat the oil or leak through the seals. I think I can install them in both the transaxle oil pan and the engine. Tested one today in a giant tin and it heated the water to 120˚F in about an hour. Next. I will test it in an oil bath in an old baking sheet to see if the seals work an test it's reaction to oil. If the seals don't work (and I suspect they might not) then they could be fairly easily surface mounted on the underside of the pan.

Fun fun fun.

Added. Thanks for the audio clip. Sounds the same as mine. And in neutral... dead silence.

11-27-2009, 09:35 PM	#80 (permalink)
orange4boy Master EcoModder Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: The Wet Coast, Kanuckistan. Posts: 1,275 The Golden Egg - '93 Toyota Previa DX 90 day: 31.91 mpg (US) Chewie - '03 Toyota Prius 90 day: 57 mpg (US) The Spaceship - '00 Honda Insight Thanks: 100 Thanked 306 Times in 178 Posts	No, no, Not to worry. The regen noise is very faint and high pitched and there is nothing whatsoever coasting in neutral. I wouldn't describe it as a growl and it's only audible when you brake pretty hard. It sounds like the Chewbacca call minus the throaty bits in that it starts higher and lowers in pitch as you slow down. And as tough as the walking carpet is, his voice is pretty high. I will keep an eye on the temps at highway speed when we go to the in-laws on Tuesday. Im very curious to see the insides too. I still have to do a big clean up and catch up on some work for a client though, so I'm going to have to be patient. On another note, I bought some interesting 120V 140watt elements at Princess auto the other day for $4 ea. I had seen them before but had not thought of a good application for them. Now I have a candidate: Oil pan heaters for the Prius. The elements are CSA approved, U shaped, made of aluminum with a resistive core and have seal on the end which I hope to finesse into two holes in the side of the pan so the element is suspended in the oil. I don't know about rubber seals and oil, though. I will have to test them first to see that they don't overheat the oil or leak through the seals. I think I can install them in both the transaxle oil pan and the engine. Tested one today in a giant tin and it heated the water to 120˚F in about an hour. Next. I will test it in an oil bath in an old baking sheet to see if the seals work an test it's reaction to oil. If the seals don't work (and I suspect they might not) then they could be fairly easily surface mounted on the underside of the pan. Fun fun fun. Added. Thanks for the audio clip. Sounds the same as mine. And in neutral... dead silence. Last edited by orange4boy; 11-27-2009 at 09:43 PM..