I am planning to get a Hymotion Plug in Conversion on my '08 Prius soon. Whether or not I should upgrade the suspension? Would upgrading the suspension increase the car's load capacity, compensating for the weight of the new equipment, or just improve handling? Seems like I remember reading that even though the conversion adds about 200 pounds, it is effectively more like adding 300 lbs.
View 19 RepliesI have 4kw eng. kit now planning to add one more to it. (parallel) How I can increase my EV speed to 52.
View 15 RepliesI have been using a BMS+ with my 4KWH kit for a few weeks now. I want to know if there are any other users out there using a BMS+ with a Engineer Kit. I have found that the BMS+ to increase ICE assist and improve fuel efficiency in highway mode (greater than 70kph). Since most of my driving in is in highway mode I find this device to be very useful.
View 19 RepliesAny additional scenarios that can kick EV mode off? (I have read if the traction motor is above 104 degrees, EV mode is kicked off.)
Could too much (Enginer) power being dumped onto the HV buss (with a fully charged NiMH battery) also kick EB mode off?
Yesterday my NiMH battery was fully charged, all bars greed (don't know SOC because ScanGauge was set to AMPs). Three hours after a lengthy drive on a 70 degree day when I did have difficulty entering EV mode, I started the car, successfully engaged EV mode and the Enginer Kit, was backing out, and the engine immediately started. (No beeps indicating EV mode was turned off.)
My guess would be that after 3 hours of sitting in a shaded and cool garage that the traction motor would not be 104 degrees.
Could too many AMPs going into the PRIUS (not Enginer) DC-to-DC converter with a FULL NiMH battery cause the engine to start to somehow cool the Prius Converter? (It does have a cooling system, right?).
I have noticed that when I put my 01 Prius in "D" after I turn the key but, before the ICE starts, it seems to force it into an "EV" mode (the ICE doesn't start, and I can drive on battery only until its charge is way lower than the system usually lets it get). I also get all the warning lights (Triangle, Check Engine and Hybrid Warning). If I pull over, turn it off and turn it back on, the ICE will start and the car will function normally (all the warning lights will still be on unless I cycle the ignition several times). It has happened to me at least 5x in the past two years (only because I'm so impatient and put the car in "D" too fast not because I'm trying to do it).
View 3 RepliesI have a 2009 Prius with an Enginer 4kwh battery pack. I know that the Prius' programming has a number of parameters that control when it will enter EV mode.
The display says "Cannot enter EV mode now" when engaging my Coastal EV mode switch at times when I believe it should be able to enter EV mode. Here are the conditions from a recent trip:
-Stopped at a light
-The ICE not running
-Car fully warmed up (just drove 10 miles)
-AC off
-Outside air temp 62 degrees
-Battery showing green bars with the top bar white
If I enter EV mode when the car is started cold then it works fine. Once I've driven it a while I can't get it to return to EV mode reliably.
The last time I spoke with my local Toyota dealer they said that because the 2009 American Prius was not shipped with an EV mode switch they would not support that mode.
A good thing about Prius PHEV conversions in general is that they mostly don't change the appearance of the car, except for an outlet on the bumper and a switch on the dash.
You can't tell when it's charging and when it's done, without opening the bottom hatch (which may require unloading cargo). The "low battery" indicator can't be seen in daylight.
The charger has a light that turns red when charging and green when charged (or when the battery pack is disconnected). My preference was to move this light to the power connector on the bumper, but this was not practical. Instead, I found that it was very easy to get access to the reverse light in the tail light assembly, without even removing the cover.
Hymotion battery pack is dead. Won't charge beyond .8 kw max. Doesn't charge enough to offset the cost of the added weight of the pack.
How can I get this "boat anchor" removed.
Yesterday, I was driving home in EV mode, PHEV on, about 80°F, no hills, not accelerating, SOC about 4 bars, about 1/2 mile out, when it dropped out of EV mode, and then I got the red triangle and the check engine light. Today I grabbed the code with an OBD2 reader, and got this:
Freeze Frame Information:
1. DTC for which Freeze Frame was Stored - P0A92.
2. Engine Coolant Temp - 138.20 °F.
3. Engine RPM - 1,888.00 Rpm.
4. Vehicle Speed Sensor - 14.91 Mph.
5. Intake Air Temperature - 96.80 °F.
6. Time Since Engine Start - 101 Sec.
7. # Warm-ups since DTC Cleared - 74.
8. Distance since DTC Cleared - 706.50 Mi.
9. Control Module Voltage - 13.69 V.
10. Ambient Air Temperature - 80.60 °F.
11. Accelerator Pedal Position D - 30.98 %.
12. Accelerator Pedal Position E - 46.67 %.
13. Time since DTC Cleared - 30 Hr32sec.
Does this happen because it's in EV mode? Do I just have to put up with it every so often? (This is the second time it happened.)
I have got a plug in supply phev kit, and I live in the uk. As the software on the kit is written for the American market, I'm assuming our speeds are a little different, ie, the phev kit always wants to enter ev mode automatically below or at 30mph, and the kit does do this, but our 30 mph speed must be different to the usa, as the kit tries to enter ev mode when I'm doing speeds of over 30mph even up to 35 mph, the the cars software stops this from happening and the audible alarm sounds, 4 beeps, and words on the led state ev mode not allowed because we are of course going too fast.
This is of course quite annoying sometimes when the kit is constantly trying to get into ev mode and alarms are frequent at speeds between 30 and 35 mph, over this speed the kit stops trying to go into ev mode.
The kit is working really well to be honest, and I am very pleased with the way it works. One thing I would like to do is to try to stop the audible alarm when the ev mode is not allowed, is there a way of disabling the cannot enter ev mode chime / beep alarm with software, I do own a techstream light.
I wish the PIS program and software was open source, I could alter the parameter myself then.
One more slight thing that could be addressed is sometimes, but not very often, when I am driving in mixed or blended mode, the oem hybrid battery gets too full of charge and the engine starts to burn off the Excess charge in the battery, again if the PIS program was open source, I could adjust the point at which the kit battery adds into the oem battery, I would drop that parameter a volt or 2 to stop the oem battery going into excess and burn off process.
I must say though, apart from these 2 slight annoyances, the kit is awesome.
For those of you with more experience with the Hymotion pack than I:
1) What does it mean when the car "chirps?" It seems like I get 3 or 4 chirps on occasion, with each chirp itself being a rapid succession of 3 individual chirps? I assume it is something to do with the Hymotion pack because I never heard them before the pack was installed.
2) Under light acceleration, say 1 mph/sec, when the engine is just barely contributing to acceleration, at around 31mph (+/-) the engine stops putting out power (the arrows from the engine disappear), the car noticeably hesitates when the engine drops out, I get 3 or 4 chirps, then the engine comes back "online" about a second or two later and all is well. Under normal (i.e. faster) rates of acceleration, this does not happen.
Have been having cascading problems since installing PIS 10kWh system in April. Early system shutdown, failed BMS boards, then triggering of Prius warning lights. The latter required disconnecting the 12v battery to 'reboot' and cancel them per Robb of PIS. But then, when attempting to do an electrical load test using air con & other accessories, we triggered several yellow warning lights that do no go away with a reboot. Have been told that we need to have a dealer read the codes to troubleshoot.
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Toyota gave me to much time and now I changed my mind. I was set on getting the basic model but hearing so many good things about the advanced model I would like an advanced now. My dealer doesn't think it is possible to switch out my basic for an orphaned advanced model. My basic should be at the dealer any day now.
View 8 RepliesSo my strut mounts are shot and I wanted to add adjustable rear control arms to eliminate tire wear. So thinking of going with Bilstein HD's with the stock springs. Oh and BTW want to keep stock ride height since it is my daily. The only option I would consider for springs would be the euro version of the stock springs.
View 4 RepliesLexus IS 350 and I don't expect the Prius handle or accelerate like the IS. However, I have always driven import compacts that have handled well and would like my future Prius to handle well with a very tight and precise suspension and steering. That being said I will be looking to do suspension upgrades in order to increase the rigidity of the chassis and handling capability of the Prius.
1. TRD/PPP rear sway bar
2. Cusco/Tanabe front strut tower bar
3. Rude person's/Cusco mid under brace
4. Rude person's/Tanabe front under brace
5. Cusco/Tanabe front sway bar
Also considering the following:
1. Cusco lower arm bar
2. Cusco front chassis brace
3. Cusco rear chassis brace
I upgraded my front speaker to Focal PS165 running them off a JL audio HD 900/5 with a pioneer 5500bhs. The static gets louder when i turn up the volume. I don't think its a bad ground as i have had them before in my early days of installing. My first suspect was maybe the rca were touching so I wrapped them with electrical tape still get the noise. My next suspect is the component cables as they are cheap.
View 19 RepliesAfter my 25k service it seems the timer scheduler when the square button is pressed/held flashes at 7am. When i press the H button the hour advances to 12am then closes. I want to start the charge at 12am and finish at 5AM. The timer windows closes when i move the finish hour to 12am and then my regular clock hour changes. It used to be when i pressed/held the timer button the start time would show at 12 am and after setting it would go to the finish hour.
View 8 RepliesI'd like to upgrade the head unit to something which sounds a little better and offers better A2DP streaming (the Australian Prius I-Tech doesn't offer stock Bluetooth streaming and the GROM Audio unit I am currently using to achieve this is temperamental). Everything I read suggests that you loose IPA if you do this upgrade, and while I know most people probably won't miss the feature, I personally find it very useful.
View 3 RepliesI'm a little bummed that the only thing that shows in the mfd in my 2011 Jetta SE is the time, outside temp, fuel, and total/trip miles.
Is it possible to upgrade to the one I'm guessing comes in the SEL?
So i recently upgraded to a apr k04 from a apr stage2 tune and I'm getting a P0101 CEL. I've triple checked all my piping, and sensors, everything is nice and tight. I did however install the turbo with a GFB DV+ using the spring. Do you guys think the fact that the spring in the DV+ holds an amount air in the intercooler that it's throwing off the readings with the MAP and causing that CEL? I was going to give it a week or so and maybe see if the ECU can adjust itself enough to the DV+ and hopefully solve the problem. If not then i guess ill check for more leaks, but i doubt there is any. Boost holds real good throughout the whole rpm range...
View 3 RepliesI have a standard radio/CD player on my T-reg. I have a friend who recently bought the Toureg Nav system in Germany. Can I have mine upgraded? What do I need to do?
View 3 Replies