A description of the various stages (e.g. S4) of HSD operation is shown below. Understanding this sequence is important when using hypermiling strategies like EBH.

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/five-stages.txt

EBH is available in the States, but has to be special ordered. Metro Toyota/Cleveland is where I ordered mine (via Internet).

Congrats on achieving 35 mpg on a round trip. Some users are able to see round trip mpg > 45 mpg (which would correspond to the ICE being off over 50% of the drive) under the most favorable conditions. The best HyHi tank reported is 735 mi/41.6 mpg (over at CleanMPG.com).

 

Interesting read. Last paragraph caught me a little by surprise.

In so far as ours is only a couple months old, I'd probably be inclined to let the dealer do the work if they will, to avoid any issue with the warranty...and because I already don't have enough time for all the projects I'd like to do.

Benton 25may08

 

Yeah, that is a bit of a surprise, but he obviously put a great deal of effort into his documentation. Maybe his wife's an intellectual property attny. I can't imagine how one could make much money out of pirating his article, though.

Having the dealership install it might cause sticker shock, as the "book" says to remove the exhaust manifold for access. And billing goes by the book estimation of time involved rather than the actual time taken.

I don't recall what the part costs, but I believe less than $50. Wouldn't be surprised if the total dealership charge was over $350.

Pete

 

Back in Nov when I had mine installed, EBH cost $49 + shipping. Dealer install cost was $118.50.

 

Nevermind. I was just re-reading the install writeup and pondering the last bit again. For some reason I thought he was requiring people to ask Please before *implementing* the change. Upon re-read, I think he's just talking about republishing his writeup. He did say copyright, but somehow all the extra verbiage threw me. Trying to protect his writeup is perfectly reasonable.

Benton 25may08

 

That's sure a pleasant surprise - I assume the $118 was the labor charge only.

Have you seen a noticeable improvement in FE, particularly in short trips?

Pete

 

Great idea!

One of my more spectacular blunders years ago was leaving the dock in my sailboat with the 30 amp very heavy shore power line still attached to the dock power pylon. Both ends had twist-lock and screw-down connectors. When the pylon was dragged into the water with the momentum of the 14,000 lb boat, the entire dock was shorted out.

Pete

 

I emailed my sales-lady yesterday (Memorial day) and got a phone call back about an hour later. She answered one question and forwarded the EBH one to their parts dept. Got an email back from them mid-morning. (Gotta love that kind of service.)

He shows the part at $35. He didn't volunteer the labor charge, but then he's the parts guy, not the mechanic or service writer.

He did have a caution, tho', that he was concerned there might be some thermo cut-off (outside air temp) that would keep it from working in cool but not cold temps. From the pictures in Evan Fusco's write-up, that seems unlikely but I thought I'd ask here if you folks have heard of anything like that. I'm also assuming the coolant circulates by passive convection, and isn't actively circulated by some pump? If there's active pumping involved, I could see how that might bring in the opportunity for added subtlety in the behavior of the system. (And one thing I'm learning is just how subtle some aspects of these hybrid ops are.)

Putting a heater by the battery compartment would make me a good bit more nervous.

This should probably go in a more appropriate thread, but heck, we're already talking about it here.

Benton 27may08

 

Back in MT in the sixties you could buy an inexpensive oil dipstick style heater to heat the oil in the sump.

 

I tried to order an EBH from the local Monterey Toyota dealer - no part # found for the HiHY or earlier 3.3L V-6's, and couldn't recognize the Canadian # Evan Fusco lists. So I went ahead and ordered it from Fusco's source -Langley Toyota, B. C. Canada, near Vancouver, at 604-530-3156. They list one for the '06 HiHY (and presumably for models since, as the ICE hasn't changed).

Cost - $28 with about $10 shipping. Very nice folks.

It looks to me like the studs are long enough to use with the EBH, which appears to need about 5mm more length for the "shoulder" on the heater. At any rate, will try it and remove them if necessary.

Pete