I just picked up this from eBay for less than $10. Super Mini ELM327 OBD2 OBD-II Bluetooth CAN-BUS Auto Diagnostic Tool Along with the Torque App on Android, it appears to work well and now I see the coolant temp. Since I am doing the grill blocking in 25% ambient. I saw a 88%C temp on coolant is this normal?
195°F is the norm for full warm operation, the usual sight for summer driving. Your observation of 190°F (88°C) is typical this time of year here. (I'm in the Twin Cites, like you.) It may or may not get higher. That all depends upon the conditions outside, travel speed, distance, stoplights, heater & defroster use, etc. Having an aftermarket gauge showing coolant temperature allows you to know what will happen when, allowing you to take advantage of heat that otherwise may have been assumed was unavailable. Avoiding engine use causes some owners to make unnecessary sacrifices. Watch what happens at 145°F in NORMAL mode with the heater on. The engine will start when it dips below that. Simply by switching to ECO mode, the engine shut back off. It's because that mode lowers the threshold to 114°F. Did you know that? Blocking the grille helps with heat retention. You'll discover how valuable that is in 2 months, when the bottom drops out on the thermometer. Fortunately, Prius still delivers great efficiency, despite low temperatures outside. In fact, watching coolant on the gauge, you'll see that EV is available even then. Add RPM values to display on the app. You'll find the MG1, MG2, and Engine values quite informative. The system is much more dynamic than most people realize. Those two motors interact with the engine in a variety of ways and their RPM frequently changes. The system takes full advantage of having a power-split-device. Enjoy that new tool for learning more about what happens behind the scenes while driving a Prius.
