A question to all Prius owners who have installed their own EBH's...are any of you female? I am, and I just successfully installed my EBH. I read the posts on this site, printed all the pictures of GreenHokie's install, and I had my brother on speakerphone in case I ran into trouble. I hoisted the car up on both sides, slid under, and went to work. As many of the others who have posted about EBH installs, I found it relatively easy to get it into the correct hole and click into place. The hardest part was plugging the cord in. I DID try to memorize the position of the prongs, relative to the placement in the engine, and I even practiced plugging and unplugging it. But once it was actually clicked into place, I had a lot of trouble getting the cord in the right position. I began to get frustrated, decided to take a short break, then tried again. Voila! I got it. Sometimes you need to step back and relax in order to be successful. I then installed a digital timer in my garage, and I have been using it for about a week. I definitely see a difference in the mileage, but I am expecting it to get even better this week because I was making a lot of short errand trips for the first few days after the install, with nowhere to plug in, and it was 27 degrees outside! I feel very proud that I did this install, because I have never done ANYTHING to a car before. I had never even been underneath a car before this install. So, I was really excited when I finished, and now I can pretend that I have a plug-in hybrid! Woohoo!:lol:
Kentano, Well done and good on you for having a go and winning. The instructions given on here have been really good and I never understood why more people didn't try to fit it themselves. I guess my opinion is tainted by 20 years mechanicing but it looked reasonably easy. Great to see you have a shot. I'd fit the EBH but for 2 issues, not available in 240V version or in Australia and it rarely gets that cold here. Congrats on a job well done.
Good for you! I have found myself wanting to do stuff myself with this car more that any other car I have owned. What is it about this car that has me so intrigued? And possessive?
FireEngineer did mine, but I've often wondered if it wouldn't be easier for a ladies hand and arm to fit in there to insert the plug. Easier or not, you did it!! Congrats!! I didn't even try to do that one myself.....
I'd fit the EBH but for 2 issues, not available in 240V version or in Australia and it rarely gets that cold here. Congrats on a job well done.[/QUOTE] Patsparks, my brother lives in Southern California, which I believe has similar climate to Australia, and he has an EBH. He told me it makes a big difference, even in warm weather climates, because the first 5-10 minutes of every trip get very poor MPG without an EBH.
Patsparks, my brother lives in Southern California, which I believe has similar climate to Australia, and he has an EBH. He told me it makes a big difference, even in warm weather climates, because the first 5-10 minutes of every trip get very poor MPG without an EBH. Neicy, I totally agree. Obviously that's the case with me too, since I never did any car work before I had my Prius. I have become completely enamored with it. Last night I went out and bought the insulation that FireEngineer uses to block the grill. I am obsessed with trying to keep my MPG as high as possible during these cold winter months in Cleveland!
I was also confused by the title. It could mean three things: 1) A female EBH was installed. I didn't know that they came in male and female types. 2) An EBH was installed in a female. This would work but is somewhat horrifying! 3) A female installed an EBH; the grammar doesn't really support this option. Tom
Congratulations! I was going to have some guy fix my turntable. But, there was an $85 base charge to refurbish the topside and then $45 an hour for 1.5 hours for the other problems and shipping charges both ways. And he was busy, busy, would I like a slot in line? I got severe sticker shock, and, I can wield a soldering iron, so I just did it myself. Sometimes you just have to do it yourself. ~buttster
Congratulations! Does anyone know if the EBH is available in a 240V configuration? Our fuel economy suffers because my partner only has a 14 mile commute (7 miles each way) and the engine doesn't seem to warm up properly in that time to give good mileage. As we have two purpose-built charging points outside we could quite easily use one of them to keep the Prius warm when the outside temperature drops below freezing (or is it not worth it?)
To all those confused about the gender of the EBH: It's obviously male, and the car is obviously female. I don't mean to be graphic about it, but the EBH gets lubed up and put in a hole... it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out the gender roles there Neicy has it right though: It's not about whether you're a woman installing something in your car, it's the fact that this car (and this community) has inspired a lot of us who would otherwise NEVER have installed parts, changed oil, or made mods to our cars. Kentano, next on your list will be doing your own oil change... it's actually way easier than the EBH install! (maybe a little messier though)