What services you need and what you don't

[galaxee]

you can clean and adjust your rear brakes at home. there is an adjuster in there like with many rear drum brakes.

you don't want to do any flushing of any coolant in a prius.

at 50k our throttle plate was pretty clean. and we're fairly demanding of the car.

brake pads are going a very long time- most early replacements involve severe rotor rust due to salty air/roads.

[hiremichaelreid]

Originally Posted by galaxee

most early replacements involve severe rotor rust due to salty air/roads.

Heh, I noticed a few front disk rust stains already on my new Prius, perhaps from rain or car washing. Wonder if I should give the brakes a few good jabs every week or day just to keep them clean ?

We have salted roads in winter. Guess there's not much I can do but wash the disks off every few days or every weekend ?

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by hiremichaelreid

Heh, I noticed a few front disk rust stains already on my new Prius, perhaps from rain or car washing. Wonder if I should give the brakes a few good jabs every week or day just to keep them clean ?

We have salted roads in winter. Guess there's not much I can do but wash the disks off every few days or every weekend ?

Hi Michael,

After you wash the brakes, it would be good to drive the car at 35-40 mph, then shift into N and brake, to dry the disks.

[LRP114]

Galaxee, please ask your "expert" husband two questions for me.

1) I am not sure if you posted it, or if someone else did, but the person wrote that it is a good idea, even at 5000 mi intervals, to use Mobil 1 oil, but then went on to say: if using Mobil 1, be sure to use the (over-sized) Toyota brand oil filter. Is there any reason to use the Toyota oil filter, vs any name brand, like Mobil, or Fram?

2) for the Prius, is there a measurable difference in synthetic oils between brands, like Mobil, Pennzoil, Quaker State, Shell, etc? I have been told (at auto parts stores) that Mobil is the "best" and at another, that Mobil was one of the worst name brand synthetics, but because it was heavily marketed, it is often used.

I, like so many others, REALLY DO appreciate your informative and experienced opinions on such matters.

Little Lou

[kathyb]

Hi,
I'm taking my Prius in for the 6 month check up. Only have around 1700 miles on it.
What should be done and what is not necessary.
I'm a total amateur as this is my first car
I'm taking into the dealer that I bought it from.

[bruceha_2000]

Originally Posted by kathyb

Hi,
I'm taking my Prius in for the 6 month check up. Only have around 1700 miles on it.
What should be done and what is not necessary.

Um, nothing is necessary unless you have some pretty harsh driving conditions.

Maybe new wiper inserts (tell them INSERTS!!!!) if your car lives outside and they are streaking even after cleaning them. They do degrade in the sun.

Do you only have 1,700 miles because you rarely drive, or you only drive 9 miles a day? The latter would be a fair number of cold starts per mile.

Unless you have problems, at MOST SPECIFY exactly what as listed in the service manual.
For 6 months/5,000 miles that is:

1. Change oil
2. Rotate tires
3. Visually inspect brake linings/drums and brake pads/discs

At 1,700 miles, you don't need to do anything other than the oil change (And only for warranty coverage ). I wouldn't bother with the tire rotation myself. It costs money and there isn't any reason to rotate them just because 6 months have passed. Of course, if they are going to inspect the brake pads and drums/discs, they have to take the tires off anyway so I suppose there wouldn't be much if any extra cost to rotate. However, unless you stop by slamming on the brakes rather than using regen to stop (down to 8 MPH), they probably couldn't tell if there was ANY wear on the brakes at 1,700 miles.

Don't let them talk you into 'we always do ....' extra cost items.

[galaxee]

Originally Posted by LRP114

Galaxee, please ask your "expert" husband two questions for me.

hi Lou-

brand choices are absolutely up to you.

we have used several different oil filters- if we can't get to the dealership and are changing the oil that day, we've used non-oem filters without trouble. many people do, it's not a big deal. the general rule is to avoid fram.

when it comes to oil, again it's your choice. DH spent most of his time fixing the mechanicals, not recommending oil brands to use, so he's not a well read expert on the subject. we use mobil 1 and so do many others.

[racerbob]

Galaxee,
Here is a good one. Something most owners don't even know about. Has your husband checked many 2nd gen valve clearances, and if so, how many were off enough to recommend going through the labor intensive camshaft removal and follower replacement? Were any found to be dangerously tight?

[galaxee]

valve clearance... heh... we've had this discussion. in general toyota valves really don't really need to be adjusted.

as a policy, he only adjusted valve clearance in toyota engines he already had torn into for other reasons- rebuilds mostly. and they were usually within or very close to spec regardless of miles on the engine.

if anything, they tend to loosen up over time rather than tighten.

[racerbob]

Thanks, That's what I wanted to hear. Normally, I would check any engine with solid lifters after break in.