Has anyone else not....

[bighouse]

..opened the hood on your car?

My PIV is over a month old and, other than accidentally opening the hood latch when I picked it up at the dealership (parking brake release old habits)- which was promptly closed by a salesman who happened to be walking by- I've yet to ever open the engine hood.

Guess I should go open it up and peek around, check the oil, etc...

[chrisj428]

I would recommend everyone take a few minutes to familiarize yourselves with certain things under the hood -- mainly oil dipstick & fill, jumper cable connection points and washer fluid fill locations.

And, for the love of all that's holy, please check your oil levels. That's an oil pressure light, not an oil level light -- you don't ever want to see that come on.

[Betelgeuse]

Originally Posted by chrisj428

And, for the love of all that's holy, please check your oil levels. That's an oil pressure light, not an oil level light -- you don't ever want to see that come on.

Yeah; the rule I learned is: as soon as you see the oil (pressure) light, you need to stop driving immediately. Pull the car over to the side of the road and wait for a tow truck. Do not drive to the next exit on the highway, do not drive to the service station down the block, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Any driving with the oil light on can seriously damage the engine.

[Paradox]

I opened mine once I got home and the car was in the garage but that's because I had new parking light bulbs amongst other bulbs purchased that I needed to install. Otherwise, the Prius is thankfully one of those cars that you don't really need to pop the hood on too often.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by chrisj428

I would recommend everyone take a few minutes to familiarize yourselves with certain things under the hood -- mainly oil dipstick & fill, jumper cable connection points and washer fluid fill locations.

And, for the love of all that's holy, please check your oil levels. That's an oil pressure light, not an oil level light -- you don't ever want to see that come on.

Fortunately, unless someone never changes the oil, they should not see this light come on in their Prius due to "oil consumption". Prii burn very little, if any, oil.

Not like my 2001 Volkswagon Beetle, which burned 1 quart per 1000 miles when new.....thankfully, that car has gone on to the giant junkyard in the sky.

For that and other reasons, I'll never, ever buy another Volkwagon.

[fuzzy1]

Originally Posted by yardman 49

Fortunately, unless someone never changes the oil, they should not see this light come on in their Prius due to "oil consumption". Prii burn very little, if any, oil. ...

RTFM, page 420: "Oil consumption: Max 1.1 qt/600 miles, ..."

If you didn't check, and your car consumes near the max, and you have damage, it isn't a warranty failure.

[Rhino]

Originally Posted by yardman 49

Fortunately, unless someone never changes the oil, they should not see this light come on in their Prius due to "oil consumption". Prii burn very little, if any, oil.

Not like my 2001 Volkswagon Beetle, which burned 1 quart per 1000 miles when new.....thankfully, that car has gone on to the giant junkyard in the sky.

For that and other reasons, I'll never, ever buy another Volkwagon.

Wow. If the car burns 5 quarts between 5000 mile oil changes, it is still necessary to change the oil. I would think you put in 1 quart per 1000 mils and the old oil will just burn away. Sort of the same reason you don't need to flush the gas tank because old gas gets used up.

[bighouse]

Ok, sun came out so I popped the hood, poked around with the Owner's Manual in hand and checked the oil.

[Defcon]

and????? the suspense is killing me.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

RTFM, page 420: "Oil consumption: Max 1.1 qt/600 miles, ..."

If you didn't check, and your car consumes near the max, and you have damage, it isn't a warranty failure.

I have. Cover to cover. And all the other manuals that came with my Prius. And I always check my oil level religiously.

My comment was not to imply that people should not check the oil level on their Prii between changes. I was just really making a side observation that in the experience of those on the forums, the Prius actually burns very little oil, not like my sad VW Beetle.

Some who have Prii with over 100,000 miles have reported measureable oil consumption in a few cases. But I think that it was still very low, on the order of 1 quart per 5000 miles.