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New gen II owner, with questions

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by bigjon42, May 12, 2014.

  1. bigjon42

    bigjon42 Junior Member

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    Hi. I just bought a 2005 prius, 75k mils, literally a little old lady owned it. Took in to Toyota today for oil change and checkup. All was O.K., but I remembered reading something about not overfilling the oil. I just went6 out and checked and it is over full by 1/4 in. They put in 5 qts with filter. How bad is that ?
    Also have gotten 48-50 mpg on fist half tank. Jon
     
    #1 bigjon42, May 12, 2014
  2. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    Bad enough to go back and demand they do the job right.
     
    #2 vskid3, May 12, 2014
    dorunron likes this.
  3. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    Yup, tell them no more than 3.9 quarts. Best to put in 3.5 quarts and a new filter.

    Get them to fix it ASAP.

    If you don't, you might have problems later on.

    FWIW, they probably dumped in four (4) quarts, but the ticket says five (5). Most oil changes always say five quarts unless it is a diesel... But if you look at the price for the oil, then you will probably see the amount of oil that was truly used. If the dipstick is a 1/4 inch over, that means around 4 quarts or a bit more was put in. They probably used a pump and pumped in the oil that is in the vat. The knuckle head that is doing the oil changes is usually the low guy on the totem pole. Not well trained. Taught to move the cars as fast as possible. You can easily overfill the Prius crankcase with one of those pumps the stealer uses and the oil change shops use around town. The Prius does better if you run Mobil 1 in it or a good Synthetic. Stick with 5W30 for best results. Mobil 1 is great oil and will help your Prius give you better MPG.

    Best of luck to you and "Welcome to Prius Chat".

    Ron (dorunron)
     
    #3 dorunron, May 13, 2014
  4. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    The overfill has happened to me at least 3x, at 3 separate Toyota dealers.
     
    #4 cwerdna, May 13, 2014
    dorunron likes this.
  5. N.J.PRIUS

    N.J.PRIUS Member

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    Also happened to me after service from a Toyota dealer. I immediately "felt" something was wrong with the engine. Was way overfilled! Went immediately back to dealer and had them correct this mistake.

    On my last oil change from a different Toyota dealer I mentioned to the service writer upfront to please not overfill the crankcase. They seem to do it right. I use the synthetic oil for best mileage.

    Also, always check dealer website for special coupons or discounts with service. Does save some money!

    Welcome to owning the wonderful Prius and to discovering PriusChat!
     
    #5 N.J.PRIUS, May 13, 2014
    dorunron likes this.
  6. bigjon42

    bigjon42 Junior Member

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    Followup to the overfill of oil at the dealers. Service manager insisted after researching the issue that they put in 3.9
    quarts. being an old mechanic myself, I know that any just drained engine will always have a 'little' oil left inside.
    Sooo, 3.9 will overfill. Not wanting to drive the car with the overfull condition, I invested in a cheap ($25.00) suction pump for mowers and boat engines and sucked out about 1/3 quart. All is now O.K. ! Thanks for all advise rendered !
    From now I will do my own oil changes. Jon..
     
    #6 bigjon42, May 19, 2014
  7. MTL_hihy

    MTL_hihy Active Member

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    Sadly I've had to resort to doing all my own work on my fleet since otherwise I waste just as much time or more trying to get the service managers to do the work properly as requested. Oil changes are a no-brainer to do at home and for the money you save you can put it towards buying synthetic oil which should help both MPG and longevity.
     
    #7 MTL_hihy, May 20, 2014
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