Spark Plugs

That's my four year-old, 97,000 mile engine.

I use degreaser and a garden hose,l. And whenever I work on the car, I clean everything, usually with Clorox wipes. Being in California, I don't have to deal with the winter elements so I can keep my car to a higher degree of clean.

 

Never used any sort of liquids. Haven't done anything lately. Coming up on 6 years, only 63K kms though. Our local enviro is pretty dust free I guess.

 

Cool. I ended up changing mine again at 239k, but that was partly because I had MotorVac fuel system cleaning done and it's recommended to change them after that. I already have the new plugs for my 2012, but will wait until 150k (only 10 away!)

 

Wow on the miles!

What problems have you run into for 239 k miles ( or the 140 l miles): any oil consumption? What grade of oil? Have you used the motor ax system cleaning done before? If so, when? If not, what prompted you to do it?

I am curious as I just did a BG Products EPR treatment at 140 k miles and it came out jet black, indicating that carbon deposits have been removed. Wondering about your experience.

 

Ahhhh! West and we-wax-zation at wast!

 

The only problem I've had with the 2010 (which now has 268k, had 59k when I got it) is an issue where the mileage is reduced because the ICE runs more often than normal, apparently due to a sensor issue. I tried all sorts of things, but was not able to get to the bottom of it. Getting 40 mpg instead of 50 means that for every thousand miles driven, it's about $10 more in gas. Couldn't get a definitive diagnosis at a dealer to make it worth fixing, unfortunately. Also, car is pretty rough around the edges so I got my new one earlier than I'd hoped, but oh well. Planning to sell it in the next month or so.

Never had oil consumption in either of them. Always change it myself around 10k with Mobil 1 (0W20) and a Toyota filter. Never had MotorVac or similar service done previously. Didn't get to see the result like you did. That must've been gratifying. If I do it again, I'll go to a mechanic/shop that I trust more. I only did it because I wanted to rule out the fuel system as causing the car's issue, and I figured it would be a good thing for the car in any case. I took apart some of the EGR piping, and there was rather a lot of sludgey buildup. Our cars are pretty amazing, but they don't maintain or clean themselves (yet).

 

I have done the egr and intake from front to back and found carbon deposits. The intake manifold was particularly troublesome from a deposit buildup, but cleaned out the ports and the transition is much better when the ICE starts up. But between that and the EPR treatment, in 1000 miles since I have improved mpg on my work commute from about 46 mpg average to about 51 mpg. This is going 70 mph on the freeway. So engine transition and mpg improved. Will do transmission and coolant changes this weekend and should be good for awhile.

Interesting in your case about the ice running more than normal. Does the HV battery charge and discharge normally? Is there a code that displays a light on the dash? How did Toyota know it is a sensor issue and unable to pinpoint it?

 

Interesting to hear you had deposit buildup in the intake. Mine looked pretty spotless at around 220k. Glad you were able to get your mpg back up over 50.

Yes, HV battery works as well as it did at 59k when I got it. The code is P0171, most of the gory details are in this long thread where others chime in with good ideas: CEL, P0171, help? | PriusChat To make the story shorter: I went to a dealer, but basically got the run-around (after they took my money) and it didn't make sense to throw good money after bad to get them to finally tell me what the issue is. For the diagnostic fee I paid, they seem to have basically consulted a TSB that didn't apply to my car and proceeded to recommend a fix that I didn't need. (I know that because I tried it anyway.) I think I tried all the low-hanging fruit, too, so whatever it is isn't likely to be cost-effective to fix at $10 extra in gas per thousand miles. I plan to sell the car in the next few weeks.

 

I have recently gotten both P050A and P0171 codes. They are very intermittent and I am going to begin looking into them. No drive ability issues, just the code shows up then I clear it with Dash Command app I have for my phone.

I have cleaned the MAF and still get the code. So now it could be replace the MAF or look elsewhere. I have gotten the P0171 on its own once when I was sitting waiting for a grass fire to clear, but every other time both codes have displayed.

I also have seen the P0171 come up when I am in Maintenance mode, but never thrown the light on the dash. Makes me think it might be an O2 sensor or the throttle body. I have cleaned the throttle body, but maybe I missed something . O2 sensor because I consume a quart of oil every 6,500 miles and may have gotten something on the probe.

More troubleshooting to do, but my smog check is not due for over a year, so I have some time to look into it.

Thank you for following up.

 

My mistake, the throttle body on my 2010 was nearly spotless, not the intake manifold as I stated. I changed out the intake manifold gasket in my quest, but I don't remember the intake being too bad.

My P0171 is the result of a maxed out long-term fuel trim that never comes down. I've watched the LTFT on a scanner while driving, and it's nearly pinned. That seems to be why the ICE runs more than normal thus lowering the mpg. Two-trip code, btw.

The shop that did the MotorVac service speculated that the A/F sensor I put in (aka upstream O2 sensor) could've been damaged in transit. Techstream does say it's slightly out of range or some such. If I knew how to perform more extensive diagnostics on it, I would know for sure. I almost think it is the sensor I put in, but I've decided it's not worth it to swap out or diagnose. I was hoping for 300-400k or more, but I'm happy overall.