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New 11 prius battery problems. Need advice.dr pruis test run 48%

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by bobby515, Mar 17, 2024.

  1. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    Hello all 2011 pruis 200k on it. Had since last June. 3 owner car.
    Put 7k on it always starts and runs . Last summer it got 50 mpg is a 35 mph zone. Other than that 38mpg to low 40s.
    Mpg starting dropping in cold weather. Battery charges up fast and discharges fast. Slight vibration when it starts or in traffic when battery meter is low.
    Did intake carb cleaning. Very mechanical inclined.
    Worried if battery gets replaced with timing chain or head gasket go .???
    I can install the head gasket. But it's work.
    Dr pruis says battery bad 48.6% but car still runs.
    I can buy one near me for $1200 rebuilt with 1 year warranty.
    No check engine light on or codes. Do I try it in now. Foe a used car . Or fix it. What do you guys think . Right at 200k body nice. Interior decent. Tires new. Everything works a.c etc. Base model.
     

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  2. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    You could get the Prolong system for half the price of the "rebuilt" battery.
    A lot of money for battery the will likely fail.
    The Prolong system has worked for my 2010 w/331,000 miles on it.

    The hybrid battery has nothing to do with the head gasket, or timing chain.
    Is it using coolant? You should clean the egr system.
     
    #2 ASRDogman, Mar 17, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2024
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  3. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    What are the other 10 problems?
     
  4. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Active Member

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    The $1200 rebuilt hybrid battery is probably worse than the battery that you have in your 2011 Prius. Do not replace what you have now unless you get the P0A80 trouble code.

    A reconditioning of the hybrid battery will probably help your existing battery as suggested in post #2.
     
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  5. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    After a long ride . It went up to fair 58% battery. Is it better to clean the e? G r valve or just buy another $99ninety nine dollars.. I did remove the intake and clean it. The reason why I mentioned the time in chain was the high mileage. And i'm worried about it has I Read all the stories about them all gone bad . I'm sixty one I have a lot of car experience but not much hybrid . If you were me, would you buy a $99? E g r valve and clean the Cooler or just clean it .
    Please define the word service the E g r.
    Thanks for your answers.
     
  6. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    ou only have 200,000 miles on it, the EGR valve is likely good.
    The engine is pretty much the same an any gas engine. And the timing chain
    lasts a very long time on Toyota engines. It is not a belt as with other engines.

    Did you clean out the 4 egr passages of the intake manifold? That's important.
    You should do the egr cooler also, it's likely glogged. A presure washer and oven cleaner will
    clear it out and clean it. Do not use the oven cleaner on the aluminum parts. A wire brush will
    clean up the egr valve and pipe.
    There are many video's out there on how and what to clean.

     
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  7. Eddie25

    Eddie25 Active Member

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    My battery tested in the 50's and "fair" about 5 years ago, so who knows how much longer you could get.

    As said, "service EGR" means clean carbon from the whole EGR circuit. The EGR itself will be the easiest to clean and the least dirty. There's probably no need to purchase any parts.

    I'll say this though and it's just my opinion, but if a crystal ball told you that you'd get a blown head gasket, a failed HV battery, or a brake booster failure (assuming none have happened for a previous owner) by 250,000 miles, and that would change your mind about what to do... I'd go that route. There doesn't seem to be many people above that mileage without having had one or more of those issues. If you want the car long term and have ability to DIY, definitely do some research and be prepared.
     
    #7 Eddie25, Mar 18, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2024
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  8. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    I took off the manifold and cleaned all four of the ports you're talking about. I did not take off the EGr Or cooler. I been working on cars a long time. Old now 61. Haha. That rear EGR. bold looked really hard to take off. I will plan to clean the cooler and EGR. valve. Thank you. It's a good little car..I used to work for toyota years ago. Had many of them. A few new.
     
  9. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    Thank you. Personally I don't think the second owner took good care of the car. Cheap. Changed oil at walmart.. I am the 3rd owner . They got it at like 90k I got it at 195k.
    To do the cooler . How many gaskets is thier to buy. Diagram looks weird.. I only took off the manifold pipe new gasket and cleaned ports in manifold. Mpg is avg in power mode 38.
    At the beach last summer in a 35 mpg zone. I got 57 mpg.
     
  10. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    These cars are easy to work on. And mine have been very reliable.
    Most people expect a car to just work no matter how many hundreds of thousands
    of miles they have on it.
     
  11. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    It's not really hard, if you have the correct tools, take your time.
    Wished I was 61! It would be so much easier working on anything!! (y)

    Everyone says the hardest bolt is the one on the side of the head at the bottom of the cooler.
    But that was easy for me. A good SnapOn 1/4 ratchet and swivel extension!
    Maybe 1/2 dozen gaskets. You can look at the diagram and find them. I get them from Toyota
    because they give me a 10% veterans discount. And the cost of non oem gaskets is only about 5%
    less. So it's not worth it.

    I replaced the head gasket 30,000 miles ago. It wasn't hard to do. Just time consuming, and a lot
    of cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. :mad::confused:

    I REALLY love my Prius! It's been dependable, like my other Toyota's.

     
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  12. Eddie25

    Eddie25 Active Member

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    I've been using the same metal EGR gaskets that came with my car and I've done the EGR system 3 times and a head gasket. The only ones you really need are the intake manifold gasket, the EGR pipe to intake gasket, and the throttle body gasket. Those are the non-metal ones. I'd argue that you could even reuse those with no issues (you may have replaced them already when doing the intake).

    I would suggest using a ratcheting 12mm box wrench (almost a necessity) to get the two rear cooler nuts off the studs. Then remove the lower side nut (the difficult one) AND stud (E8 torx) and just leave those off permanently. It allows you to leave the rear studs on and get the EGR in and out pretty easily. I found putting ON the difficult nut to be the most frustrating part and just left it off, that was about 100,000 miles ago. I finally removed the stud when I did my head gasket recently. My rear studs have some decent corrosion so I didn't want to deal with them. Next cleaning should be a breeze.
     
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  13. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    HEY THANK'S so true about oem not being much higher than say napa. example engine mount's better and similar in price. thanks for the kind word's . thanks for serving..took my wife out for a few hours with the 200k 2011 puris with new seat cover's . leather type. these cars are so good and smart. before covid , i was buying and selling a few car's . i had a red 2008 with 308k. totally serviced at toyota..i did not know what i really had. it was cleaner than this one..

    thank you
     
    #13 bobby515, Mar 18, 2024
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  14. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    I think 100% I need the egr service. Dirty cooler
    As I had a small vibration in engine when I got the car. A good intake cleaning it got better. Again now. Off and on like a bad coil. Only during slow acceleration.
    So I will clean the EGR and cooler..mpg only 38 -40 in the power mode. But car runs nice...thanks for all the replies. I will update on cooler cleaning. Buy a pvc valve also
     
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  15. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    It's not worth skimping on the gaskets, they are only a couple dollars.
    Some people like to reuse them, which is risky. If they were expensive, I'd
    say take a chance, but if they leak, you'll have to remove all that stuff, again!!!

    Pressure washer, and oven cleaner will be the quickest way to clean the cooler.
    In the future if you get a spare cooler, you can clean it ahead of time and then
    just replace it and save yourself a lot of time. Then you can clean the dirtly one
    whenever you have time.


     
  16. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Do you mean this stud/nut combo:

    upload_2024-3-19_9-25-58.png

    You can take both the nut and stud off, any time in advance, and leave them off, permanently. Nothing significant needs removal for access. the nut's 12 mm socket size IIRC, and the stud requires E8 plex socket.

    Preemptive removal saves struggling with it in the midst of a big cleaning job. Also, if the stud is removed as well, then the rearmost two studs can be left on, less hassle, and they'll retain the gasket there, which has a propensity to drop down, be hard to find/recover.

    Regarding gasket replacement, probably just the pliable gaskets at intake manifold need replacement. The EGR gaskets for the most part (except for the EGR pipe to intake) are durable metal. Last time I did our this was what I got, through Amayama:

    upload_2024-3-19_9-41-14.png
    (Shipping was under $15 CDN, the only extra charge.

    Don't kid yourself though. With 195k miles and your symptoms, head gasket is likely letting go. Neglect of the carbon build-up in the EGR system is the likely cause, but it's illogical to think cleaning the EGR this late in the game is going to "heal" the head gasket.

    Info on EGR cleaning and head gasket repair, in my signature. (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures)
     
    #16 Mendel Leisk, Mar 19, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2024
  17. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    Thanks for the picture. Parts list. I got a worry to think 2011 with 200k battery with Dr pruis is saying low now. $1000 for a rebuilt one here in PA. But worry the head gasket. I can do the work if I must have to. No check engine light on mpg 40 avg. a little rough idle. Mild sometimes. No always and plenty of power. Seems like when battery meter is low. The rough idle comes sometimes. Can that be voltage??? I like the car but 200k is 200k body decent. No big dents or rust.
    So example put battery in soon?? Plan to do head gasket with timing change..or trade it in like this. Put 8000 miles since I brought it . Ran the same. It got alot better cleaning the manifold. But I did not do EGR. Any advice. Fix or dump.
     
  18. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Good chance the the head gasket is failing, or will shortly. Inspect combustion chambers with a boroscope:

    With car cold, after sitting at least overnight
    1. Remove wipers and cowl.
    2. If you can, pressurize cooling system. This might involve tapping into a hose connector going into engine coolant reservoir, pumping in air and keeping it in. Even something like this might work:

    IMG_3647.jpeg

    3. Since the usual failure point is cylinder one, start with that cylinder, and if needed turn the engine over manually, till cylinder one piston is dropped, to make it easier to maneuver.
    4. Insert boroscope wand through spark plug hole, preferably one with reverse view capability. Look for pooling coolant on top of piston, and tears of coolant at the head gasket seam. Also compare condition of cylinder tops: if one is markedly cleaner, that could be due to coolant.
    5. Also check condition of cylinder walls for signs of scuffing.
     
    #18 Mendel Leisk, Mar 22, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2024
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  19. bobby515

    bobby515 Junior Member

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    I have a 2011 200000 mile. Prius I bought used. I put a 1000 miles on it to an Uber. No problems. What the car had a vibration? I thought was a motormount I. Cleaned the intake manifold. It got a lot better. I did not do the egr or cooler.
    the battery seems to charge and discharge fast.
    No lights or codes.
    I hear they have bad head gaskets.
    Is it better to keep the car and put the head gasket and timing chain and a new water pump myself. And get a rebuilt battery with a 1 year. Warranty unlimited mileage 1 thousand dollars.
    Trade the car. It's clean for $3000. Maybe an add three thousand or fix the car. New tires everything works clean body
     
    #19 bobby515, Mar 22, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2024
  20. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    I will suggest the opposite of Mendel, which is strange because I am one of first to say hg.

    A head gasket leak will cause a very concerning rod knock heavy shaking situation. It is not a rod knock but on a Prius a hg leak causes a cylinder plug to foul out and the engine losses sync with the electric motors in the transaxle causing major metal on metal sounds. I don’t think you have this-at least not yet.

    What fast discharge and charge means is what Dr Prius told you. Very weak, low capacity hybrid battery. Also causes low mpg. You need a new OEM battery available for $1600-$2500 depending on the dealer or reseller like Hometown Hybrids. The rest are junk and the aftermarket new are short lived or plain smoking dangerous.
     
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