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Oil Drain Access Panel - Gone! What's my MPG hit?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by HanSolo, Jan 13, 2012.

  1. HanSolo

    HanSolo Junior Member

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    Well, the title says it all.

    After two years and 50,000 miles I rolled under the car to drain the oil and low and behold the access panel is gone. Completely missing. The up side is it is a clean break along the crease.

    What is the consensus estimate of the mileage reduction I'll expierience because of the negative aerodynamic effect? And, to get a little more technical, the negative effect of the increased cooling in lower temperature driving?

    Thanks!

    Josh
     
    #1 HanSolo, Jan 13, 2012
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    One member removed the entire under-cover and reported little to no hit in FE. Certainly that is not conclusive but does give you an idea.
     
    #2 spiderman, Jan 13, 2012
  3. rrolff

    rrolff Prius Surgeon

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    You should be losing 3.14 MPG - but removing the hubcaps nets a positive 2.81 MPG - add to that changing your wipers to low profile (1.4 MPG), and you should be doing fine...:)
     
    #3 rrolff, Jan 13, 2012
  4. cossie1600

    cossie1600 Active Member

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    A dead beaver took mine out. I am not paying 300 to replace it
     
    #4 cossie1600, Jan 13, 2012
  5. johnnywhale

    johnnywhale Junior Member

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    None whatsoever. I teach auto shop, one of my student interns at a local toyota dealer bent it back too far and broke it off. i watched him do it, found out the cost of the panel, and gritted my teeth. i remind him of it a lot though!
     
    #5 johnnywhale, Jan 13, 2012
  6. Judgeless

    Judgeless Senior Member

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    Toyota should replace it free for the life of the car. If you own a Prius and get regular oil changes it will fall off over time. Every Prius has this issue.
     
    #6 Judgeless, Jan 14, 2012
    Jin and tumbleweed like this.
  7. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    I agree that it will make no noticeable difference in mileage. I had the four under body covers off for several thousand miles and noticed no difference. These covers are there to increase mileage by a tenth of a MPG or so to improve the CAFE score.

    I have all the covers back on because it does keep things cleaner and may offer some protection from rocks etc.
     
    #7 tumbleweed, Jan 15, 2012
  8. HanSolo

    HanSolo Junior Member

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    Thanks for all the replies. Good to have some agreement that the missing cover won't cost me a noticeable amount of FE.

    Thanks all.

    Josh
     
    #8 HanSolo, Jan 15, 2012
  9. Charlie Lear

    Charlie Lear Newbie Evangelist

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    Mine half fell off the day after a service, and made a loud scraping noise until I was able to park the car over a deep gutter and get underneath to jam it back up. Obviously not clipped/screwed properly after the oil change.

    The dealer got the part price, turned white, and announced that I could either wait a couple of weeks for the part to arrive and make an appointment to have it fitted, or they would put a couple of cable ties on it and renew them each service. Hey, I needed the car...

    This is the same dealer that has been completely unable to detect a dash rattle, even though I have complained about it from when the car was two weeks old.
     
    #9 Charlie Lear, May 18, 2012
  10. Econ

    Econ Member

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    There is a TSB on this. . . go to your toyota dealer.
    Free replacement.
     
    #10 Econ, May 18, 2012
  11. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    Please give us more information as our Prius is a 2010 with
    over 71,000 miles and I am concerned that sooner or later
    the oil cover will break or crack.
     
    #11 alfon, May 18, 2012
  12. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Mine broke off a long time ago and I did a temporary fix (which is now broken also). Toyota refused to replace it because I was over 36K miles when the TSB was issued. Punishment for being one of the first to buy the new model and put a lot of miles on it.

    Apparently they would prefer to save a few dollars by not fixing what is obviously a defective part. Not a good way to treat long time customers.
     
    #12 tumbleweed, May 18, 2012
    Jin likes this.
  13. The Traveller

    The Traveller New Member

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    Does anyone out there know where I can find a replacement oil pan access door for my 2010 Prius III?
    I know there is a problem with this and a service letter from Toyota, but my car is now in Europe and the warranty has ran out.
    Thanks,
    The Traveller.
     
    #13 The Traveller, Jun 24, 2013
  14. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    You can't buy just the door it's attached to the panel so if you want one you have to buy the under engine cover. Over here you can probably get one from one of the on line discount parts suppliers for $300 or so, I don't know about Europe. You would also need to order some of the little plastic push pins because some of them will probably break when you remove it.

    You can leave it off without any noticeable effect on mileage.
     
    #14 tumbleweed, Jun 24, 2013
  15. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Saw a unit on e-bay...
     
    #15 spiderman, Jun 24, 2013
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