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17-18 Prius Prime grille question

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by wzakaras, Feb 1, 2019.

  1. wzakaras

    wzakaras Junior Member

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    I've received a lot of help from this forum and hope for someone to give me an answer. I need to replace my grille part # 53101-47051. I can't get an answer as to whether this part needs paint or refinishing. One member provided me with quite a bit of info but couldn't answer this for certain. The grille ids Black. It has both a black glossy plastic and a flat black portion . it has bee suggested that it might need clear coat? Parts counters can't answer this as i have tried several. has anyone with a prius prime had front end damage repaired tell me if the grill needed to be painted or refinished? I would think it would be a separate entry on a repair order if it needed paint or refinishing. thanks in advance
     
  2. ems2158

    ems2158 Active Member

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    I spent 3 days repairing and repainting the lower flat black section of the grill that my wife crunched against a curb. I didn't see anything on that part that had a clear coat. BTW, the flat black was not painted. It was just unfinished black plastic. That part on my car has been repaired with bumper repair epoxy and repainted with flat black paint. It's holding up well after a year.
     
  3. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    The parts in question "Grille Sub-Assembly Rad - Toyota (53101-47051)" contains clear acrylic part around the emblem and just below. (inside of red marked area in the diagram below) The remaining part is always black in all models of PRIME. There are others, including me, posted complaints about the clear acrylic part getting chips and cracks so easily. Toyota does not seem to sell the clear acrylic part separately from the rest of the larger black grill part. I don't have an answer to your question, but the acrylic part must come off, so painting the black part to any color you wish has to be possible. But I don't think it comes painted black, to begin with. Mine does not look like any paint on the black part. Just virgin plastic with matte texture finish.
    Toyota 53101-47050.jpg
     
    #3 Salamander_King, Feb 2, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2019
    Tideland Prius and upnorth like this.
  4. wzakaras

    wzakaras Junior Member

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    Once Again, I BIG thanks to all you folks
     
  5. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    #5 Salamander_King, Feb 3, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2019
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Can you post a picture? Is it a chip, a crack, it's in more than one piece?

    If a chip, I'd be inclined to just leave it be.
     
  7. wzakaras

    wzakaras Junior Member

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    i've ordered the parts. grill + 4 sensor retainers. retainers are not reusable. the retainers are for the side & conder sensors. 've acquired the manual from alldata. first step is to put the adjustable grille in maintenance mode. anybody know if a user can do this or is it via a computer command thru the POD? Also thr bumper cover & grille come off as one piece. this requires disconnecting the sensors or removing them from the cover/grille. As my cover is fine, I'm hoping to not remove or disconnect the sensors? Once that is done a re-calibration is "supposedly" a mandatory requirement. So Be it. Anyone know if the toyota does this or an outside source. since I am doing the repair I can see reluctance from a body shop taking on the job
     
  8. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    With all those sophisticated sensors, it sounds like just slapping on the grill parts is not going to work. Sorry, I don't have an answer to you question, but you probably need access to Techstream to do the work. Isn't the work covered by insurance? If so, why not leave the job to the pros. In any case, good luck and let us know how it turns up.
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    With 3rd gen maintenance mode can be initiated through a series of shifts and pedal pushes. Not sure if 4th gen and Prime are same or similar, but fwiw I've attached 3rd gen instruction; you could try it. If that doesn't work, you maybe could search the web for some of the words in the attachment, might be able to find Prime info.

    Not sure if All-Data has info comparable to Toyota repair manual online. If so, it should have maintenance mode instruction, hopefully without techstream. You can also search (with subscription) on toyota tech info.
     

    Attached Files:

  10. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    I haven't talked with anyone that has actually used Techstream to manipulate the grille shutters.
    I'm fairly sure my shutters were not activated during presale. Never bothered to have it checked of $100 minimum.
     
  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yours is the first mention of grille shutters? Not sure how it ties in. Anyway, a few members have reported a warning in the dash, if there's a problem with the grille shutters, say they're jamming.
     
  12. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Mendel, I'm not sure the shutters tie in with the Techstream recal of the sensors mentioned above by the wzakaras.

    I'll take a stab that the grille job is at least a grand if done professionally, either cash or insurance.

    I think if the shutters have not been activated or been turned off, I doubt the MID will show any messages.
    A lot like the pedestrian noise maker. Which a salesperson mentioned to me a few weeks ago that, they turn off regularly to reduce annoyance while driving in the city.

    I have seen the thread that discusses disabling the noise maker, but at very least those people know that the feature was active when they took ownership of the car.
     
    #12 vvillovv, Aug 11, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2019
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  13. Robert vickroy

    Robert vickroy Junior Member

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    Talking about front grill of 2018 Prius Prime Plus and several closely space horizontal fine cracks in the underlying black vs what appears to be a clear plastic overlay over the black front grill assembly. The size of the cracks has gone from having to search for them with. Flash light to being plainly obvious now, so its obvious the black grill cracks are expanding with vibration. Your prior post referenced P/N 5310147051 whereas my body shop quote is referencing 5310147041 which was on quotes’ replacement parts list. Car had a drivers side front left accident though these several fine cracks are on the passenger side of sensor package toward the upper edge and closer to left end of the grill. What brought this up was that after body shop fixed car a few weeks later on my 1st Road trip (500 miles) I got msg saying distancing function unavailable. That’s when I went back to dealer. Then on a later road trip (250 miles) I got msg that out of lane function not available. Both conditions cleared later and could not be replicated. Reason I mention road trips is that’s when the car gets more vibration. Though it rides smooth you know you’ve hit every bump in the road when tires are properly inflated even on highway. So I took it to dealer and mechanic pointed out the fine cracks which I had not seen before nor had reason to look for till Sensor started acting up. Mechanic said these fine line cracks which were barely visible sometimes appeared after accident or someone backing into the front of the car. He said the sensor package HANGS on the GRILL and not on other parts of framework. So it would seem vibration is a big issue as the weight of the sensor package is potentially yanking on the sensors mounting to the grill as the car vibrates. The grill was supposedly replaced when car fixed. QUESTION: However I would be interested in knowing what the blowup diagram in the Manual you acquired shows for mounting sensor package on the grill and any vibration dampening parts that were supposed to be used to remount the sensor as the sensor was not replaced. Are those mounting parts for sensor part of the grill package or the sensor package and should they have been replaced even though sensor not replaced?
     
    #13 Robert vickroy, Feb 8, 2021
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 9, 2021
  14. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Differences in the parts numbers are that 5310147041 is for Plus(LE) and Premium(LE) without front Parking Aid Sensor. P/N 5310147051 is for the Advanced (Limited) with front bmber that contains two spots for the Parking Aid Sensors.

    The sensor you are talking about is a DRCC sensor located behind the Toyota emblem. I have not disassembled the grille sub-assembly myself, so I am not sure exactly how the sensor is attached to the grille. The diagram below may help. It's for 2021 PP, but the parts and assembly should be identical for older PPs.


    CRUISE CONTROL (AUTO DRIVE). 2021 Toyota Prius Prime | Toyota

    upload_2021-2-9_12-33-19.png
     
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    By properly inflated do you mean the pressures on drivers door decal?
     
  16. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    The DRCC sensor is not attached to the grill. As you can see in this picture, it's fastened to the framework that supports the radiator.
    IMG_1627.jpg
     
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  17. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    That is good info. So, when you were removing the grille sub-assembly, there was no radar sensor behind the emblem that needed to be disconnected?
     
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  18. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Well, now I'm not that sure. There's different stuff depending on what safety equipment you have. Here's the PDF instructions that Mendel posted a while back with my Googled translations.
     

    Attached Files:

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  19. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    The document mentions disconnecting intelligent clearance sonar systems, but not about the DRCC radar sensor. From the way the DRCC radar sensor is attached, I think you are correct in that it is not attached to the grille sub-assembly at all. That brings to the question raised by @Robert vickroy. I don't think replacing the grille sub-assembly is the direct cause of the error message "distancing function unavailable".
     
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  20. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Until you need to do the work and get the relevant techstream docs it's all just speculation. Even after the work is done ??
    Not fur nut tin but after a windshield replacement, the camera needs re calibration. But sonar and radar probably are fine ??? if they're not touched by human hands.....