New Prius owner

Thanks!

As far as that control arm bolt is concerned, it's easiest to lift the engine from one side. The resulting tilt makes it far easier to get a ratchet wrench onto the bolt head. Besides, those pans are resilient. You should see the impact it took when the PO went off-roading! Even if it was an aluminum casting I wouldn't hesitate to lift it with a plank as a load spreader. I've lifted far heavier motors with far more delicate oil sumps that way with no problems whatsoever.

 

I've been going at this car for a week. The wife has been helping too, oddly. She's usually pretty 'meh' about my car adoption habits, but she's taken a shine to this one. I'll check out the Odoban, it can't hurt. Baking soda has been effective as usual, I'm also shopping for some cheap bags of activated charcoal.

Funny you should mention the cabin air filter...


Here's what the center console looked like when I started cleaning. I've dismantled it since then to really clean it thoroughly:

 

The battery vent & cooling fan are high on my list, no doubt about it!

It is amazing just how filthy this car got to be, but I'm not regretting it (yet). Despite all the work I've put into it so far, I could probably still flip the car profitably. I'm going to get her back into fair mechanical shape & put a few hundred miles on her to see if she's worth more time & money. I really like the Prius experience so far.

Happily, I also found a recent Prius in my favorite pick-n-pull. With any luck it'll still have a few of those broken fasteners & dash vent pieces. If anyone needs some parts from an '07 burgundy over gray fabric, let me know. Here's the actual car.

 

Just ordered some more stuff for the car. RockAuto for basic maintenance stuff (filters, new serpentine belt, closeout items, etc.). I also bought a 3-pack of the taller 90915-YZZF1 Toyota OEM filters. I'm planning on running a cheap fill of SuperTech full synthetic to see if the motor is drinking oil, then probably switch back to my usual Mobil1 HM 5w30 in the fall.

 

I pulled apart the rear quarter to get at the traction battery fan and found all sorts of missing fasteners. They all just rolled into the aux battery box. There's a little water down there too, not sure if I should be worrying about that or not. As you'd expect, the fan was pretty dirty. I have the fan cage soaking in a little soapy water now.

 

Thanks for the link, just what I needed! The video was timely too, I just finished up with that fan. I also replaced a bunch of missing fasteners, tightened up stuff in the battery compartment, broke the rear garnish. The PO was OK with maintenance but there are a lot of little things missing.

I also struggled with the trunk lock, had to cycle it a few times before it started working again after I hooked up the aux battery.

 

What a beautiful day here in Pittsburgh! I took some time for an oil change, replaced the engine & cabin air filters. I even put the new serpentine belt in. It's such a cute little thing!

I don't recall a serp belt that small in any car. The only ribbed belt I've seen that's smaller was the water pump belt from a Ford Duratec 3.0. I had one in our Mazda MPV. That motor is a little odd. In FWD applications, the water pump is belt-driven off the rear of the forward intake cam.

 

The car is getting closer to being roadworthy...once I clear those pesky codes it'll be ready for a state inspection. The first few test drives were a little wonky, but I did a quick & sloppy string alignment to get the car in the ballpark.

If you recall, this car came to me with a mangled front passenger suspension. I replaced the bent parts but it was impossible to get an accurate measurement from the bent tie rods. So I guesstimated the proper alignment and bolted it all back together.

Turns out that my Mk. 1 eyeball needs some adjustment... I usually set about 1/8" toe-in on my cars, but the passenger side was toed-in a whopping 1 9/16". No bueno! It actually drove reasonably well like that...although driving straight down the road required turning the steering wheel 90 degrees to the right. Bump steer was pretty troublesome and it refused to self-center. I've driven worse cars in my life... However, it's definitely not my idea of a safe car, certainty not a car I'd let anyone else drive.

So after a half-hour's twiddling with ruler, string & square, I got it properly set to 1/8" toe-in. Driver's side was close enough @ 1/16" toe-in. Drives MUCH better now, and I'm sure these settings are a lot easier on the P/S servo & tires.

 

You got me. I figured since it used both sides of a flat belt it's a serpentine. Admittedly, an idler pulley doesn't usually count as a belt-driven accessory, but there are so many things about this car that are unique. It almost makes an s-shape, and I like snakes, so my vote is for serpentine!

 

I had a little luck with TechStream tonight. The car's dash is very festive, lots of lights, so I spent a little time clearing codes. Most of them stayed off, like the VSC & ABS. I failed with the TPMS but otherwise the dash was clear for about a half-hour of driving.

Sadly, the P0420 returned, along with the HVAC B1421 & B1423 codes. I'll dig into the A/C system later. That P0420 is a priority. I found some interesting stuff on the web (like this), specifically about those codes in Toyotas.

I'm hoping it's just an exhaust leak or bed downstream sensor. The ICE does sound a little clackety at times, so it's possible. I'll check that out over the weekend. New plugs are a good idea too, but I'll check them first before I get any parts ordered.

 

This was a pretty good weekend. First job was some new plugs. The old Bosch iridium plugs didn't look bad, but they're tired. I replaced them with a new set of recommended NGK iridium plugs.


Next job was to clean out the intake, check vac lines, replace the PCV.

Vac lines had a few minor cracks, I trimmed them back & reinstalled. The TB was pretty clean, I spiffed it up with some TB cleaner. PCV was functional but dirty, I replaced it.

I was a little worried about the condition of the engine. The oil fill cap was pretty nasty. However, the cams were in far better shape than I had hoped:

That Atk cycle intake cam really is an unusual design!

Despite all that work, the car ran more or less the same. I'm still contending with the catalyst error code. Slightly disappointing. I'll be checking the exhaust next, I'm suspicious of the exhaust manifold seal. Here's a shot from above the motor. I'm pretty sure that black smudge on the left side is a leak:

Those gaskets are pretty cheap, I'm off to RockAuto. Anyone need a 5% discount? I have one available: 10516675287017449. I know it's not much...but every little bit counts! Good for unlimited uses until mid-May.

 

Interesting developments tonight. I had cleared up the CEL with TechEdge...and...it didn't come back. It was unexpected, since I hadn't replaced the exhaust gasket. Fingers crossed that it stays like this!

 

This morning's fun was a trip to a Pick-n-Pull. It's a newer place, not a lot of inventory, but they had a red '07 Prius. I called to make sure they had a driver's headlight, packed up the tools & off I went.

This was the first time I've gotten it on the Interstate. The car did OK, ran up to 80 with no real problems. Cruise worked really well. It wasn't all roses...A/C is dead, it might have a wheel bearing that's on the way out.

The best thing about a pick-n-pull is the prices. I'd be able to grab about fasteners & trim bits practically for free. It's the little nickle & dime parts that can kill a project car budget.

On the other hand, the worst thing about a P'n'P is usually their inventory software. No driver's headlight on the car, none in stock either!

Despite that inconvenience I still did OK. Managed to score a passenger front fender liner, master window switch & console, radio aerial, all four dashboard trim/vent panels, trunk tool set, an '07 owner's manual set, OEM floor mat set with aftermarket rubber (Michelin) slush/snow mats included...came to $80. Even including sales tax, lunch and the $1 yard entry fee I was back at home for less than a Franklin. That's probably $400 in OEM Toyota parts, right? Not too shabby, even if I do say so myself.

I'd honestly go even if it wasn't such a bargain - it's actually a lot of fun. Sorta like camping at a vehicular flea market. Great weather, lots of sun, fresh air & hundreds of wrecks. It's not a carefree romp, but once you get used to it there are many bargains to be had. Be prepared for the weather, take lots of highly portable & cheap tools you wouldn't mind breaking or losing. Also beware the shattered glass, sharp & rusted metal, briars, mud, mosquitoes, ticks, paper wasps (they're a real menace).

On the return trip I also filled up the car. I'd finally run off most of the old gas so I filled it up. Almost seven gallons! That's such an odd feeling coming from gas pigs like the wife's crossover, I Had to triple-check that the pump hadn't malfunctioned. I'm still not sure about fuel mileage since this car is so new to me. Worse, the touchscreen isn't properly calibrated so I can't watch the 'consumption' screen.

 

Haven't been really busy with the car, but my buddy did find a recent Prius arriving at the local PnP. He scored a good MFD, left headlight and some other smaller bits I needed. The MFD worked very well after a little cleaning. It's nice to finally see the consumption screen!

 

Been a while since I updated this...car's been running OK. I've been driving the car locally to test it out thoroughly. I took it on the road for a business meeting. On the way, it had a problem with a long steep incline on the Interstate. I was doing about 73 or so at the bottom of the hill, but about halfway up the hill the car started to lose power. Engine was running at the redline the whole time. By the time I got to the top the car would barely make 50. I made it to the meeting and took it easy on the way home. The problem didn't reoccur, but I took all the hills a little slower.

I'm suspecting the traction battery, but still trying different things to figure it out. I fired up TechEdge to check the battery, all the cells reported similar voltages, within about 0.1 volts or so of each other.

No other significant problems to report, other than relatively poor mileage. I'm only getting 33-35 MPG.