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Oil in the Intake Manifold Caused by Filling Oil too Full?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by rjparker, Jan 2, 2021.

  1. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    A Toyota Master Hybrid Mechanic released a video detailing five things hybrid owners should never do. One of them is don't fill your oil to full when cold. He says leave it low because the high rpm ICE starts will sling oil into the pcv and the intake manifold. We know the manifolds often are full of oil. He acknowledges the problem is worse pre gen4.


     
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  2. StarCaller

    StarCaller Senior Member

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    kinda odd statements..... just saying /

    "Through my experience as a Toyota Master Diagnostic Technician, these are 5 things that I see hybrid owners do to their hybrid cars that you should never do. Please Don't do this to your Toyota Hybrid. I discuss 5 things you should not do to your Toyota hybrid or any hybrid model in general. I also explain why you shouldn't do them in detail.
    First issue is Don't spill large amounts of water over the back seat or over the area where the hybrid battery is
    Second issue is Don't leave the fuel door on your Toyota hybrid open for more than 30 minutes before refueling.
    Third issue is Don't use B-Mode or engine braking in your Toyota hybrid when not needed. It not only decreases your gas mileage but it also puts stress on the hybrid system.
    Fourth issue is Never overfill your Toyota hybrid with engine oil. This goes for every car but for hybrids it's worse as they tend to pool the oil in the intake.
    Fifth issue is Never jump start another non hybrid car from your Toyota hybrid. You can however jump start another Toyota hybrid without issues."
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I put in the specd 4.2 litres when changing oil/filter, dipstick a few days later typically is 1/8”~3/16” below top mark, never over, and I always had swill in the intake. Oil Catch Can helped a fair bit, still a bit, at least 75% reduction I’d guess.

    I don’t buy the master tech’s theory; just a poor PCV valve design, location or whatever.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    There's always a small puddle of glop in the bottom of a Prius intake manifold. Perhaps the PCV circuit has something to do with it, but the glop ends up there both in the 1NZ engines (1st and 2nd generation, and c) and in the 2ZR engines (3rd and 4th gen and v), which have somewhat different manifolds and PCV circuits.

    One thing they all have in common is the Atkinson cycle, which always shoves some of the cylinder contents back out into the manifold before the intake valves close.
     
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  5. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I'm thinking this is the main culprit. Not that there can't be other contributors, but if the compression stroke starts with the intake valve still open, guess where that vapor is going to land if it doesn't get pulled back in on the next expansion stroke.
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I happened to remove the intake about a week post-clean: there was an oil drop under each intake port. My take would be some, but PCV still the main contributor.