How many miles on your Gen 3 and what Repairs / Maintenance have you done?

Toyota did that for you.

 

Chapman You're right bout that. Still it's hard to resist the urge to tinker. I wanna do a lean cruise but HPTuners won't work on Prius. Options? Will a resistor inline w air fuel sensor make it rich or lean?

 

Sorry to poo on this idea, but as stated above: "Toyota did that for you".
Do you really think they left MPG on the table? That's the whole point of this car!

 

Thanks to the advice on this thread about cleaning the EGR pathway (tube, cooler, intake manifold ports), I will be getting that done soon.

My car has a couple of issues (that I rarely notice since I am mostly running at highway+ speeds) that my research now indicates are EGR cleaning related:
1) When the battery is depleted (cruising a busy parking lot looking for parking space), the engine makes diesel / knocking sound on acceleration. Once the battery gets some charge, the sound no longer occurs
2) A few times (< 10) in the last few years engine on startup (cool morning in 40s) briefly makes a noise like something just broke, but then sound goes away. Till date, no cooling fluid losses.

I wonder if there would have been a different outcome had most of my driving not been on highway.

 

What's the miles?

 

2011 Prius with 240K miles

 

I bought my 2013 6 months old with 10k miles (now it has 50k). According to Carfax/Toyota owners the first owner's only historical contribution was "RIGHT SIDE IMPACT WITH A BRIDGE". I bought it for quite cheap on Ebay and took it for it's first oil change myself.

-Dealer replaced the head unit radio under warranty in 2015.
-It's still on winter Nokian Hakkapelitta R2s from 2015 and Michelin Energy Savers from 2016.
-Oil change every year mostly at dealership which has been between 5-10k miles.
-Had a bit of work done at Boulder Hybrids such as transaxle fluid flush at 30k and replaced a headlight assembly.
-Engine and cabin air filters every few years.
-Installed trailer hitch and Kuat Sherpa rack 2019.
-Daytime running light modifications in order to import it into Canada.
-New 12v battery 2020
-Added HV battery filter as per Car Care Nut (mine must have just missed getting a factory one by a few months)
-Just did DIY coolant drain/fill and brake fluid flush as it's nearing 10 years old.

Going to try to do more of the work on it myself going forward. I found the prices in the US low enough that it was hard to justify the time/ cost of buying all the tools to DIY. Had free tire swaps winter/summer done at Discount Tire in US. Here it's $75 every 6 months. I was charged $150 for an oil change with Mobil 1 at Mr Lube a month or two ago and that was the final straw. I went out and bought a floor jack, rhino ramps, breaker bar, oil filter wrench, etc. Considering disassembling the HV battery and balancing it sometime this winter.

 

Join the EFI guild on facebook and ask. A lot of the old toyotas do stuff like this to alter afr. 90% of the 2j guys are on some sort of weird way to modify the stock ecu i/o. Although every example that I know of is more for using more gas and making more horsepower or trying to richen up for boost.

 

I have a 2010 Prius with 117k miles. Purchased certified pre-owned in 2015 with 67k miles. I've done the following:

- Oil changes every 5k miles or 6 months;
- New 12 volt battery a few years ago, can't remember mileage;
- Change air filters regularly;
- New tires at 105k miles;
- Engine coolant changed at 110k miles;
- New front brakes at 110k miles;
- New rear brakes at 117k miles;
- New spark plugs at 117k miles;

Car is running great, no excess oil consumption, no shaking or rough starts, getting 52mpg highway and 47mpg city.

I have not done anything relating to the EGR valve or intake manifold. The dealer does not do this and I do not have the ability to do this myself. I may need to find a local mechanic I can trust. I really want the car to last another 3 years or so.

 

Do you have a scan tool you can use to read trouble codes and test results from your car?

 

Yeah get that done. See first 2 links in my signature.

 

not sure if this was meant for me, but yes I do

 

It seems like most folks DIY the egr cleaning and related work. It’s not something I am capable of doing. I’d be happy to pay the dealer to handle it but it doesn’t seem like something they will do. I’ve thought about just buying a new egr valve and intake manifold and having a local mechanic install them. I don’t think a local mechanic is going to go through the trouble of soaking them in chemicals for days to clean them. Would that be good enough? Otherwise I think I’m just going to have to take my chances until I get a check engine light or other problem

 

Is there a specific mileage or time (example every 4 years) the EGR, throttle body, MAF should be cleaned? My Prius is a 2015 with 41,500 miles. Purchased new and driven about equally City and Highway. Oil and filter changed routinely (local Toyota dealer) from 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Air filter changed yearly, Coolant changed at 35,000 miles by local Toyota dealer. Just looking at what others do to keep their Prius running in tip top condition and dependable.

 

Excellent. You can use that to look at your car's most recent EGR flow self-test result and inform your decision about how soon that job wants to be tackled.

 

They'll basically replace the intake manifold and the EGR valve/assembly. With labour that'll likely cost over a grand.

If you DIY, everything is cleanable, you're only costs are the cleaners, rags/brushes, and it's a good idea to replace the pliable intake manifold gaskets (4 in total, around $30~40 USD).

The only thing that really needs to soak is the EGR cooler. I've found five 1-hour soaks in concentrated Oxi-Clean hot tap water solution quite effective. If the carbon is more entrenched, you might resort to lye solution (or oven cleaner) and pressure washer tactics.

More info in my signature.

I would clean the EGR and intake manifold at least by 100k miles, and 50k miles thereafter. Even better, just every 50K miles.

 

People might give you numbers, but that really depends heavily on conditions (like maintenance practices, driving habits, environment, trip lengths, etc.). Some examples guzzle oil and clog the EGR cooler by 120K. but others (including mine) don't. At <42k, you're probably ok for a while, assuming reasonable conditions. The MAF sensor can go a long time if not abused. Mine looked new at ~118k, when I cleared the manifold EGR passages.

 

I have a 2010 Prius, with 228k miles. Rubs and drives great. Rusted out unfortunately. It's my beater car for work

Pixel 7 Pro ?

 

You could buy a used cooler, check on the internet for junk yards, clean it, and give it to the
dealer and have them replace yours, and give it back to you, and clean it for next time.
Same with the intack manifold.

 

Lifetime engine oil filter eh?