Control Arm Fix - Is It Necessary?

this is not part of an oil change, or routine service, how many miles on her?

 

yeah, i don't think so in either case. alignment check only if requested, or uneven tyre wear noted. i suspect a scam. have you noticed steering pull or tyre wear?

 

Right front: have you hit a curb??

 

I rarely seen caster being adjusted and some you can’t even adjust, its usually camber and toe gets adjusted or there’s a Camber kits. Does it pull to one side when you step on the brakes? Are there worn ball joints, bad strut rod bushings, worn upper strut mounts or worn control arm bushings?

Was this car in an accident?

And caster doesn’t cause tire wear

 

Recently went to Tucson Hybrids (specializing in Hybrids....I assumed they'd be better to work with than dealership, and a bit less expensive. They said they work on lots of Prii).

Reason I went is to have brake system flushed. I felt that flushing myself would leave many actuators and valves un-flushed and that the Techstream flush (which they assured me they used) would be a more "thorough" flush. I don't know if this is accurate and would like feedback on this, if anyone knows.

Reason I'm posting here is that I was kept in the front office (I had hoped it would be different from dealership, and that I'd get to visit with mechanic, in the back, while my car was on hoist). DIdn't get to talk with mechanic, nor see anything in-person, but was shown photos to let me know that my chain tensioner was leaking oil, and that my CV boots were leaking and my control arm bushings were bad. Shop said I needed new axles (they insisted that with labor and all, it's always better to just replace the entire axles...and that trying to do CV boot replacements was problematic). They also said I needed new control arms, and replacement of timing chain tensioner (not just gasket).

This was backed with photos, shown to me on a computer screen, where I could see the leak from the chain tensioner, and could see cracks (small, numerous cracks) in the rubber of the horizontal ("doughnut shaped") bushings of the control arms. Also, I was shown photos where both inner CV boots had leaks, evidenced by oily leakage around inner edges and oily leakage around boot bellows.

After much research and deciding to change the CV boots myself, I've been struggling with finding correct parts for the right side CV boot kit. This led to reading on here and I became suspicious that my Transaxle case seals might be leaking instead (oily, not greasy, and no obvious tears in CV boots.

I already had ordered used control arms on eBay where the bushings looked to be in good condition. They arrived and sure enough, one bushing is really, really good, and the other very good with no cracks. These look a lot better than my control arm bushings.

As for chain tensioner, I replaced the gasket (not too hard) and have no reason at all to think I need a new chain tensioner. $6.00 gasket...fairly easy replacement.

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Now: I've watched videos from The Car Care Nut and he is very clear that minor cracks in bushings of control arms DO NOT warrant replacement and it's BS for any mechanic to tell you to replace them, and you should "find a new mechanic".

Also, I've cleaned and reinspected my CV boots (after replacing my chain tensioner) and there was only a very small film of brown oily substance on them. I carefully cleaned the inner boots (outers are without any leaks) and did not really appreciate any grease. There was some slight oil, I think, but cannot see any cracks at all, and rubber appears to be in good condition (I have treated rubber, very rarely, with 303 Aerospace, but will be more regular about doing this in the future.) Having wiped these clean, I'm going to drive about 2-3k miles and see if there is ANY leak of anything. There was no oil near the inner part of the CV joints (near the transaxle), and only on the bellows and outer edge of the CV boots.

I suspect that I do not need new CV boots, that they are not leaking, and that this oil was ?? Some on right was possibly from leaking engine case at chain tensioner gasket...as there was an oil leak there, traveling down that side of engine. We will see, but if it's "oily" and not looking at all like grease....and no splattered grease anywhere...and there's none near the transaxle joints on both sides, I don't think my CV boots are leaking, and don't think the transaxle seals are leaking either.

Luckily Price Leblanc Toyota (which I think I was linked-to via "Parts online" (toyota.partsonline.com)) did not have one of the CV boot part numbers in stock, so I'm cancelling my entire order before they sent it (CV boot kit, inner and outer LEFT, CV boot inner RIGHT, wheel nuts, transaxle case oil seals).

I'm pretty convinced, at this point, that I had a mild seeping of oil from my chain tensioner, and that my control arms and CV joints are fine. What crap. They would have gotten me for thousands of dollars of unnecessary replacements.

I'm likely going to go ahead and replace my control arms, since the rubber is much better in this pair that I have from eBay, and I've thoroughly wire brushed them (running a steel brush on a drill), sanded them, cleaned them, and de-rusted all little small areas of surface rust with Evapo-Rust. I'm also going to paint them with Rustoleum Pro.

If someone wants these control arms, I've also treated the rubber with 303-Aerospace multiple times, letting it "soak in" (if that's at all possible) There are no cracks in the rubber, but removing mine, simply to replace them with better, is likely a complete waste of time and mine (with little cracks and no separation) will likely last another ten years. Tempting to put these in, with like-new bushings, but probably a complete waste of time and effort.
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I'm anxious to hear from anyone and everyone who might have any input here. Please let me know if you know about these things and I'll update in a couple thousand miles, to let you know if my CV boots have any leak.

Meanwhile: BEWARE Mechanics / Shops !!!