2010 Prius 100,000 Mile Preventative maintenance Items

Thanks. Yes thats the briallance of a lot of car work. You can go one step at a time, and that next step is usually very clear. As long as you are making forward progress you will reach the end of it.

 

I decided to do the intake manifold first. I started again tonight, got the throttle body and hoses all out of the way. Got stuck on this clip that is accessed from behind on the top of the intake manifold (see what my pliers are gripping in photo). Fought with this sucker for 30 minutes, used all sorts of big and small pliers, screw drivers, etc. Still cant get it out - its almost impossible to see whats going on back there and hard to get any tools in there. I think by now its a mangled pulp of plastic. Any tips for this one? I think I might have to cut it off and hope the wiring harness will be fine without it clipped in.

 

Well I feel stupid, after fighting with a single clip for 30 minutes I found a video of someone removing it in one second. I guess you just pop it upward. I was too scared id break something!

 

I am beginning to think (and hope) that there are many people out there that are having no Prius problems and therefore not coming onto this forum to talk about them. Likely there is a bias towards people who are posting when they do have a problem so they can find help solving it, but I know how it feels when all you read is bad things. How many people have a normal day with their car functioning normally and then go online to PriusChat.com to post about how great it is vs how many people see a check engine light or have a rough start, freak out and then start looking for solutions and end up on this forum?

I bought the 2010 thinking that at 100,000 miles I could get infront of the problems by doing proper maint, and then subsequently kept reading this forum and now I am feeling paranoid that the head gasget will blow any second now. It certainly does provoke anxiety. That being said there seem to be many people with higher mileage gen3 prius' around.

I guess best way to handle all of this is do proper maint, keep an eye out for signs of head gasget failure, and mentally prepare yourself that you may have to replace an engine or headgasget. If you are ready for it to be a possibility, its not really that huge of a deal.

 

Actually the consumer reports reliability ratings for the 2010 Prius are very comparable to the 2005 Prius's (which I also own and has been rock solid). This was another reason I decided to go through with the purchase. Certainly reliability gets a bit better in later years, but it still looked pretty darn good compared to many other popular vehicles.

 

Okay got the intake manifold off tonight! To be honest it looks pretty clean to me. There also seemed to be pretty much even amounts of build up on each port of the manifold. See attached photos of ports.

 

Also, after removing it I was tipping the intake manifold around and the oil in the bottom was sloshing about. Pretty sure I got a bunch of oil on the manifold absolute pressure sensor (is this the same as a MAF sensor? Its the sensor bolted into the bottom of the manifold). No idea how this thing works. I unplugged it and there is definately oil on it. Should I just wipe it clean, or should I clean it with brake clean or a solvent, (or MAF cleaner) or should I just not worry about it?

 

I was also wondering if the intake manifold had been replaced as part of that recall. Pics of my EGR pipe are in this thread - certainly wasnt clogged up but there was more gunk on it than the intake.

Worst spot on the intake for buildup is where the intake meets the EGR pipe. Pictures of that are posted in the same post where I put pictures of the EGR pipe.

Next step is to clean out the intake manifold and EGR pipe. Then I will be replacing PCV valve and installing oil catch can. Going to install intake manifold and then move on to the EGR cooler/valve. I'd rather have the intake manifold back into the engine before I pull the EGR cooler so I dont have so many hoses and clips flapping around that I get confused. Im just imagining now what will happen if I get some hoses crossed. So far it looks like there isnt a huge likelyhood of that due to hose lengths and the different diameters of hoses, but I want to be careful.

 

Okay, so I checked my local hardware store and they didnt have 3/8 braided vinyl tube OR 3/8 to 3/8 barbed hose adaptors.

So I just ordered 3/8 ID fuel line (if you want to find on amazon this is what its called: 6AN 3/8 Inch ID NBR Fuel Injection Line Hose (290PSI Max -31℉ to 302℉) for Unleaded Fuels, Methanol, Ethanol, Petrol and diesel)
from Amazon as well as the barbed hose adaptors. Unfortunately some of that stuff wont come till next week. The hoses, adaptors and clamps cost me 50$, which is more than the catch can! I think going with the more expensive hose should be good. Dont have to worry as much about it melting or cracking in extreme hot or cold. I am assuming it will be subject to a wide range of temperatures being close to the engine but then also sitting outside all winter. Also its supposed to be quite stiff, so I am hoping it will hold up to vaccum as well as pressure. Read about some people who had the vinyl hose crack in cold (could have been a particular defective hose).