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A few maintenance questions

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by southjerseycraig, Sep 22, 2023.

  1. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    I have a 2010 Prius (whatever the base model was) with roughly 105,000 miles on it. (Yeah, I don't drive much compared to many of you.)

    First, I am steadily seeing the light on the dashboard that tire pressure is low. The light first blinks then goes on completely. I talked to a Toyota dealership which said that the tires were fine, but that one of the sensors isn't working. The estimate was $300 to repair. My thought is that I shouldn't do it. My reason is that probably the other three sensors will soon fail as well, and that this is not a problem worth spending $1200 to solve. Thoughts?

    Second, I notice that when I turn on the ignition, there are only two bars for the big battery. I'm used to seeing more bars when I turn the car on. The battery charges fine once I'm driving. Is seeing only two bars at start-up a sign of future trouble?

    Third (and I've mentioned this before here), my right foot goes numb after driving the car for about half an hour. I have talked to an orthopedist, a vascular specialist, and a neurologist and there seems to be no big problem in me. I have tried using a cushion, and that actually made it worse. Adjusting the height of the seat or the seatback angle or the distance from the steering wheel make no difference. The neurologist said the best thing to do would be to change the angle of the seat bottom to make it slope more toward the front of the car, but I don't see a way of doing this. I would welcome any ideas.

    BTW, the car is fine, but it burns oil, which I hate. As I age, I find the limits on visibility from the cabin increasingly annoying and dangerous. (I think the quality of driving in America has gone down sharply since the pandemic started, and so I see a need to be extremely careful -- although I was rear-ended last week and so even being careful didn't help. But my guess is that I'll give the car at least one more year. This is the third Toyota I've had, and I am not at all sure my next car will be a Toyota -- Honda and Subaru are more likely.

    Thanks for reading! Best wishes for the weekend.
     
    bisco likes this.
  2. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    I offer two thoughts:

    Ask a tire shop or 3 if they can "fix" the tire sensor for a more reasonable price.
    It likely just needs a new battery......but the tire must be removed to get to it.
    IF you were planning to keep the car much longer, I would suggest doing all 4 batteries.
    It is a bit cheaper to do this when getting new tires.

    Have you seen an actual podiatrist about your foot ? If not, why not ??
    Some kind of seat cushion should raise the rear of the seat and not the front.
    I have a pinched nerve in my right foot that I notice when stepping on the brake pedal for longer than a few seconds.
    I also notice it at various other times.
    My Pod. said he will be happy to fix it whenever I am ready.

    Given everything that you have said, I think another year might be too long to wait.
    I think you need to start formulating a replacement plan NOW before something
    major goes wrong and forces your hand.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the sensors have a non replaceable battery. i think a tire store will do it for about 50 bucks, worth looking into.
    the battery is getting old. you can run a health scan with dr prius app, but there's no way to know how long before you have trouble.
    a lot of threads on leg pain here, might be worth searching them for ideas. some use pillows, others get more cushioning from an upholstery shop, others change the whole seat, and a few sell their cars and move on.
    agree on the quality of driving since covid. speed and inattention are a uge problem
     
  4. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    You can have all four changed for around $120 if you shop

    Read this first
    Looking for Source for TPMS sensors sept 2023 | PriusChat

    A set of four low cost aftermarket (~$40 parts) I currently have in my v..
     
    #4 rjparker, Sep 22, 2023
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2023
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  5. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    I'm kicking myself because I *do* see a podiatrist for other reasons and have never asked her about this. Thanks for the suggestion! The neurologist did say that his EMG disclosed I have an "irritated sciatic nerve." But no one has had any useful ideas for remedying it.

    A cushion that raises only the seat rear sounds like a good idea -- I will look into it.

    I think my next vehicle will be an SUV because I want the higher driver's seat. Some SUVs have fairly thin pillars and so give much better visibility than I have now. And some of the new safety technology (such as lane control and automatic emergency braking) is appealing. As I get older, and as drivers (and, I should add, bicyclists and pedestrians) get more reckless, I think I need all the protection I can get.

    Thanks for your comments!
     
  6. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    $300 is way too much. I just change the dead one. The batteries don’t die at the same time…
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah just ignore it; save your money for something important.
     
  8. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    Short-block the engine
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    How much oil, per miles?
     
  10. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Sure.
    BUT.....if one fails because of age, can the other 3 be far behind ??
    If you do them at the same time as you put on new tires, it should be
    really inexpensive.
     
  11. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Just like spark plug coils don’t all fail around the same time, batteries do not either. I bought the 974-082 for our Porsche, and so far only needed to replace the 1. IMG_1297.png
     
  12. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Now you are just being ridiculous.

    Things "like spark plug coils" are designed to last virtually forever.
    Batteries are NOT.

    And when one in a group fails, that should be a clue for an
    intelligent person that the others likely aren't far behind.
    ESPECIALLY if they are 4-5 years old.
     
  13. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Going on a couple years now since I had to replace the first one on my 2010. Others still going strong so far.

    Batteries all wear out, sure, but they do it on a bell curve, and the curve can be kind of broad. Who can predict what happens to the car in the meantime? Over the two years since I changed the last one, I could have hit a moose or something, resulting in no need to change the other three ever.

    It would be one thing if it were the kind of job where you save a bunch of time or money doing them all at once, but changing four things in four separate tires isn't really that kind of job. It's more like doing the same thing four times. And as my local tire place doesn't charge a lot to do it, I'm pretty happy to go back the next time it needs to be done.
     
  14. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    It would be SMART to buy 4, because they cost less that way. And then have the bad one
    replaced. When another one goes, replace that one. At least you'll have them when you need them.
    If you have the money, do all four. Walfart replaces then fairly cheaply. And they should have the devide
    to read them to find the bad one.
    Or, after replacing the one with the dead battery, dig the battery out, buy a new battery, and replace just
    the battery.
     
  15. southjerseycraig

    southjerseycraig Active Member

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    I would say about a quart every 2500 miles depending on whether I'm driving highway or city. It's "within specs," I'm told, and it would cost a mint to remedy the problem.
     
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  16. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    A quart every 1200 is ok per Toyota on a gen3. If worse than that, they would remove and disassemble the engine to change the pistons and rings with a better design. Not now.


    IMG_2956.jpeg
     
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  17. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Congratulations, some vocabulary you have there.

    Some would rather wait for new tires and live with the TPMS light, I just replace the one I need to because I have the tool to find it. My light is now off. I have not experienced them all dying within the same year, and had one DOA that I bought a set of 4 from on this forum.

    BTW- I’m curious to see how Dorman deals with their warranty. Can’t wait to report whether they replace it when the battery dies. I’d be happy to share here whether they do honor their lifetime warranty but calling me ridiculous is making me hesitant…
     
  18. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    99% of the people forget about warranties. That's what they are counting on.
    Extended warranties are huge money makers for the sellers of them, that's why they always
    push them.
    Keep the paperwork, and the package it came in just to be safe though.

    Did you change it yourself? How'd ya break the bead?

     
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  19. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    $22 @ America’s Tire (aka Discount Tire) labor. Tires (and wheels) were purchased there so I thought they’d take care of not scratching them (Enkei RPF1) plus I had opted for the lifetime balancing option so didn’t have to pay for that.

    Tires still have lots of tread….
     
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  20. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    Thank you for posting this up here. Unfortunately this TSB only covers the problem in the first 60,000 miles. Such a bummer because I've had several over time that had this problem and they're all 120K plus
     
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