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Buying a 2009 Prius with 425k miles, still runs and drives well!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by highmilesgarage, Apr 17, 2024.

  1. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yeah on the one NZ that's not a problem You may want to have your head checked for cracks while it's all you might want to have it machined in the back side of the valves cleaned up You can buy a remanufactured head for a one NZ for about $300 from all of the major rebuilders they are readily available A trip to the machine shop with your head can easily cost 300 bucks sanding it grinding etc so it may be beneficial to just buy a redone head from my AutoZone A1 cardone whoever the remanufacturer store you choose shop around see what you can do It's a very old engine still used today but part should be plentiful and not too overpriced not a hard head to rebuild or anything in the shop I would even venture to say that if you wanted you could do it in the field I wouldn't personally but people will they do in Africa and third world countries in the heartbeat.
     
  2. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Active Member

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    head gasket is fixed for $49 out of my pocket.. missed some of the recordings but it shows that a head gasket job on a Prius is not really that difficult for a DIY.

    You might need to buy a 9mm triple square socket to remove the head gasket bolts if you don't have it in your tool box ($10 in amazon)

    Tips when doing the replacement..
    - Buy new Fel-pro head gasket,bolts and washer.
    - No need to completely remove the inverter or disconnect the hv safety plug. Not touching any high voltage components with this DIY
    - No need to disconnect the brake hoses to the reservoir
    - No need to completely drain the coolant
    - No need to completely remove the exhaust manifold
    - No need to replace the timing components (if there are no codes for it)
    - No need to remove spark plugs
    - Some of the gaskets (intake, exhaust and throttle body) can be re-used. I replaced my water pump gasket with a new one (very cheap) in this case.


     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    On a generation too that's correct this is the 1NZ engine that's been used in Scion xa and what have you for long time It's one of the bread and butter engines for Toyota when you stick the FXE on it that makes it Atkinson cycle different cams and so on but that's all internal that has nothing to do with changing a head gasket and putting it back together It's one of the simpler designs Toyota has for the Z series engine Very easy wonderful to work on Ladies can do it without getting very dirty.
     
  4. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Active Member

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    after replacing the head gasket, I noticed gasoline smell on the engine bay. It turned out I pinched one of the o-rings when I replaced the injectors. Have to buy new o-orings from the dealer at $51 for the whole set. Changing it is very easy.

     
  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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  6. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Active Member

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    This concludes my saga on restoring the 425k miles Prius that I bought last April. It didn't show any head gasket symptoms at that time but it did overheat several times because the cooling system was hacked. Head gasket finally gave up this summer and I DIY the repair. It wasn't that bad, just time consuming. No special tools required and everything is just so simple.

     
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yes the '04 to '09 generation 2 is the one you want to be working on not the 2010 to 2015 or what have you. This is a wonderful vehicle to work on the next series not so much.