Diary of a Wimpy DIYer

Diary of a Wimpy DIYer

[Lots of links have been broken since PriusChat changed software and I will try to fix them. Do a search on the subject/title if needed. Thanks!]

Thanks to all the helpful people at PriusChat I became motivated to work on the car for the first time in my life. I have done something trivial before such as cleaning the battery connection but that was about it. I used to think: “why would I touch the dirty oil myself?†I still don’t like dirty oil now but at least I am interested in working on the Prius. I started to write this journal in the hope to help and encourage other timid DIYers out there.

WeatherTech window deflector
My first project was to add the WeatherTech window deflector. It allows me to crack open the window without worrying about rain getting into the car. The WeatherTech deflector is low profile and looks nicer than those bulky stick-on ones. The installation was straightforward except I had to struggle with the clips for the rear windows. Details documented here:
WeatherTech window deflector install tips with diagrams | PriusChat

LEDs
The next thing was to replace internal lights with LEDs. I ended up using the cheap ones from DealExtreme, which have been working pretty well so far. It took about three weeks for the shipping but the price is too good to refuse. I had the dome lights, reading lights and front door courtesy lights replaced with LEDs. The only minor issue was that the adapters came with the LEDs did not fit perfectly into the sockets and require some force to insert but once inserted they were secure. More details here:
Brighter LED's | PriusChat
Brighter LED's | PriusChat

Oil change
At 2777 miles I did a partial oil change. I replaced the factory oil without changing the filter – being a wimpy DIYer I was afraid of not being able to unscrew the oil filter or the drain plug. I used an oil pump bought from amazon.com: “Moeller Fluid Extractor Pump With Wire Reinforced Extraction Tubesâ€. The tubing is reinforced with steel wire to provide added rigidity. The pump is well built with good quality material and have been working well so far.

Inverter case thermometer
I bought an oven thermometer on line. I had to cut the cable to thread it through the gaps behind the door hinges.
How are you all monitoring temperature of the MG's and Inverter? | PriusChat
How are you all monitoring temperature of the MG's and Inverter? | PriusChat


Tire rotation and mud guard
At 5044 miles I rotated the tires and installed mud guards. The 2 feet long breaker bar I bought from Harbor Freight made loosening the lug nuts easy. I was surprised to find there was corrosion between the wheel and the hub that fused the two together. I put a very thin layer of grease and hope to prevent sticking in the future. I learned to pre-tension the wheels when tightening the lug nuts for forward motion braking. The mud guards did not come with enough screws – fortunately I had some stainless steel screws of the same size. I should have checked the package when I first received it.

Ramp, jack and stands
When I used the Sears bought floor jack for the first time to rotate tires, I heard this strange rubbing or cracking noise. That freaked me out so much that I abandoned the project even before the tires had a chance to leave the ground. Later I realized that the noise was nothing but the tires rubbing on the garage floor. Coincidentally there was news of someone got killed in an accident involving car jacks. To safely work under the car I made ramps out of solid wood, after seeing the plastic ramps flex under load in one of the videos online.
Precise power control of an electric motor -- driving up a ramp for oil change | PriusChat
Initially the ramps were made too steep like wheel chocks.
Prius power limit for climbing ramp angle? | PriusChat
Then I imagined that the tires blow up while on ramps and the car still can crash down on me. For added safety I put jack stands under the rails, just in case.

Oil change
At 5199 miles I changed the engine oil and filter. The drain plug gasket got stuck on the oil pan. Thanks to the forum I got answers very quickly.
Engine oil drain plug gasket stuck on oil pan, help!!! | PriusChat
The breaker bar worked well to loosen the plug and the filter.

Transaxle oil change
At 5275 miles I changed the transaxle fluid. The breaker bar worked its wonder again. The old fluid looked red, not black, as it should at such low mileage. There was not much stuff collected on the drain bolt magnet. Most was very fine powder that forms mud like gray paste. I did find three small pieces of metal chips. I made a periscope to check for leaks easily. A cheap fluorescent under cabinet light from Home Depot works well for illumination.

Cabin air intake mouse proof and engine block heater (EBH) install
At 9484 miles, a year after buying the car new, I finally got around to do this mouse proofing and to install the EBH. More details here:
Diary of a Wimpy DIYer | PriusChat
and here:
Diary of a Wimpy DIYer | PriusChat


Trunk vents: mouse proofing screens
At ~ 11800 miles I became brave enough to pull the carpeted side panels in the trunk and installed screens over the side vents:
Diary of a Wimpy DIYer | PriusChat


Homemade LED DRL
Homemade DIY LED DRL - a long journey | PriusChat

Leaf Proofing
Diary of a Wimpy DIYer | PriusChat


Brake Light Switch Adjustment
Diary of a Wimpy DIYer | PriusChat

EV Button Install
EV button HV ECU connector orientation? | PriusChat

PriiDash(TM)

Transaxle Fluid Change at 30K miles
Diary of a Wimpy DIYer | PriusChat

 

Thanks! You not only are generous to help others but also have a very good memory! I did order a small puller and will add to the journal once I get the project done.

Update 2010-01-04:
Well I tried to push down on the arm and pull up at the base of the arm in vain. The puller is too big to fit in the tight space between the arm base and the plastic hole. The struggle continues...

Update again:
A coworker helped me to remove the driver side wiper arm by rocking the arm back and forth to break the bind. At home when I tried to use the same trick on the passenger side and failed I eventually used a puller to remove the arm.

 

Cabin air intake mouse proof and engine block heater (EBH) install

I basically followed hobbit's steps
http://www.techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/heatgames/
with some deviations considering other posters' suggestions and Patrick Wong's list of torques. For the three relay box cable clamps I just removed them from the metal cowl tray as opposed to opening the barbs. I did not remove the hood and now thinking back if I had done so then the EBH hole could have been easier to see from above. With the hood in place I could barely see the edge of the hole. Here are some pictures from this project:





I used all stainless steel parts for the screening: 8x8 mesh, #6 sheet metal screws, lock washers and washers. I left the lower parts of the two drain holes unscreened. There is caulking along the bottom edge and I don't understand why Toyota doesn't caulk it all the way to the end but stop at where pointed by the red arrows.





The following shows a picture at the passenger end of the plastic cowl cover. I don't know why Toyota goes through the trouble screening the front slots but leaves a large opening on the side (pointed by the red arrow).



I think that's where a good size leave went in and eventually landed on the cabin air filter. Next time I will try to screen that big hole for "leaf proofing".

 

EBH install continued

I had trouble routing the EBH cable and priuschat members saved the day one more time:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ngine-block-heater-how-bring-out-ac-cord.html

Plugging in the EBH for 1 hour and 20 minutes raised the coolant temperature from 48F to 91F, agreeing very well with this measurement:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...how-install-my-block-heater-2.html#post119122

More EBH measurements here:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...block-heater-temperature-analysis-gen-ii.html

Here are some pictures:

 

I didn't know that!

 

Thanks for the comments! I think hobbit meant this opening which seems much harder to screen:

http://priuschat.com/forums/knowledge-base-articles-discussion/51005-mouseproofing-prius.html

The opening in my picture that you quoted is in series with the already screened openings. Still it is a good idea to screen that off so I don't need to open up the cowl cover again to clean leaves.

 

Cabin air filter screen

Just checked the filter and again there are bits and pieces of leaves and needles:

I vacuumed it:

and added a stainless steel mesh with a shallow dip in the middle so the pieces will collect near the center as opposed to the edges and risking falling into the blower motor the next time I pull the filter out:

 

Trunk vents: mouse proofing screens

This is yet another daunting project for a timid DIYer but in the end it was a very good experience.

I don't have much experience working on cars but do have plenty of experience breaking plastic parts of all kinds. So the first big obstacle for me was to remove all those plastic and carpeted trims without breaking or tearing them.

I started with the plastic cover at the center of the back door lock anchor. I think this is for manual release when the battery is dead so even though it may not be necessary to remove but might as well do a practice now. It did take me quite a while to figure out how to get it off so I marked with Sharpie on the piece.

It all became so simple once it's out and all the latches are clearly visible:


Next is the long plastic piece along the back door bottom opening. I could see two of the four latches through some of these big round holes: (picture taken after the plastic was removed)

I tried to squeeze the latches via the round holes but they are just too stiff for my fingers. In the end I gathered my courage and pulled hard straight up (at least now I know which way to pull after seeing some of the latches) and the latches all pulled out without breaking. One of the latches:

The rectangular holes where the latches go into:

Again I marked the position and orientation of the latches for next time:


Now the even scarier part: the flimsy carpeted stuff on the sides. The D-rings are easy to remove with loosening torque of about 7.5 ft-lb and I assume the tightening torque is similar. The black screw seems just hand tight. Starting from the left side, I felt around up and down and found the top edge of the carpeted part should stay with the plastic piece. Carefully pulling out the latches without deforming the cardboard:




Gee this thing extend all the way to the front, beyond the back seats. More things to tear apart.

There is this plastic anchor behind the back seat:


I needed to remove the carpeted cover over the HV battery to expose one of the plastic anchors:

Initially all three of the white plastic anchors stayed with the battery enclosure. I had to pry them out and install them on the plastic side as shown in the photo. It's interesting to see that Toyota has reduced the number of anchors from 5 to 3 - I am pretty sure I didn't lose some: there is one red mark next to each of the three occupied positions and no such mark elsewhere.

Here is the plastic anchor now exposed and removed:


Pull up and forward to loosen this piece that covers the front part of the trunk side panel:


And don't forget this well hidden screw:


Now the latches along the top can be loosened:

Note the gap for the seat belt.

The trunk light needs to be disconnected:


Finally the piece is out:

and the vent exposed ready to be screened:


The black plastic vent piece is installed from the outside and can't be taken out from the inside. I used 1/4 inch stainless mesh and #8 stainless screws and lock washers and flat washers:




Looks ugly but hopefully at least it will work.

I will post about the right hand side later.

 

Trunk vents: mouse proofing screens - part 2

The first obstacle I encountered on the right hand side was the plastic cover over the 12V battery:

Even with the helpful comments from this thread:
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-cover-above-12v-battery-carpeted-liners.html
it still took me a while to find a way to remove it. I first unhooked it from the carpeted cardboard:

Then it was easy to take out:


The tail end of the carpeted side panel on this side wasn't as easy to pull out as the other side. So I tried to start from the front end. First pull up and forward to unhook the HV battery vent:


Then pull out the plastic latches from the front to the back:



It's out:


Now the interesting vent ducts are exposed:


What are the large openings with filters for? Back up vents?

The lowest section needs to be removed to access the vent to be screened:


Somehow the screw on the floor was very tight and damaged a little bit. I suppose the factory worker was in a hurry. It took some maneuvering to clear the 12V cables to take out the piece once the two screws were removed:

We see another big opening underneath. So there are two outlets: one to the side vent and the other into the space between the side walls. Maybe it was just a big water drain to prevent water from going into the HV battery.

The 12V battery leaves not much gap to work around:


but I managed to put one screw at the bottom:


With the duct back in place:


Now I feel I can be dangerous.

 

Homemade LED DRL

Details here:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-modifications/82967-homemade-diy-led-drl-long-journey.html

 

Brake Light Switch Adjustment

Brake Light Switch Adjustment
details here:
Figured out why I'm being tailgated so often... | PriusChat

 

Leaf proofing

Recently I opened up the cowl to check the EBH cable and I finally added the leaf screen. It is kind of tricky: the hole is irregularly shaped and formed by three parts: the plastic cover, the metal tray, and the metal car body, also the plastic cover needs to be taken in and out. I decided to use some plastic mesh. I found some nice plastic clips saved from the mud flap install. I punched 1/4 inch hole (slightly too small but works) and attached the screen to the plastic cover with the clips:





Initially I made the screens shorter than what's in the photo but found them too short after putting the plastic cover on. These may be a bit too long but works OK.

Now I will be able to catch at least the larger leaves:

 

Transaxle Fluid Change at 30K miles

I got a big splash of the used oil because I (again!) ignored the fact that the drain hole is at an angle and as such the oil pours out sideways.

The used oil appears not too dark at all, still pretty red:


I said wrongly in a post (that I couldn't find now) that the washers for the fill and drain plugs look like new. I was wrong. I dug up the two used washers from the first fluid change back in 2009. They are definitely deformed on one side:

Also see here:
Changing Transaxle oil | Page 11 | PriusChat

Similarly washers from this change are also deformed on one side:


So if a washer is to be reused it should at least have its remaining good side facing the drain/fill hole.

The magnetic plug collected only very fine particles, no needles this time, and the fine powder form lines along the magnetic field after a wipe. First before wiping:








For comparison here are two photos taken from the first change at 5K miles:




One wipe (note field lines):


Now wiped clean:

 

I ordered from McMaster-Carr. Home Depot may have something similar but I am not sure. Good luck!