Engine stopped, throttle body blamed. Options?

At 240k and you've only done oil changes as maintenance? This engine is known to burn some oil at high mileage, have you ever checked the oil level between oil changes? When was the last oil change, miles?

Cleaning the throttle body is easy, I don't think it's quite that simple. You should ask the dealer for the dtc codes and post them here, that will give you an idea of the problem.

I would really hesitate in putting a lot of money in this car. Without proper maintenance and 240k miles, This car can be a money pit real fast.

SM-N900P ?

 

The red triangle illuminating around curves is what is troubling; that usually indicates a low engine oil level, and when you go around a curve, the engine oil pump pickup sucks air, thus resulting in a loss of engine oil pressure and illuminating some lights. Once you get out of the curve, the light goes off.

Like JC91006 said - at 245,000 miles, to not be burning oil in a Gen2 would be akin to water not being wet.

Im betting #1, your throttle body is disgustingly dirty, if its never been cleaned in 245k miles and may have actually rusted/corroded/gummed up and need replacement AND you are consuming oil enough inasmuch that around curves you are tripping the low engine oil pressure circuit.

 

Yep...definitely check the oil. I got 259k on mines, and it burns about 1.5qt every 4-5k.

 

Usually since the tb has never been cleaned the butterfly is bronze and the edge gets corroded and will not move freely in the tb bore. The Prius like most modern cars needs a good tb cleaning at least every 30K. This butterfly is not replaceable so entire tb must be replaced. That and since its never been serviced the bore is probably a mess too.

To bad about manufacturer recommended service as they recommend the trans fluid is a lifetime fluid. Your way past what Toyota calculated as life. Tough little car.

Momentary engine light means the engine oil is so low the sump is going dry on corners and sucking air losing oil pressure. Your Prius now will eat alot of oil between oil changes. It starts out minor oil loss but if you don't keep after it and check oil every gas fill up it turns into what your seeing. Too late. Oil rings are scuffed.

Don't put alot of money into this car.

 

No where in that entire reply did you actually SAY that you have been checking the actual oil level
between changes. Have you ??

As for the throttle body thing, I agree with the other replies that the car might not be worth a $1200 investment but I also think a good cleaning for $100 or so might be a good gamble.

And if you DO decide to do the $1200 throttle body replacement, INSIST on a guarantee.
That is, they keep the old one and if that doesn't fix the problem, they put the old one back on and
refund most of your money.

If this is going to be a gamble, they should be gambling with THEIR money and not yours.

 

Red Triangle warnings upon start up are alerting you the little 12 volt battery in the trunk is going south.
Probably original too.
Do this test and we need all 3 readings and especially the second under load reading:

Weird stuff happening? MPGs dropping? Test The Battery | PriusChat

 

Brent, the question isnt so much as to who changes your oil or how many miles you can achieve between changes -but- how often are you, yourself, manually checking the oil level?

On a Gen2 with that mileage, you should be checking the oil level at least once a week. Worst case scenario - every 1000 miles tops. I guarantee you the car is consuming oil. Its like betting against the sun rising every morning, lol.

 

I agree with the other posters who assert it is necessary to regularly check the engine oil level, regarding the triangle warning light coming on during turns. If in fact the engine oil level is low, it is at least 2 quarts low for this to happen. That is a pretty big drop considering engine oil capacity is 3.9 quarts.

Regarding the throttle body, it wouldn't hurt to try cleaning it first. If replacement is necessary, one alternative would be to install a used unit to substantially reduce the repair cost. autobeyours.com would be a good source for a used part.

 

OMG, I'm almost having an identical problem as the poster!! I change my oil, and thought I was doing a good job checking the oil, but not nearly as much as the other posters recommend. And I had no idea about a throttle body clean.

 

Since the tb is fly by wire the tb butterfly is opened and closed by a little motor. it doesn't take much to stall that motor due to a corroed butterfly edge. The engine will stall out. This gunk comes from the pcv valve which dumps out in the tb right above the butterfly. The gunk is much worse if you use dino oil and not synthetic. if you getting your cars oil changed at the dealer for cheap your getting the worse oil on the planet.
And its important to keep the spring on the end of the butterfly axle lubricated.
The tb is under alot of duress. The engine coolant is also routed into and out of it so its at 190+ F degree temps also so throw in greasy gunk and you have a party.
When u check the engine oil due it first thing in the am before you start the car. The Prius engine has a complicated oil driven timing mechanism to the camshaft that uses oil pressure to advance the timing. Its the VVT section of the motor and it stores quite a bit of oil so it takes a long time to drain back to the pan. if you pull into a gas station and open the hood and check the oil itl will read much lower than it actually is.
I check the oil on all my cars first thing every saturday.

 

I had the same problem with the same codes. Even the red triangle and then fine for a while on restart. My temp light was also coming on. Dealer recommended new throttle body for same price as yours. I bought one for $100 at a junkyard and put it on myself. Easy job. 3 hoses and 4 bolts after you get the air box off. Car has run fine since.