Cleaning up the hand me down family prius for another family member today. She is a 2005,and has somewhere around 310,000 miles. I bought this car four years ago, put about 60,000 miles on it than gave it to my younger sister who was in college. She drove it for about a year and a half. Now my sister has a loaded 2010 prius. My sister loves the old 2005, and so do I! she is still kinda sad she isnt driving it, but mom and dad wanted her in a newer car. My older brother is actually going to drive the ole 05 now, selling his truck soon. so now this car is 13 years old and its been to hell and back, so it needs a few things. My job is to get it in tip top shape for it's next owner. Thats what i've been doing all day. Here are some things i have done, or that I will do. I got catalytic converter replaced for $160 including parts, I had a check engine light on due to it being shot. Now this Prius uses oil so I am trying to slow down the consumption. Here is what I did. I took out all the spark plugs and poured a few oz of sea foam in to the cylinders, and let it sit for a few hours. with the plugs out I started the engine just for about 2 seconds to make sure all the liquid was either gone or pumped out before I put the plugs back in..We don't want to hydo lock the poor thing after all!! I'm hoping that at least frees up or cleans up the piston rings some and slows down some oil consumption. fingers crossed! I cleaned the mass air flow sensor, and the whole throttle body assembly. Wet sanded the highlights, and sprayed them with a clear coat, Next I have new headlight blubs coming from amazon. Put in a new cabin air filter, yay for fresh air! New engine air filter is on its way. the engine needs fresh air too.. Fresh engine oil change with 10w40 oil. Replaced the key battery, so now the smart key system is working again. I have a set of new sway bar links on the way too. Right now it handles like an 84' Buick.. not fun at all. I am sure the new links will at least help! I will post some pictures soon!
Amen, Mendel! She was a mess. need to do a deep clean of the exterior. Deep cleaned the inside and it looks fnatastic, I will post pictures of the inside tomorrow.
I have used a leaf blower after washing, it blows the water out of places you can't get a micro fiber towel into.
I thought you were also going to get the fuel injectors out and clean them up? Did you consider working on the EGR too, and maybe installing an oil catch can? Brake pads checked, and they're OK? Have you also checked if you'd require a brake system flush, since the mileage is just too much? Coolants in the cooling systems should be checked, and replaced.
I use just air, and various brushes. One of those duster wands is good too. Garage stored, it looks seriously like new. I'm always a bit dismayed by the corroded appearance of some engine bays I've seen pics of though. The inverter in particular, and any bare metal. Not sure why that would be, maybe sitting out in the elements, more condensation happening? Toyota's corrosion protection is shite, btw.
The second generation doesn't have a shitty EGR cooler system to get clogged. The fuel injectors are working good. This car often ran with fuel injector cleaner almost every tank. As is right now as well. The brakes are working well too. I don't believe it's ever had a break system flush, and it never will! Honestly it stops, the fluid is fine, and I don't care enough.
At 310k, it likely needs shocks more than sway bar links unless you’ve checked and confirmed they are worn out. Shocks are one of those items that wear out slowly. You get used to it and think it’s normal until you replace them and feel the dramatic improvement. Also , how many front wheel hubs have been installed over those miles? I just replaced both front hubs for the second time a couple weeks ago @ 270k. The first replacement was 126k. For what ever reason the rear hubs are still Original. Was the HV battery replaced at some point in its history? iPhone X ?
Oh it could stand to have new struts and shocks, they are tired for sure! It rides very smooth. I've tested it over pot holes and such they still actually dampen pretty good, no wheel bounce or anything. I'm almost positive they are original. The sway bar links makes the car feel actually fun to drive again, I was shocked! Such a great cheap upgrade to a tired suspension system ! The hubs up front have been replaced once, with one set of brake pads up front. A couple of years ago when the car only had 240,000 I came across a great deal on a wrecked 2007 prius battery, so I bought it and swaped it in the 2005. The 2005 battery still worked fine, a little Lower on the capacity though. I was actually able to sell my 2005 battery to Penn state university for battery research for almost the price I bought the newer battery for. That made me happy in more ways then one.
