Misgivings about 2010 Prius

I can't recall any Owners Manual oil use disclaimer in our parade of Honda's, mighta missed it. They always seemed to consume at least a cup between changes, more like a pint as they aged.

 

i understand your frustration, but you overreact (like most of the other non-car people). in 600 miles you will burn at least 10 gallons of gas. one qt of oil is negligible compared to fuel burned. this is comparable to the 1:50 mixture used in 2-cycle engines. if you get rid of hybrid and buy regular gas car (hopefully not burning oil), you will burn at least 20 gallons of gas in 600 miles. Is that extra 10 gallons worth the 1 qt of oil?
people, use common sense, please.

 

I'm not overreacting, just stating my opinion. I've had exactly one car that went through oil like that, and that was leaking it not burning it. I fixed it, it was just a valve cover. And I am a car guy. I do all of my own maintenance and repairs when possible. Oil changes, transmission fluids, brakes, tune ups ect. On my motorcycles as well as cars and trucks. There is no way, in my mind, that a quart of oil is acceptable on a modern engine. Maybe on a Chrysler K car or a Deuce and a half.....

 

It's not ideal, but shit happens. This is actually a common problem in modern engines as they use low tension rings and 0w20 oils.

 

You know, I didn't really think about the lower viscosity of todays engines either. And as cars I've had have gotten older and higher mileage, and have then started to burn a little oil, I've compensated and used a higher viscosity oil. And that was with 10w-30 engines. I think I can probably concede that if I hadn't moved to a higher viscosity they may have burnt that much oil. Of course I normally kept them for 250,000-300,000 miles, and I don't think oil burning became an issue on anything until it was upwards of 150,000. Except this one really bad Ford.....

 

I grew up in a time when cars need oil changes every 3k and tune ups that included spark plugs every 5k -- having to check the oil and many other items was second nature. Cars burn oil as they age -- I check the cars on an ongoing basis and add when down by 1/2qt ..what's the big deal?

My Prius is now using some oil at 175k -- 175k! ... not many years ago cars were junked at 100k. I'm sure some of the use is the low weight 0w-20 .. the last oil change I put the high mile sun in it and it has worked a bit.

Toyota did have an extended warranty on the EGR -- but it ended in march or april

 

My son also has an oil burning Saturn.............. : (

 

@Raytheeagle
@friendly_jacek
And everyone else...

So.....what are we to do to prevent being in OP's predicament? Have my mechanic clean out intake manifold and EGR pipe at....100k?

How much should that cost?

Thanks

 

Well this is helpful: What Causes EGR Clogs? | PriusChat

(thanks, @Raytheeagle for the post on what to do! )

(though my question remains, how to handle EGR / manifold cleaning)

 

• Buy top tier gas. This has detergents that will extend the deposit buildup time.
• Don't be afraid to pop the hood and keep an eye on your oil dipstick and add it when it needs it

If not able to DIY or want someone else to do it:

• the intake manifold to remove and replace takes about 1 hour. No need to buy a spare as this is not a time consuming job
• To clean the manifold varies depending on deposits, but can be done with brushes and solvents
• So hopefully less than $200, but that depends on the location
• For the egr cooler and valve, I have a spare for each I got from a salvage yard for $100. They both can be cleaned ahead of time and ready
• The windshield wiper cowling should be removed and the engine coolant should be drained
• If a spare cooler and valve are given to the mechanic, the job should be done in 4-5 hours which includes reassembly
• So $100 plus the 4-5 hour labor rate

Hope that helps

 

Whoa, so....$700 total if I source the parts. Ouch. !

So, ....when should I do this, exactly,
how necessary is this,
and how many people are actually doing this on prius chat ? (or not doing this and regretting it?)

Also...does it matter that my Prius is 2013 ?

Thank you so much for any input

PNB

 

Necessity is like beauty: it's in the eye of the beholder. Also, you can take the "I'm just some guy on the internet" approach.

As an owner of a vehicle, we are all free to make many decisions about care and maintenance (tire rotations, oil change intervals, etc), I was noticing some rough transition between the electric motor and the ICE. This was at around 120k miles.

Knowing a little about the setup of the Gen3 Prius and having a little rough transition, I figured it was worth investigating before it became something else or worse. I am also a weekend wrencher with a garage and naturally curious (degreed chemical engineer), so when I had assistance out at my place (my old man comes out every 4 months or so) we gave it a go. He taught me most everything I know about cars and mechanics (he was employed as a maintenance tech until retirement and I spend a lot of time troubleshooting pumps, valves, exchangers and other pieces of equipment daily) so I feel comfortable working with him on most any problem .

I bought a spare egr valve and cooler.

• Do you need to: no.
• Could you clean the originals and replace it: yes.

Since I was taking the cooler out, I did not know the condition it would be in, and I did not want to rush clean something (i put 350 to 500 miles on our Prius a week) just to get it back in service.

IMO, all Gen3 Prii will be susceptible to this given the location of the egr return (before the cat converter). Toyota fixed this on the Gen4, but I would still investigate that setup. It is a better design though. Myself and @m.wynn worked at his place on this exact issue and took some videos:

My Prius is down 4 quarts of oil 9000 miles after oil change

Earlier in that thread I talked about some observations of doing the job. We did not do the egr valve and cooler removal / replacement video, but at the end of this month an opportunity out here will present itself to make one if you can wait that long. We do meet ups out here in the Bay Area and there are plenty of willing hands to be part of the "pit crew".

If you are even somewhat mechanically inclined and have somewhere to work, these jobs are not hard, just require an extra set of hands.

So while the investment would be more than if you did it yourself, you could get away with zero spend if you didn't buy a valve or cooler, gaskets and replaced the coolant that you drained and do the work yourself. Then it is a time value of money equation.

Hope that helps.

 

That helps tremendously!
I'll investigate at 120k (and listen fur trough transitions before and after, and clean when needed.
Thanks, man ! Awesome.

 

@Raytheeagle is it only E8 size torx socket you need with the EGR cooler, and that's to remove studs? Everything else is conventional sockets? Torx sets are kinda pricey, I'm just trying to see what's for sure needed.

With maybe your first foray into EGR cleaning you mentioned something about near-impossible re-install, without trimming off a part of bracket? Was that situation improved by removing some or all of the studs?

 

E8 Torx allows for all studs to be removed. This makes the removal and install easier and removes the need to trim the lower cooler support .

For the lower 49th parallelers, Harbor Freight has a cheap set of E torx sockets that do the job very well. Everything else is standard 10 or 12 mm hex heads.

 

i hope you get it, all the best!

 

I took my intake off and replaced the pcv valve.. while off i cleaned it best i could.. tons of buildup the head had alot of oil residue on the intake ports.. i scrubbed with carb cleaner and freed most of it. Did the same with the intake but only had a rag so wasnt as deep of a clean as i would like. Installed a oil catch can.. hope this helps.. my question is removing the cooler. All this can be done from above? I bought the updated version for 100$ on ebay . Cooler and valve.. any issues installing the new version on a 2010? It came from a 2015.

Pixel XL ?

 

Sounds like you have made some good progress !

$100 for the cooler and valve is a good price . All of the work can be done from above, and taking the windshield wiper cowling off first.

Your best friends in this job are an E8 torx socket and ratcheting wrenches. Last time I did it, it took about 3 hours with an experienced set of hands. The last install on @m.wynn 's 2010 was a 2015 cooler. It works well.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

@04priusnow how many miles on yours?