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New here, just bought our first Prius!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by jellybug, Apr 16, 2012.

  1. jellybug

    jellybug Junior Member

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    Hey everybody, I'm Jared, how are you all?

    We just bought a Gen II 2005 Prius a week ago. Has the navigation package and everything. Got it with 126,098 miles on it and so far it has been wonderful. We took an emergency trip down to Iowa to help with cleaning up the town of Thurman from the tornado that ripped right through it. Nobody died and my in-laws only lost their garage and a few shingles.

    Anyways, I'm glad to be aboard!

    I had a quick question however - while inspecting the oil dipstick it seemed to be overfilled a bit, I know the owner before me and the owner before him took good care of the vehicle. He said they were always taking it to the dealership for required maintenance.

    Underneath the oil filler cap, there was some noticeable sludge. Not down below that I could see, but where the filler cap turns in and around the edge. It seemed minor but still concerned me. I was planning on changing the oil when we got home since it's a bit overfilled anyways, but is that a good practice to get rid of sludge? I have tons of oil in my closet, much of it is QS Synthetic, some Mobil Super 5000, and some Valvoline conventional all SN 5w30

    Is there a tried-and-true oil that works best for a Prius? Thanks!
     
    #1 jellybug, Apr 16, 2012
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    :welcome: and congrats! i have always used what the manual recommends. not sure about the sludge. all the best!
     
    #2 bisco, Apr 16, 2012
  3. AllenZ

    AllenZ Active Member

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    Prius engine is just like regular engine. I use 5w30 synthetic (generic, no brand) in all seasons.

    Congrats!
     
    #3 AllenZ, Apr 17, 2012
  4. sambojoho

    sambojoho Proud conservative

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    I use synthetic 5W/30 and run it 10k miles. Typically use Castrol Syntec, but there a lots of good ones. I wouldn't worry too much about a little sludge build up around the filler cap. I had the same thing on another car of mine, and now 50k miles later I've had no issues at all with the engine. I would just change the oil and filter, I always use 3.5 quarts in mine, because if you use the 3.8 or 3.9 as specified in the manual, it will show overfull on the dipstick.

    A couple things I would make sure are up to date on the maintenance side is ATF fluid, engine and transaxle coolant, spark plugs, and PCV valve.
     
    #4 sambojoho, Apr 17, 2012
  5. tv4fish

    tv4fish Member

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    If you read some of the other threads, you will find out that overfilling your Prius engine is NOT a good idea. It has/can cause some problems.
     
    #5 tv4fish, Apr 17, 2012
  6. Michgal007

    Michgal007 Senior Member

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    Welcome to PC and congrats on the GenII Prius. :)
     
    #6 Michgal007, Apr 17, 2012
  7. jellybug

    jellybug Junior Member

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    yeah, this is why I am planning on changing it. The manual says that overfilling can cause problems with the hybrid system.

    So, to flush this sludge out, should I run a few short OCI's, say 1k or so to clean it up a bit? I hate to think that this engine was overfilled all the time since it was done at the dealership a lot. Grrr. This is why I do my OWN maintenance!! I will look into the ATF and coolant.

    Thanks!
     
    #7 jellybug, Apr 17, 2012
  8. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    How much overfilled was it? If it's less than a 1/4" then it wont hurt anything.

    No need for 1k oil changes. Those 5W30 oils you've got are fine for doing 5k oil changes.
     
    #8 uart, Apr 17, 2012
  9. jellybug

    jellybug Junior Member

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    It's about 1/4" over. I'm going to drain the oil tomorrow and refill it with some Mobil Super maybe. See how that works. I got it running in my Hyundai Santa Fe and it seems to be taking that oil pretty well.

    I think I will stick with the 1k oil changes the first couple of times to see if that flushes out anything. Thanks for the help everyone!
     
    #9 jellybug, Apr 17, 2012
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