Piston Soak + Hand Crank on Gen 3 w/Berryman's B-12 Chemtool

I have a 2011 Prius with 180,000 miles. I’ve noticed I need to add extra oil in between oil changes so it looks like I may have a case of some oil consumption. I don't know the specifics yet (how many quarts per mile). I’ve used the BG hybrid kit (https://www.bgprod.com/services/hybrid/) and maybe it worked a little, but I still find myself needing to add some extra oil. I’ve been reading through these forums and wanted to try a piston soak with Berryman’s B-12 Chemtool and I saw this video (

) and was surprised by how well this worked.

I wanted to follow a similar process with my Prius, but since this is a hybrid that uses the MG to start the engine, I’m concerned about cranking the engine by hand. Is it safe to turn over the engine manually using the crank pulley? I guess I’m wondering if the HV system will care if the engine is rotated from where it last turned off.

I would think I’ll just remove the spark plugs, pour in enough B-12 to cover the top of each piston, agitate it a bit by rotating the crank pulley bolt, wait a couple days, agitating occasionally, then suck out the remaining fluid, change the oil, then start it up.

Is there anything else I should be concerned with? Is there a way to have the engine crank without trying to start to work the B-12 into the rings?

 

I will figure out the consumption rate, I cleaned all the EGR stuff, manifold replaced the PCV at about 160K.

 

So how about the question about cranking the engine by hand (using a wrench)? Is that OK? On a "normal" ICE car I wouldn't worry about it, but wasn't sure how the HV system would respond if the crank position changes with the car off.

 

I just topped off the oil. We'll see what happens for the consumption rate. In addition, I thought I could add the B-12 so it covers the whole piston, rotate the crank by hand till it's on a compression stroke and all the valves are closed, then install the spark plug and crank it a few more degrees to give some compression in the cylinders. This would force the B-12 through the rings and give it more penetration. Just a thought. It would also prevent evaporation of the B-12. Doing this would mean I can only soak/compress 2 cylinders at a time but that's OK. I also thought I could drain the oil first, then just pour a bunch of B-12 into the cylinders so I can better monitor what drips out, meaning it's gotten through the rings.

 

CR94, the 2 outer cylinders move together, so it would be 2 at a time. But I can also try what Mendel suggested.