Thank you PriusChat - You saved me $2000 - a story

So I've been a long time on-and-off lurker of PriusChat since I got my GenII in 2007.

I've never had any really significant problems other than the usual ones (early headlamp flickering with the HIDs and the like).

Recently, my prius hit 110,000 miles and I've been putting off (probably wrongly) doing maintenance since everything appeared to be running well, and money is a little tight.

The other day I came out to head to work and started my Prius. Gave a little extra rumble while I was in the garage but I didnt think much of it, it was really the first cold night of the year (I work third shift), so I pulled out and headed up the street.

But, it just didnt feel right. Ran like I had a rock tumbler the size of a filing cabinet rolling around under my hood.

...Crap...

I make it to the end of the street and the check engine light starts flashing. I turn around and head back home... fortunately home was less than 100 yards back in the other direction.

The next day I make an appointment and bring it in to the dealer. I go ahead and schedule their $199 service that does all the major maintenance points (rotate tires, oil change, fluids, wipers, and some other odds and ends, a little on the expensive side, but I figured I was well past due). I also mention the rough running.

I get a call about 5 hours later. "Well, we checked your codes, its throwing misfires on cylinders 3 and 4, as well as some other lesser codes likely caused by the major codes... so we moved your ignition coils and the misfires stayed put... swapped spark plugs and they continued where they were at. So we suspect it is your fuel injectors."

She runs down a list of various other things that she thinks needs to be done. Coolant flush, rear brake adjustment, replace spark plugs, replace aux battery, replace headlights (I knew about this one), etc... Oh ya... $120 diagnostic fee.

Final price would have been to the tune of about $2650

I tell her I just dont have that kind of money right now, and ask what has already been done that has to be paid for. Basically the $120 diag fee and $199 service that I had ordered for myself, plus a few other things... $513.

I tell her that I'll have to just come pick up the car the next day and that I cant afford the rest of it. She claims to fully understand and tells me my car will be waiting for me.

I spend the next few hours on this forum and making sweet love to my Google search bar during that time trying to figure out what it could be, hoping with everything I had that it wasnt the $980 fuel injector replacement that had to occur.

So I bring the car home and go pick up a set of spark plugs, MAF sensor cleaner, fuel injector cleaner, coolant, and some other odds and ends.

With some trepidation I begin work, as this was my first time doing any 'real' maintenance on this, or any, car, other than replacing my air conditioner blower earlier this summer.

I manage to successfully replace all of my spark plugs with the same iridium tipped Denso SK16R11 spark plugs that were in there originally, as well as learn some things about testing battery voltage with the prius MFD. Thank you to this forum for precise information on type and replacement information.

Go to start it up. Still rough as ever.

Last ditch.

MAF sensor cleaner. I pull the sensor and spray it with a healthy dose of the cleaner and let it dry.

Replace it. Hook it up.

The car hums to life, not a rumble or rattle.

Beautiful.

Thank you for saving me from the stealership's absurd charges, although I still think they managed to wiggle extra cash outa me with that $513 they stole from me. Thanks specifically to Patrick Wong (for MAF sensor cleaning instructions) and another user who mentioned they also experienced some rough running issues.


I am planning now to do my own coolant swap and eventually replace my own battery, although if what my MFD tells me is true, I'm not in any need of it yet.