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to sell or not to sell

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Radiospank, Nov 9, 2021.

  1. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    prius has 140k miles, did all the maintenance, egr cooler cleaning and oil catch can. Inverter fluid, trans fluid.
    However My car was showing signs of a bad head gasket which got better with the oil catch can, but now I have my ABS lights and brake lights on.
    Code cleared but came back on its own, my brake booster is going bad i suspect as it was pulsating few months ago but I ignored. So if I need to replace brake booster, hybrid battery, brakes, new shocks, I think its just a lot of work for a car that isn't worth a ton. This is with me doing the work myself as taking to a dealer would certainly make this an easy decision to get rid of.

    brake booster $580 oem
    brake master cylinder $580 oem
    hybrid battery $2350 greentec
    brakes $75
    shocks $500 koni
    Head gasket replace ?

    what yall think?
     
    bisco likes this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    don't pay greentec 2350 for a rebuilt battery when you can get new cells for 1600.

    shop around, prices are high. you may find it is worth doing the work on your car, and you've hit all the weak spots, should be good for a long time.
     
    Mendel Leisk and Radiospank like this.
  3. 134HP Bard Womyn Magnet

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    I always hark back to Car Talk. I know these guys were entertainers, but they did talk sense quite often, and did used to say if you liked your car a lot, it often makes sense to put money into it to keep driving it (unless it clearly doesn't make sense - you've done the math there and only you can decide that). @bisco makes a good point above about prices. They're bonkers now. Maybe better to maintain - my 2 gwei.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Verify head gasket condition with a leak-down test.

    What specifically are the brakes doing now, frequent cycling on of the pump, odd noises, or?

    Skip the shocks? Seems like you threw them in to "total" the car?

    What's leading to your conclusion hybrid battery needs replacing? Any codes? Take a look with Dr Prius app?
     
  5. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    Did a leak down test and cylinder 1 was about 5psi lower, can’t recall would have to look back on here when I posted about my HG issue.

    brake have been making a pulsating noise when I’m at a stop, very faint pulsating noise otherwise brakes worked fine until recently the codes went off and now I get no brake booster or abs, making it unsafe to drive imo.

    Shocks are necessary since I have trd springs and a large sub box in the back, since Lowering the car it’s more bouncy so I’d prefer some new shocks.

    hybrid battery is around the time of replacement based off what I’ve read but I’ve never physically check the cells or used dr Prius app, but I will now ty. Also I run a heavy 2800 watts sound system and so I just imagine that’s put some wear and tear on the battery.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    only on the 12v. hybrid battery just charges the 12v. at 140k, with no battery problems, i'd be more inclined to buy a grid charger, but if you decide to keep the car, and you're in it for the long haul, new cells may be the better investment.
     
  7. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    Yes I think I will go the new cells route
     
    bisco likes this.
  8. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    The JDM guys have the booster ABS pump 199. Complete trans 199.. engines were 1199 now 1599

    SM-A715F ?
     
  9. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    Oddly enough I was setting up tech stream last night and I go to start the car and while i was idle the code disappeared.

    Update: ran tech stream and got the code of C1391 accumulator

    Ran Dr Prius on battery and I have 49.88% health left, considered in bad condition but will run.

    So, Cleared abs codes and brakes work fine but I definitely have to change out that accumulator because I can't keep clearing this code so often. I guess while I'm at it look into getting new cells for the batter pack and servicing it myself.
     
    bisco likes this.
  10. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    got a link to JDM guys? can't seem to find anything
     
  11. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    Update:
    Spoke with Toyota corporation asking to be a goodwill case and see if they can cover the cost of replacing my brake booster and accumulator(it’s recommended to replace both apparently) and they just said no I’m outside the campaign window for free repair. This is my first Toyota and probably my last, I know all cars have problems but Toyota Honda are supposed to be reliable on these sorts of things. Prius has so many dumb issues with it; but anyway I’m just going to fix it all since I don’t want to get a new car and I’m considering getting a new lithium battery from lithium project. The idea of better battery tech is all pluses in my book.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i think the overall reliability is great, but when yours fails, that doesn't matter.

    prius has had a number of costly issues though, brakes being one, and some feel they should have been recalled for a safety issue.
     
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  13. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    How do you guys feel about buying used brake accumulator and booster? I’m always hesitant to buy used parts, not unless I was just trying to flip it.
     
    Limey Geoff likes this.
  14. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    that's a loaded question! What kinda response do you get from others at Prius Nation?

    Weigh the pros and cons against the cars value. That one appears to need the booster now, and most likely could need more work presently. It's never an easy call between new $ and used uncertainty, all things considered from just the posts above, not to mention the HG posts I haven't seen yet..
     
  15. Radiospank

    Radiospank Member

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    Well, I haven’t ever been on Prius nation but based off my research on here, I’m just going to fix the brakes with used parts and ride out the battery as long as the cells are holding decent voltage. And will just replace the shocks and struts. Overall that’s a worthwhile upgrade if I’m going to keep this for another 5 years or so. I’ll reevaluate the battery when the time comes.
     
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  16. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    There's a guy on eBay I'll get you his information who rebuilds these accumulator pump assemblies so far I've not had any success with this but it may be just me I tried it on an '05 and I could never get the ready light back on again but after fooling with that car and then taking its battery out which was a green tech and putting it in my '09 and finding out it was trashed it may not have been the accumulated that was keeping me from getting into the ready mode that car had other issues too but no matter maybe someday I'll put a battery and try it again and see The guy who I bought the accumulator pumps from actually sent me two and build me for one and told me to send back whichever one I didn't use I need to take the one off the '04 and just store it the accumulator pump that is and I guess I need to try it on the '09 I just the '09 works well the lights are on I don't want to take it all the part because it's a primary vehicle right now and the brakes work great I'm getting a rear left low pressure code That's got to be in the accumulator assembly because there's no connections at the back of the car that are reading line pressure at least not that I can find

    SM-A715F ?