What did you do to your Prime today?

Ouch!

The gang here convinced me to get a spare for longer trips and carry a tubeless plug repair kit for daily driving... for as Fats Waller so eloquently put it: "One never knows, do one?"

 

Absolutely. Their install instructions sheet (tiny 4 point typeface) for a single wire install is dead on. The new horns have everything you need. Just use the provided jumper and pug it onto either of the horn blades. (due to the short harness wire, choose the one farthest from the harness wire) Put the other end (loop) on the horn mounting screw and mount the horn so that one connector is grounded. Attach the harness wire to the other blade. That one is done. Yes I had to slightly bend the OEM bracket towards the radiator to allow for the larger bell on the new horn. No biggie. I faced the two horn bells at each other.

The hardest part is removing and replacing the plastic pop rivets on the topside plastic cover. It's a little tight getting your arm in there but it's very doable. No need to take anything else off to access. Be careful not to drop anything or you will need a mechanic's fishing tool since the bottom is covered with plastic.

When I removed that plastic cover, I was surprised how much leaf litter and tumbleweed type junk was in that space between the grill and radiator.

You'll love the new sound.

 

Thanks. I had all that off recently when I was investigating the possibility of patching and plasticoating my grill. I noticed the horns but didn't pay much attention to them. My plastic pop rivets were easy to remove ... not as easy to hang onto. One fell down into the abyss where I presume it still lies. Could not find it. LOL!

 

Those little buggers don't have a slot on one side like the others do on my 4Runner and Camry Hybrid. I had to use an old hunting knife to get under the very tight lip. I showed them who was boss. I've always been able to use a small flat screw driver on the others.

The standard Prius horn sounds like the horns on my old '63 VW Beetle and my 1969 Honda 90cc scrambler. It was cute back then. Not so much now.

 

Yeah, I think they are supposed to come up a little when you turn them with a phillips head screwdriver, but that didn't always work. I don't remember on my Prime specifically, but I think there are several that you can get a finger on the bottom of the stem and push it up.

@Mendel Leisk had a great suggestion for the ones with the side slots. An old fashioned paint can opener. The ones with a bottle opener on the other end. I got one and it works like a charm! Like so:

 

That's the exact tool I have, but these are smooth round top with a micrometer sized gap. That tool is too fat to slide in which made me have to use the knife to get it started. Perhaps I need to file the tool tip to a more tapered edge.

 

Yeah I filed off the edges on mine a bit, make the blade part slightly narrower.

 

I just looked at this thread to find out about your Prime (or at least a Gen 4)

 

There's a tesla model 3 in the family now.

 

Have they let Grandpa drive it?

 

Wow, are you going to DIY service it?... I mean not oil change, but brake.

 

He hopes his Toyota dealer stocks the bulk engine oil

 

A little update:

This super simple $15 dollar mod worked out to be a good one, it has countlessly stopped objects from falling out of the back of my Prime.


Rob43

 

I bought one over a year ago thinking to use it for TPMS sensor data real-time display, but have not used it. I had to do some X-gauge programming on the unit to use for that purpose, but there is no way to program it off the car. I didn't want to sit in a car for hours just for that purpose. Instead, I ended up buying external TPMS sensors. Much cheaper and easier for just that single purpose.

 

It is pretty easy to use a 9V battery to power it in the house. Regardless, I found it useful when I was Prius oriented.

Bob Wilson

 

Thanks. I may look into that. I understand ScanGuageII does have powerful data extraction capability on Prius, but UI is the problem. It is so cumbersome. Does it have memory function? Can I download the recorded data to be analyzed later?