Anyone else have this happen? We've got a 2010 with about 37k on it and the access door for the oil drain plug and oil filter came off (from the hinge side!) and folded back under the car today while my wife was driving. She called me frantic about a scraping noise under the car. After she looked and described it to me I knew what had happened. When I got to take a look at it. I couldn't believe that the hinge side had broken. The push plugs that hold up the door were still in tact. I got the part number off of the shield under the car and the best price I've found for it (51410-12103) is around $180 before shipping.
Someone else here suggested drilling a few small holes on each side of the "hinge" and using some heavy-duty nylon zip ties as a replacement. Sounded like a good idea to me.
Excelboy10, welcome to the forum. Before you order anything, read the following thread. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...90903-oil-change-door-permanent-solution.html
I'd suggest to put friction tape on both sides of the hinge, if-and-when you get a replacement. Then, if it does crack along that hinge, you have a decent chance it will not break away. Also, if you're DIY: baby it, only bend it back enough for access, and hold it back with string or similar. If the pros are doing your maintenance, not much you can do, until Toyota acknowledges the problem.
this is what i did as well, works great. you will also be able to tell after your oil change, wheather or not you have a leak at the plug or filter housing.
Mine got ripped off the hinges by a tire carcass. I had to rip it off the pin side because I had very limited sight access on the side of a two lane road and it was scraping on the road. Still haven't fixed it, may do it one day.
Probably none. I took all 4 under body covers off and did a mileage test on the freeway, no difference between on and off. Those 4 are pretty good sized covers compared to the oil change door. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...5-mileage-test-under-body-covers-removed.html I suspect you could take all the covers off except the very front one and not have any noticeable effect on the mileage. Why are they there? To provide better results in the wind tunnel and provide a low cd number, 0.25. When cars are tested for fuel mileage the test is run on a dyno and the cd is factored in so it is very important for marketing and Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) to have as low a cd as possible. What works in the wind tunnel usually works out the same way on the highway, but not always.
Isn't your Prius under warranty? Or will they assume you hit something and the cover fell off. Rather than friction tape, perhaps I'll put duct tape around the edges of the door.
Zero. I've had mine off for a while now with absolutely no mpg hit. I suggest everyone cut it off and not bother with hinges or tape. It's a waste of time.
Might be wistful thinking, but the underpanel likely keeps the engine bay warmer, and get's it warmed up faster. Likely keeps things cleaner too, fwiw.
The oil change trap door on my 2010 prius loosened up when I was on the road and my attempts to hold it up temporarily with duck-tape didnt help a lot. What was damaged is the part covered in page 8 of john1701a$com/prius/documents/Prius_Maintenance_Changing-Oil$pdf [replace $ with a . in the link above] When I took it to a Toyota dealer (Boston area), they informed me that the damaged part cant be replaced individually and are quoting $415 for replacing the whole engine splash shield. Can folks with similar issue share details on how you fixed it? Thanks!
My first scheduled oil/filter change resulted in a broken fastener on the access panel. The dealer didn't even attempt to replace it. The technician (I use the term lightly) broke the main fastener head. I discovered this while changing the oil ahead of schedule. I intend on replacing the plastic fasteners with Zeus style, 1/4 turn fasteners and over-center detachable hinges. The loss of the access panel is due to the failure of the forward section of the flap due to over bending it. As a result the air catches the flap and rips it away. I guess Toyota didn't factor in the human element in the design.
Had the same problem. My dealer said they could order the expensive replacement cover. Or just cut off that section. I had them cut it off. They said it would cause no problem.
