2001 Prius with 266k miles....Sacramento CA

If you are in the San Francisco area, Arts Automotive and Lucious Garage are worth a call. In the Los Angeles area, Ari's Automotive. Give them a call and see if you can get a second opinion.

Bob Wilson

 

+1 on that Bob.

Forget the alumaseal. It won't last. Swap the engine and do yourself a lot of good.

 

yeah no aluma seal, bardols. or any of that crap, your asking for failure. usnavy is right swap the engine. it can be done i would say. 700, maybe 1000 for a garage to do it. should not take more than 8- 12 hrs i would think, it looks simple enough. although im comparing this to big rig diesel engine swaps and reguler truck diesel swaps.

 

Hi all,

Since this thread is going strong, I would like to piggyback on it since I am in a similar predicament. I blew up the engine on my '01 Prius yesterday (long story short, I'm an idiot...) and after looking online and seeing prices of replacement engines I believe swapping in another engine is the way to go.

A couple of questions for those that would know...

My Pruis has ~225,000 miles on it so at first I was thinking that basically any engine would be fine since it would still likely have less miles on it than my old engine/current car has now. I've had a couple of people tell me however that I should be looking for one with substantially less mileage on it as it could significantly increase the lifespan of my car. Also, less mileage would mean less wear and tear from a previous owner who might not have taken care of the car very well. The trade-off here of course is engine cost. I'm also weary of my engine going strong while other parts of the car continually have to be replaced as the car gets older.

I would like to get some thoughts from folks in here on that if possible...

Also, is a Prius engine swap just like an engine swap for any other car -- or is it more complicated to swap engines in a hybrid car?

Any help that can be given would be greatly appreciated!!! I've been digging through these forums already searching for answers.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

More wires but otherwise it should be no problem.

Bob Wilson

 

Bob,

On my other question, what do you think about an engine with more miles vs. less. Say one with ~180K miles vs. one with ~130K miles with a $150 price difference. Is the difference in mileage worth the difference in price?

 

Wow, lots of good suggestion. We are lucky to have so many good, knowledgable,experience guys in our forum.
See how the story goes.
Op, please keep us posted.

 

I can't make that call as there are so many other variables and neither of us has the complete history of the engine. In engineering we often have to choose between GOOD, FAST, CHEAP, pick two. Only you can make that decision.

At one time, JC Whitney offered rebuilt, engine blocks and this might be a better price-point to start with. In an ideal world, the spark plugs, exhaust valves, compression test, and oil would be compared in both engines.

If I were in your shoes, I would want either donor engine rebuilt:

• pull head and send to a valve shop for new valves and seats
• drop bottom end and replace main and rod bearings
• pull pistons, check tolerances and replace rings
• check cylinder dimensions (block could be too worn)
• check cams and oil pump tolerances

This effectively returns the engine to 0 mile state. You might consider contacting an engine rebuilder in your area and ask their advice.

Bob Wilson

 

I would personally pay the extra money for the engine with less mileage on it.

I would also continue to look for a low mileage, late model (say an 08/09) engine. The one thing there should be an abundance of is engines (since these seen to have so few problems.

 

Not much different than a regular car. If mechanic can change engine on Toyota Echo/Yaris/Corolla procedure is similar.

Main steps are to remove orange plug on HV battery and unhook 12V, drain fluids, then remove wiper cowl, inverter, then subframe with steering rack (have fun with the electrical connectors feeding the steering rack). After that engine/tranny come out from underneath together, then separate the two....one nice feature of HSD, no torque converter to flex plate bolts to worry about. Tranny input shaft is like a manual tranny.

If mechanic is not scared of Hybrids and familiar with Toyota's should be relatively easy for them. Once orange plug from HV battery is removed there is no way they can get hurt by HV electricity under the hood of the car.

Don't forget to bleed inverter/tranny cooling system when putting it back together.

 

I see you're in North Carolina about 75 miles from Summit, NC. I would recommend giving David Taylor of ReInVolt fame a call and ask his advice. You can't get much better from anyone else.

Bob Wilson

 

Why go through the hassle of installing a high mileage oil burning engine? There are plenty of lower mileage engines out there. Search for 08/09 Prius engines on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market (01-09 are all compatible). Easier/cheaper to install a 50k motor as-is vs "rebuild" a 130-180K motor.

EDIT JULY 2013
I'm not so sure that 01-09 engines are all the same internally. You may want to use 01-03 or 04-09 for your generation of car just to be safe.

Still easier and cheaper to swap entire engine than remove head and send to machine shop etc.

 

Hi Jeff and others with similar issues, Patrick is spot on with the first line above regarding vacuum leaks. As a DIY tip, you can listen for a leak using a small rubber hose as a stethoscope to localize the leak.

I had the same codes (P0300, P0302, and P0171) and very poor idle quality when I first acquired my 2001 months ago. There was a vacuum hose split leading to the Vacuum Solenoid located above the drive belt. A quick spray of flameable liquid helped me narrow down the area (carb spray with plastic tube in nozzle). The engine instantly speeds up/ smooths out when the spray gets sucked into the leak if it's lean from a leak. Of course, you have to be careful with spraying it anywhere near air intake to avoid confusion, wear goggles, avoid your paint, and maybe have a fire extinguisher handy.

My main point is that fixing the air leak fixed both problems (system lean code/ bank 1 lean, and also the random misfire and specific cylinder(s) misfire. Fixing this little hose made my day, and cheaply too. I was already fixated on the PCV valve or it's hidden hose as a possible cause, but reading here caused me to look elsewhere before wasting more of my time there. This can be, with luck, an easy, mechanic-free fix if you're reasonably handy and there's a notable leak downstream from throttle body.
ps
(Sorry I answered before I noticed the part about the coolant on spark plug at pressure test, bad luck there for sure if you're burning coolant due to headgasket or worse... but I will leave my answer for anyone else with similar symptoms).
Hope this helps someone, Rick

 

True. I got a rebuilt battery pack from them a couple of years ago. Good advice. Thanks!

 

Is it true '01-'03 Prius engines are the same as '04-'09 engines? Why do they seem to be in separate categories when I am shopping for them online. Also seems like I read somewhere on this forum that they are similar, but don't match up exactly.

 

Hmm ... according to toyodiy.com comparing USA 2003 and 2004 part lists, here are a few of the differences:

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5	Column 6
0	[tr][th][/th][th]NHW11[/th][th]NHW20[/th][tr][tr][th]Block[/th][td]11401‑29687[/td][td]11401‑29855[/td][/tr][tr][th]Head[/th][td]11101‑21033[/td][td]11101‑21061[/td][/tr][tr][th]Cam 1[/th][td]13501‑21040[/td][td]13501‑21060[/td][/tr][tr][th]Cam 2[/th][td]13502‑21020[/td][td]same thru 12/2003	13502‑21021 thru 10/2005	...[/td][/tr][tr][th]Crank[/th][td]13401‑21040[/td][td]same[/td][/tr][tr][th]Piston[/th][td]13101‑21060[/td][td]13101‑21110[/td][/tr][tr][th]Rod[/th][td]13201‑29095[/td][td]same thru 2/2004	13201‑29425 thru 7/2004	13201‑29735 thru 10/2005	...[/td][/tr]

Mind, I don't know what's really different about any of the revised parts....

-Chap

 

Yes, I also recall that there are subtle differences between the Classic and 2G gasoline engine. I've posted a few excerpts from the 2004 New Car Features manual. Valve timing, combustion chamber and piston shape are the major differences.

Has anyone actually installed a 2G engine in a Classic and had that perform satisfactorily?

 

Thanks for this site! I found an '01-'03 engine with 13K miles for $450 near me. Can't beat that...

 

Hmm, a good price. However I wonder if the 13K miles is a typo since the engine is around 10 years old, and the actual odometer reading might be 130K miles.

Even if 13K miles is correct, I suggest you ask questions regarding how long the engine has been sitting around unused, gathering corrosion, etc.

 

I would want to check every connector as the NHW20 has a different ECU from the NHW11 and the signals and connectors must match.

Bob Wilson