Howdy y'all, I've recently brought my 2001 Prius into the shop to get my flaky A/C system and an engine light checked out. As a courtesy, they did a basic check through of everything else. Unfortunately, they found that my baby is in significantly less than optimal condition. So now I'm debating the value of selling my car vs repairing it. Mileage: Bought at 157,628; currently: 213,772. Time owned: 3 years, 5 months The issues: P3191 Code Solution: This was fixed by cleaning the air flow sensor Air Conditioning/Heater clutch air gap spec is .15mm actual .783mm. air gap is way too large and causing occasionally the compressor to not engage Solution: Replace Compressor Cost: Mech: $202.89 labor, $842.04 parts || Self: Low confidence with A/C, $420 partsSuggestion: Replace condenser at the same time to save on labor Cost: Mech: $375.71 labor, $385.56 parts || Self: Low confidence with A/C, parts not found Also $109.79 to evacuate and recharge A/C system || Self: $40 Drive Belts Cracking (also referred to as serpentine belt?) Solution: Replace Cost: Mech: $53.89 labor, $57.42 parts || Self: $19 Dayco belt Front Strut/Shock Left Side Damaged Leaking Badly Front jounce stop is damaged and wedged up in the strut. And the left side strut seal is blown out Image(s): http://tinyurl.com/k6a5qon http://tinyurl.com/q8uvvwk Cost: Mech: $388.59 labor, $605.94 KYB parts || Self: $245.96 KYB partsRear Strut/Shock OEM Heavy Leak Soft Worn Image(s): http://tinyurl.com/lajvr9t http://tinyurl.com/l3ok734Solution: Replace all four struts/shocks and align vehicle Cost: Mech: $388.59 labor, $595.94 KYB parts || Self: $245.96 KYB parts Cost: Alignment: Mech: $89.95 || Self: $65 Total costs: Mechanic: $1,876.37 labor and $2,486.90 parts. With sales tax and job supply fee: $4,425.16 Self: Hours of quality time with my car, $105 +$5/hr hobby shop fees, $911.91 parts. And this is all on top of having spent: $413.56 to replace a wheel bearing and the battery. The final question is: Will replacing all these things, whether I do it myself or have a mechanic fix it for me, allow my car to survive for another 3 years (when the HV Battery is expected to go)? And will it do so without other major repairs? Or do I sell it now and move on? P.S: The mechanic is required to get parts that are warrantied out to 2 years/24k miles. This is part of why their parts prices are higher. All my parts were sourced through AutoZone
none of these are absolutely necessary to keep driving the car, and you'll probably continue to make repairs after all this is fixed. sounds like they are more than the value of the car. i would say go.
Sounds like a lot of money for a car with 215k miles. I would get a quote at the dealer or another mechanic. I don't know of any mechanic that marks up parts more than 100% of the actual cost SM-N900P ?
If you have backup transportation and a place to work on it, order the problems, order the parts, and fix it yourself. If this is your only transportation, you're in a tough spot. Read the sticky about who should own this model car and rate yourself. Personally, I don't see anything on the list that will keep you stranded by the side of the road. Although the belt is important, it makes sense to buy the spare and carry it in the car with the tools to replace it. Then combine belt replacement with the A/C shim fixed in a parking place or 'rent a bay.' The suspension parts are another thing because I suspect it requires heavy duty tools and a lift. I've not done it but IMHO, the ride might be a little snaky but tolerable. But I used to drive a Model A Ford and 'farm' equipment. I'm not a good judge. Bob Wilson
As others have pointed out, there's an easy fix that has nothing to do with replacing the compressor or opening the sealed system in any way. As the clutch wears, the gap is adjusted by adjusting the shim combination between the clutch shaft and pressure plate. Where did you get the spec figures you quoted? The actual ideal gap given in the manual is 0.5 mm. They allow a deviation of ± 0.15mm so maybe that's where the quoted number came from. Of course that really means 0.35 to 0.65 mm should be ok, and your 0.783 is somewhat too large. I'm not sure I'd say "way too large" as mine didn't even cause any engagement trouble until it hit 1.34! But if yours is causing engagement trouble now, sure, go ahead and adjust it. It'll take about 10 minutes and if you buy a whole new shim set at the dealer it will lighten your wallet by a dollar and twenty-one cents. You can do it with all four wheels on the ground, just steer to the right and drop the plastic engine under-cover on the right side. Please don't adjust it just by blindly taking out shims. Instead, measure the total thickness of whatever shim(s) you take out, add half a millimeter, subtract the 0.783 travel you measured, and what you get is the thickness you want to aim for with your new shims. The dealer kit contains a 0.1 mm, a 0.3 mm, and a 0.5 mm so you just choose whatever combination will make the thickness you need (within 0.15 mm either side). In my case there were two combinations that would be within ± 0.15 and I ended up using the fatter one, as the skinnier one did leave my clutch dragging slightly. It sounds to me like what you've really got is an A/C clutch shim adjustment and a belt replacement, which should both be easy and cheap and what I'd consider normal maintenance (they schedule the belt every 4 years), plus a couple of shocks (or all 4 if you want to work in sets). The question seems to boil down to whether a Prius at 214k is worth putting shocks on. If it were me and I could do it for ~ $300, I think I would. Just the hassle of shopping for a replacement vehicle would probably strike me as exceeding that. Pace Bob, I don't think you need especially heavy tools or a lift to get at the struts. Good jackstands and a breaker bar ought to do it. If you don't have a spring compressor (or you have a cheap one and aren't sure you trust it), you can take the new and old struts into a local shop just to have the springs transferred. As Bob said, it does matter whether you have a way to get around while working on it.... -Chap
X2 This seems to me like a no brainer. AC - fix with $2 shim kit Drive Belt - Cost $15 and easy to install Struts - Front struts $60 each plus $50 at a shop to swap over springs Shocks - Rears $70 each Hobby space rental - local rate
Of course polling folks who already own and repair their own Prius might give a different result than if you asked the same question in "DealersChat.<model>.com". <grins> Bob Wilson
Thank y'all for your responses. I did not know about the shim kit. That and the belt will be my first things to check. And Bob, of course I'd come here first, why spend thousands when you can spend a few hundred and get a few more years out of a good car.
Searching around for a shim kit netted me this post and a blog: Station's AutoBlog: Gen 1 Prius A/C Clutch Diagnostics and Replacement Following that and the parts numbers I dug up this: 88335-14020 - Genuine Toyota GASKET KIT, OVERHAUL Is that the shim kit I'm looking for? Or is it something else?
Yeah, "gasket kit"'s a funny name, but you can check the number in the photo here. For some reason, the new PriusChat forum software doesn't always take you straight to the right post following a post link, so you might end up looking at some other spot higher up the page. But if you just wait for the page to finish loading, put the cursor in the URL bar and hit Enter, you should jump to the right spot. -Chap
