Well the day came that the minor miss became a major clatter and miss fire. Changed the injectors, plugs and coils to no avail. So off to the wreckers to find a second hand motor for cheap. 7 days later and $800 the little Prius is back to work doing 45+ MPG. The donor motor had 130,000 miles on it and not burning oil yet
Well... it was down town Phoenix! A wrecking yard. Not the best looking place, but they had all the tools needed. And the car is back on the road. Some places quoted $2,500 for second hand motor fitted.
A forklift is the wrecking yard's idea of a vehicle lift? Glad to hear they did a good job with the engine swap.
2 weeks out and the car is running great. not using much oil at all. Mid 40's MPG 2,000 miles an looks like no issues for now!
Mehn! I like setups like that. When you work in places like that, as I do sometimes, you become a "hard core".... Well, can't remember now. But sometiy, what amazes me is how people, or car owners, tend to EQUATE QUALITY SERVICE DELIVERY, TO DEALERSHIPS. Well, maybe because they've got AC systems, and you get to be served some hot coffee? OK, I get. Might be because of the WARRANTIES!?. As long as service is delivered satisfactorily, I won't bother with whtehyits a " clean"!!!!!! Place!
From his first post. @SnT08Prius Is that your car or the donor car on the forklift? Surprise, Arizona? Not a cloud in the sky!
If you feel comfortable sharing where at, many here would be grateful. Phoenix Auto Junk Yards | List of Auto Salvage Yards in Phoenix, AZ
Picked up the dead engine today from Star Auto in Phoenix. It's mounted on an engine stand with the rocker cover off. Pulled the spark plugs and No 2 was oily. The other 3 were all looking ok. I could not see any broken bits in the rocker gear or inside the ports. So it's head off next week after I get the balancer off. Better read up on how to do that and if I need a puller for it. Note: the replacement motor is not using any oil and getting very good economy. 12,000 miles on it now as the odo hits 290,000 miles.
Your motor looks pristine on the top end but usually blown piston wrist pin bearing from lack of oil. or the mains from same Usually piston #2 goes first for some reason. If you had kept driving it would have forcefully exited the side of the block. Exciting things happen when the piston falls off. Usually somewhere it saw an oil starvation event...threw a check engine light or a red triangle. if its Clakity clak its the piston bearing if it thud thud its the main. If you keep the oil at the full line that little motor can go 500,000 miles. Lots of taxi's do. Very well designed motor and trans. You have to go out of your way to kill it. May I hazard a guess its the wife's car? Look at the pistons carefully.