Removing Wiper Cowl Cover for Spark Plugs

Very interesting to hear that. I am surprised no one posted a comment for this one yet. I would like to know the reason. I have some planned maintenance projects and I need to remove that stupid cover as well.

 

It’s probably only the US version, although, I haven’t seen a Japanese right hand drive engine bay to know, can I take a look?

 

I think @Raytheeagle mentioned removing the egr cooler/valve without cowl removal. I get the sense it's doable, but by the end you wished you HAD removed it?

Regarding the spark plugs: at least on North American spec vehicle, without cowl removal, you can can disconnect the coils, lift them upwards maybe 2 inches, but they bump the underside of the cowl before being sufficiently clear. Doesn't seem to be any way around it.

And again: cowl removal makes access a lot easier. It is a pain though.

 

On my US model, I removed the spark plugs without touching the cowling, butI had to use a 6 inch extension only. Anything shorter or longer wouldn't reach, or couldn't get the socket out. No adapter inbetween the spark plug socket and the extension. just the correctly sized socket and 6" extension.

 

That's 2nd gen though?

 

I measure 3-1/2", roughly. The grill work above looks a lot different, less area is grill on mine. Or maybe that's a 2012 onward thing?



The underside of the cowl is some sort of fibrous material, for sound-deadening I suppose. But it doesn't give at all.

Maybe some significant differences in the cowl:

 

yes. I sorry

 

Where's the RHD version of the giant double-jointed wiper wrist?

-Chap

 

Did the egr cooler the first time with the cowl on, and never again.

You can barely fit your arm in, let along a wrench or ratchet.

For North American Prii, I can’t see a way to do the plugs with cowl removal. But that’s a 15 minute activity, so time well spent .

And it opens the access up significantly .

 

If you notice, tim brake fluid reservoir is on the left side, probably a different version than our Prius

 

Does the RHD even have one of the wiper arms double-jointed, the way the LHD does?

-Chap

 

Well, there you go. That big wrist on the inboard wiper for the LHD needs a bunch of cowl real estate under it.

The funky inboard wiper has been a distinctive Prius feature in all the first 3 generations over here, though I see it is gone from Gen 4. The rationale has always been that it allows the inboard wiper to wipe a bigger area of the windshield than it could with a simple circular arc.

But then, why didn't they use it on the RHD? Why does flipping them left for right suddenly mean wiping a plain circular arc is good enough?

Do the RHD Gen 1s and Gen 2s have the wrist? I wonder if they just decided to drop it in the RHD markets one generation earlier than they did here.

-Chap