My son was given this car by a family who didn't want or need it. So far we've replaced the combination meter and are working on doing a tune-up including spark plugs, coils, oil, oil filter, serpentine belt and idler, a really bad cabin air filter, and the rear tail lights. There's at least one LED out of each of the assemblies and neither operate at full strength. What else should we be looking at changing right away? This is just going to be an around town car, not a distance driver. Those plugs may be original, all suspension is original but may not replace it since it's just not worth it... or is it?
Perhaps change out the coolant. It serves double duty for engine and inverter so if there's no record of it being changed (first one would've been 100,000 miles and I think every 20,000 or 40,000 miles thereafter?) I'd change that since it serves/protects two expensive items. If you are handy (and it seems like it since you took the dash apart and changed the combination meter), try and inspect the hybrid battery fan. It probably needs some dusting as there's no filter for that air vent. I'm guessing the engine air filter might need changing too given the state of that cabin air filter.
Welcome to PriusChat!! Try running the VIN at http://www.toyota.com/owners for prior reported maintenance history and recalls. Sounds like you have a good start already with the @Tideland Prius suggestions. Consult the maintenance guide for additional ideas : Toyota Online Owners Manuals and Warranty Recommend a drain and refill of the transmission fluid (use WS fluid or equivalent), especially if this hasn't been addressed before. Check the engine oil often until you have a better idea of consumption, higher MPH may correlate to increased consumption. Keep the HV battery as cool as possible, by running the AC during use and storing the vehicle in the shade with the windows cracked when not. Grab a blue tooth adapter for a few dollars, that way you can override the HV battery fan to the high setting, and scan for potential DTCs down the road. If changing either of the coolant circuits consider replacing the associated pumps, as both pumps have a limited life cycle. Many wait until a failure before changing, preemptive changing could save on future headaches or hassles. Though SLLC (super long life coolant) is called for in both circuits, they're separate cooling systems on the gen2 platform and would require different draining and bleeding procedures.
Congrats on the purchase. It would be a good idea to buy some sort diagnostic tools so you can read and clear codes as well as see live data. It can be phone based, or computer based. This way you will be able to see data when diagnosing problems rather than guessing.
I suggest that you put ZERO more dollars into it in relatively small items unless there is some obvious need.............. UNTIL you have a chance to drive it a few thousand miles to see what the oil usage is going to be like and if the HV battery is going to stay healthy, at least for a little while.
You could open up the battery pack and see if it has been tampered with. Heck you could even do some diagnostic testing on it like a load test. Balancing the pack with charge/discharge sessions may be a good idea as well.
Agreed, we are just running through the basics for safely and maintenance. If it proves itself to be failing in expensive fix ways, it may find it's way to a local salvage yard. My goal is to spend no more than $500 to get it as an around towner and not leave anyone stranded.
It looks to have had one replacement from hybridrestorations.com. I contacted them about when and at what mileage but without an invoice number, they could tell me nothing. SM-G973U ?
Why change the coil packs? Transmission fluid change would be a better use of the money to me. Unless there is a code. Clean the MAF and throttle body while you are at it.
congrats and welcome! great project/mechanical electronic learning device. 2004 is a beast! once you get the basics done, reset the mpg's and see what she returns over a good long test drive. all the best!
Did you ask the previous owner ? They could tell you if they "rebuild" the packs with all new cells.......or just replace the failed ones. Most just do the failed ones, and others fail soon after. Without any paper work, you have no warranty on it either way, given what they told you so far.
