My first Prius - 2013 III with 131k miles for $6800. Question about premium gas

There would be no issues switching to 87 octane; however, if you have a Costco membership or can afford it, I would continue to use premium. Premium fuels (if Top Tier - Exxon, Shell, Costco, Marathon, etc.) have more detergents than regular. The 2010-2014 models have a piston design flaw in which the oil ring gets gummed up with varnish and carbon. I have just started running premium fuel exclusively and ran 6 tanks of PEA injector cleaner through mine and the oil burn on my vehicle has stopped. The car is fuel-efficient, I would continue to use premium honestly.

Are there records of the EGR valve and EGR pipe subassembly being replaced?

What about tune-up (plugs) at 120k?

Coolant - Radiator and invertor should have been addressed at 100k and 50k thereafter.

CVT (transmission fluid) - 100k and 50k thereafter. (In the 2010 this is supposed to be a 'lifetime' fluid)

Brake fluid should also be changed every 5 yrs or 50k miles - I know that this is ahead of the maintanence schedule, but the GenIII used DOT3 which degrades faster than other, newer fluids and the life will start to go down around 3 years depending on the environment.

 

There is no need for premium in a Prius
And get the egr circuit cleaned before she blows a head gasket

 

Yes, the car is rated and tuned for 87 octane, but my inclination is that using premium Top Tier will keep the rings happier longer.

Either that or religiously use 12oz Techron every 3k and Top Tier 87.

 

they prollyknew they were going to sell it, and skipped the big 120k service

 

I found this quote in an article that I was reading.

The Federal Trade Commission, notes: “In most cases, using a higher-octane gasoline than your owner’s manual recommends offers absolutely no benefit. It won’t make your car perform better, go faster, get better mileage or run cleaner.”

 

Regular is fine for a Prius. That is why it is recommenced in the manual.

 

Yes, you need to find a shop that will take apart your EGR circuit and clean it out (if you can't do it yourself). Failure to do is suspected to be the cause of premature head gasket failure. It is quite an involved job - especially the EGR cooler/pipe sub-assembly (I just had the intake manifold off on my wife's 2010 GenIII yesterday to reclean the EGR passages and that took me 1.5 hours and I have done it before) This is the most pressing issue.
See these videos:

*Note: NutzAboutBolts is a member here, but doesn't go into the cleaning of the EGR channels in the intake manifold. This is honestly way more important than getting the oil build-up out of the part.

Based on what it is saying here. It looks like they changed the CVT fluid - Hybrid Trans Fluid (it's just a drain and refill ~4 qts) and as bisco said, looks like they skipped the 120k services - spark plugs and coolants, etc.

You can change out the plugs when you have the windshield wiper cowl off to address the EGR cooler. The antifreeze and inverter coolant are a simple drain and refill. You just have to remove the lower plastic skirt and 'burp' the system. There are videos for both.

 

Yes, in most cases; however, the mid-2000 crap piston design from Toyota on the Prii and other vehicles is not "most cases."

Top tier premium without a doubt has more detergent in the add pack.

 

you're not that far over, it's no big deal. log in to toyota.com/owners and plug in your vin for more service information

 

"TOP TIER™ fuel marketers are required to use TOP TIER™ for all for all octane grades of gasoline and diesel sold at their stations." - Frequently Asked Questions - Consumers

"Retailers are required to:

• Meet the minimum TOP TIER™ Detergent Gasoline standard.
  
• Sell TOP TIER™ Detergent Gasoline for all grades and at all stations if you are a gasoline retailer." - How to Become Licensed

Neither of these statements prevent you from adding more than recommended, but absolutely nothing hints that retailers do, in general.

Remember "nothing is better than" just means that they are all the same.

 

While I agree that there is no incentive to do this, based on my results, I will continue to use Top Tier premium.

 

Well, I have proved myself wrong on Costco premium at least.

The only manufacturer that I could find that specifies they use more detergents in their premium blend is Shell V-Power NiTRO+

"Octane levels are the only difference between regular and premium unleaded gasoline sold at Costco."

So my results seem to have been from the PEA (Techron, etc.) additive only.

 

More by how much more parts per million compared to the average tier gas?

 

They don't specify. Also ExxonMobil Supreme+ claims to have more detergent as compared to their regular and midgrade as well.

 

I don't know one way or the other, but suspect there's no point to using Premium. Here's something I found:

Premium vs. Regular | Car Talk

I'll trot out my boiler plate info regarding EGR cleaning:

The simplest way to see where you're at, is to check the degree of carbon build up in the EGR pipe, a stainless steel connecting pipe between the EGR valve and intake manifold. Watch @NutzAboutBolts video #16 here:

Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat

Two or three other videos linked there too, for the full cleaning of the intake manifold, full EGR clean, and Oil Catch Can install.

Good thread:

EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results | PriusChat

Another:

Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock! | PriusChat

Some tools worth having:

E8 Torx socket (mandatory)
E6 Torx socket (optional, but good to have, to remove the throttle body studs from intake manifold)
3/8" ratchet wrench, regular and long handle, flex head, you can never have enough (or 1/2 plus reducer)
1/4" ratchet wrench, or 3/8" to 1/4" reducer
Ratchet extensions: you can never have enough
Long needle nose piers, straight and bent tip
Ratcheting 12mm box wrench (optional, but makes disconnection of the EGR cooler from exhaust easier)
Torque wrench (3/8" and 1/4" both good to have)
Floor jack and safety stands (or ramps): basically some method to raise front, if you need to take underpanel off, which you may need to, both for access and to recover dropped items.

Comment regarding clamping of coolant hose, mentioned and or shown in videos:

1. When removing the intake manifold for cleaning, you do need to lift the throttle body off the intake manifold. Still, the coolant hoses connected to the throttle body have ample slack, enough that you can leave them connected, and just tie the throttle body to something adjacent, say the inverter wiring harness.

2. When removing the EGR cooler, removing coolant hoses is necessary, but if you drain 2 liters/quarts from the radiator drain spigot prior (into a clean container), the coolant level in the system will be dropped below the EGR componennts, and you won't spill anything. Just be sure to not tip the cooler when lifting it off (and catch the rear gasket): there are a few tablespoons of coolant trapped at the lower back corner.

Pour that into your previous drained coolant, and when done pour it back into the reservoir. If you've got the coolant bleed bolt (2010, 2011 model years), leave it open while pouring the coolant back in, till coolant starts coming out. For later model years, leave the topmost coolant hose on EGR disconnected till coolant starts coming out. Also, might help to burp the main radiator hose as you pour the coolant back in.

 

Every top tier oil company claims that their has more detergents than all other competitors. I'll give Shell credit though, they have the most ads and the best PR marketing team