I just got a Prius! (And now I have to work on it!)

Well, I got the back all put back together and then the Misses and I test drove the Prius a little today with a few short trips here and there around town. We didn't go far or fast, but I do think we did enough to prove the HV battery works.

Interestingly, even though I drove enough to get the engine up to running temps and we did a few different trips, the CEL did not come on at all for the fouled catalytic converter. I'm sure it will though one of these next times I drive it.

The next thing to do on the list is to figure out that lower frequency whining sound it makes that corresponds to vehicle speed. My first thought was that the bumper cover was rubbing on the tire. But I got that screwed down so they won't touch each other. I went to check transaxle fluid levels but didn't find the right sized Allen wrench, plus it's getting dark. I'll look at it tomorrow. I wonder if it uses the same Toyota ATF my Avalon HV uses. Hopefully it's not the transaxle and may be a wheel bearing.

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but I found a U-Pull-&-Pay junkyard with the same color gen 2 Prius in Colorado Springs that was wrecked from the rear apparently, because the pics show the front in tact. I'll see if they still have the hood, bumper cover, fender and head lamp assembly, and if they do I'll hook up the trailer to the Avalon and try to go get the parts Monday.

 

Ya. I tried moving the front wheels, which is where the sound seems to come from. I couldn't get them to move side to side or up and down. But the sound seems to be coming from the frontlfront one. I even road my bicycle asking the outside as my wife drove. I'm not 100% sure that's it's the left front wheel bearing though.

Transaxle fluid was full.

 

Pads, not yet. But I will. CV joint boots are in tact. And the rotor discs look good from the outside through the rims.

I have had a wheel bearing go out on a previous car that caused the pads and rotors to wear badly. Thankfully I may have caught the problem early enough. I'll order a wheel bearing and go from there.

Hopefully this week I'll have some body parts too.

 

This reminds me of my 1985 VW Golf. I was replacing a CV axle about once every year. I think the problem was the aftermarket boots couldn't handle the cold here and would crack open every winter.

 

I drove it around even more today and filled the tank for the first time after it started beeping from low fuel level. So far no DTC's using a Torque Pro app, and of course no CEL. The acceleration and deceleration feels much better than with the red triangle battery. Of course I've never driven a Prius with a good battery before.

I've got a friend with a pickup truck who also needs to go to the same junk yard as I do. I just need to make sure I have enough money for those and the wheel bearing. Otherwise I might get just the parts for now and get the wheel bearing in a week or two when I have more money.

 

I paid $300 dollars (USA). And another $100 in modules. Oh, and $40 in module charging and discharging tools.

But adding this car to my insurance policy drops the monthly premiums by about $15 or more a month. So I'm actually saving money on insurance by owning two cars.

I cleaned out the battery cooling ducts and fan. The fan looked like it was caked in mud. Now it's nice and clean. The battery was also full of pet hair.

A/C blows nice and cold. But I probably won't be needing it much from now on until next summer. It's getting cold even during the day. I best be installing an engine block heater soon.

Engine oil level is good, but I want to change it soon. I'll be doing this a bit more often than usual since the previous owner said the engine burns oil at highway speeds, which could be a sign of build up on the oil control rings. I also want to change the transaxle fluid, coolant (both engine and inverter) and brake fluid, along with all the filters: intake, cabin, oil and fuel.

That is, unless I find a receipt that one of those had been done recently in the folder the previous owner owner gave me. I know he had changed the inverter pump early last year.

Brakes will need to be checked. Tires look good, but I'm afraid their below the 3/8 inch minimum. I'll be on the lookout for another set of rims to put studded snow tires on.

 

Ya, I might be just going off of experience in other non-hybrid cars with my overkill reasoning. We get -40ºF (-40ºC) temps here on occasion and cranking an ICE at those temps can be a pain. (Especially when I owned a 1985 diesel). That and I'm the kind of guy that forgets to turn off his lights. Thankfully I found out the other day that the headlights turn off automatically on the Prius!

I am planning on going with a Panasonic battery from the dealer. I'm not sure if th3 Panasonic battery in this 2006 Prius is the original (which if it is would be amazing). But I do know that the Panasonic battery in my 2013 Avalon Hybrid is original and still works after 7 years. It seems like most other batteries give out after only 3 to 5 years.

 

I went to the Junk Yard in the Avalon this weekend and was able to find a hood, fender and belly pan. But no headlight or bumper cover.
Just a question on the headlight. I keep seeing ads for Halogen, Xenon, HID and LED headlights. What is the one that I'm trying to replace? Did Toyota make different headlights for the Prius? How do I tell which one is it that I have?

 

Oddly, when I plug my VIN into Parts.Toyota.com and go to the headlamp section I get both types of bulbs in the list.

I briefly tried to get the bulb out to look at it, but in the tight space and short amount of time I only got a small glimpse of it. The bulb appears to be halogen, but it's also oddly blue in color, so must be some sort of aftermarket blue bulb.

So I followed your advice and looked up the Toyota Owner's portal and was able to confirm they are halogen. Yoohoo! It's also a 2006 Prius STD, by the way, according to the Toyota site.