150k Checklist (and NYC Service Recommendation?)

don't guess, follow the maintenance schedule. add tranny fluid change and complete egr circuit cleaning. take a video to your mech, or find one that will do it before you blow the head gasket.

 

1) every 10k, some recommend every 5k to delay oil burning

2) continue brake inspection/service at the same intervals as the first 120k

3) rotate every 5k

4) inspect everything at same intervals as during the first 120k

5) i think the schedule tells you how often to replace the inverter coolant for the life of the car

6) air filter every 30k. inspect/clean or replace

7) i think the schedule tells you how often to replace the engine coolant for the life of the car

8) yeah, you'd have to search for someone willing, and probably have to show them how

9) sparks every 120k, use dealer purchased oem only

10) cabin filter, inspect/clean replace every 15k

11) hybrid battery cooling fan intake filter, inspect/clean every 15k

12) hubrid battery cooling fan, clean as needed

 

The US schedule (and CDN now too, sadly, though for a few years they did have a table format) is event-by-event. This format makes it basically impossible to discern "patterns", the frequencies of the various services.

I made this spreadsheet which transcribes the US schedule into graph format, months/miles along the top, and services down the left side. And then, just extended it, to 240k miles or 24 years IIRC.

Attached are the 120K orignial schedule, and extended to 240K version.

BTW, do get on the EGR cleaning, ASAP, you're overdue, and risking a blown head gasket. Pros that will do this, thoroughly, and without just replacing parts, and for a reasonable price, are few and far between. Tampa Bay Hybrids (in Florida offer the service for $600, but they are a rarity I think. DIY is the simplest and most effective route. More info in my signature, first link.

 

You start over on the maintenance manual once you are past 120,000 miles. Coolants at 100,000; plugs at 120,000.

 

Yeah 170k is in the thick of “head gasket season”, from testimonials here. A not excessive EGR cleaning schedule would be synced with engine coolant change, ie: 100k miles, then 50k thereafter. Even better: just every every 50k.

 

Take the lower cooler nut off first, anytime you want. It doesn’t disable the car in any way, and you can get to it without needing to take anything else off. It’s a pain to get at, best done first. My 2 cents: leave it off permanently.

For cleaning the cooler, I found a series of soaks with a concentrated solution of Oxi-Clean Versatile Stain Remover (powdered laundry additive) was good for slow-but-sure break down of the carbon. Others have used oven cleaner, and power washer. For everything else I would stick to brake cleaner, brushes and rags.

 

Actually read my posts. I agree with your dealer and have for years.

Not saying cleaning the egr cooler when plugged is not warranted. It will code and should be dealt with. But the gunked up head and intake is more important. Clearing the egr is actually ensuring more blowby makes it through. The root cause is the cylinder blowby and Toyota knows it.

 

The EGR circuit should be cleaned from end to end, including the intake, which has intake passages. I would not wait for code indicating reduced EGR flow before doing the cleaning, for a couple of reasons:

1. It'll likely show a code when the head gasket is already failing.
2. The EGR passages in the intake manifold clog unevenly, commencing with cylinder one being the first to fully clog, even though there's still "sufficent flow", and no code. The head gaskets have been usually failing at the common zone between cyl's one and two.

 

"Impossible" is an exaggeration, but they certainly waste a lot of paper to make discerning maintenance intervals inconvenient with their clumsy, inefficient, needlessly confusing format.

 

Yeah, if you go through it page by page and produce a spreadsheet, the frequencies and intersections of the various services become clear. Funny thing: I'm SURE they started with a table format, then dumbed it down to event by event.

Oh one thing too, when I created the spreadsheet I noticed a few omissions. Can't recall specifically, but say it was a service that's typically every 30K miles, but they (likely inadvertantly) omitted it from one of the regular intervals. In the spreadsheet I did fill in those gaps.

 

The best thing is to change oil twice as often than Toyota recommends and hope for the best. Often people then clean everything frequently and add oil catch cans. Still there is little evidence that these things help a higher mileage engine, eg over 100k miles.

If the piston rings are not sealing, combustion gasses get into the crankcase and oil gets into the combustion chamber. The oil gets burned and creates more carbon when it is dumped into the exhaust and picked up by the egr system. Increased crankcase pressure forces more vapors and even oil into the pcv system. This ends up in the intake as a pool of liquid and can easily slug the cylinders. Oil burning can also plug up the catalytic converter. To add issues, the egr is picked up before the cat and the pcv valve is low on the side of the engine.

A solution is to avoid ring and cylinder wall wear but Toyota used low tension rings. So frequent oil changes from day one saves some engines with this flaw. Repairs require replacing piston and rings. On some engines you resurface the engine block cylinder walls but these engines can't be resurfaced beyond a cosmetic hone and cleaning. Often people change engines - hoping to get a low mile replacement. Lately others have substituted reengineered gen4 engines.

 

I know there's one up in LIC and there used to be a cluster of taxi (meaning prius) repair shops around Middle Village Qns, but it has been a while since I lived in NYC, wish I could offer something more detailed or current!

Good luck!

 

a normal wrench could do the egr as well, it's not complicated, but one must be conscientious