Hello all! I recently got a 2015 Prius V two in blue. Loving the car so far, as it gets great mpg and I'm 6'5" and I fit comfortably. It has 92k miles on it. I'm planning on doing an oil change soon as the Carfax service history shows Valvoline did the last one about 5k miles ago. I don't trust that they use good oil, so I'm ordering Mobil 1 0w20 for it. I also ordered the parts to change to a spin on filter. I'm going to also check spark plugs. Service history says stuff like "60k service" and "70k service" was done by a Toyota dealer, but I can't find specifically what those entail. What other service should I be looking at doing? The car rides great, but leans in corners a bit too much. I was going to order sway bars and a strut brace when possible. Hotchkiss for sway bars and Cusco or Tanabe for strut brace seems to be the most popular choices with the Cusco getting higher praise. I also want to get the Cusco chassis braces eventually too. Any opinions on any of that? Also, his do I get rid of the annoying reverse beep? I tried doing the hold trip button and shift from P to R to P procedure a couple times, but it persists. Thanks all!
We have the TRD rear bar and it tightens the car up dramatically, at low and high speeds, cornering and in cross-winds. Highly recommended.
Hotchkiss front and rear bars, skip the chassis braces unless you want go cart tightness. Reverse beep removal from the Dr. Prius APP...also recommend EGR service and water pump check at least.
I looked up some videos on cleaning the EGR and it looks pretty intense. I can do some stuff to cars, but this looks fairly complicated. Is it all that complex or does the job just look intimidating? I'm assuming Toyota would charge an arm and a leg for that service? I did download the dr prius app and go the beep removed. I saw the paid version has better battery monitoring and a health estimate, is it worth getting?
V's are great cars. No comment from me on that lean and suspension bracing, other than at 100K, it could be shock absorber time too. EGR cleaning at 100K, search this forum for advice. Spin on filter, your decision, yet I have no issues with my OEM setup removal and reinstallation. Plugs, air and cabin filers, motor oil (especially 0-20) ... good calls. I'll add changing all fluids - brake, trans, power steering, coolant - are good calls. There is also a fan under the rear seats that should be inspected and perhaps cleaned. A new 12v battery may also offer you piece of mind for a few years. And lubing the brake pad/ caliper pins also seems like a good project. None the less, just follow the owner's manual service schedule for 100K service as guidance. Enjoy your V.
I got everything to switch to a spin on filter and am changing with Mobil1 0w20 this weekend. Sticker on the window says Valvoline changed the oil about 2k miles ago, but I'd rather have good oil in there. I also got a new air filter and cabin filter, and will check the spark plugs when in the engine bay. I saw a video about checking one of the EGR tubes that's easy to get to near the airbox to see how bad the EGR may be, so I'll check that out. I'll end up trying the full EGR clean sometime soon when the car can be down for a day or so, it just looks a bit daunting in the videos.
My dad and I experimented with various suspension tightening upgrades on the Prius v including the Cusco strut bar which he had on his, before his friend develop a sp;id under bar that did the same thing for half the price and did not require hours to install. Installation took no more that 20 minutes without jacking up the car. The Cusco center brace did wonders when added as the complete package.
Did my service yesterday. Switched to the spin on filter with new o-rings and changed to M1 0w20 High Mileage. I tightened it all down pretty well, but will monitor for leaks. I also removed the airbox and removed the EGR tube from the EGR to the intake manifold and there was a bit of junk in there, but in no way clogged at all. A quick spray of brake parts cleaner and it was as good as new. I'll still attempt the full cleaning before 100k miles. I cleaned the throttle body and changed to an aFe panel air filter and a K&N cabin filter. It can be very dusty where I live so I'll be cleaning them both often. Spark plugs looked very good, so the dealer might have replaced them at one of the services before I bought it.
i would say the egr cleaning is as daunting as it looks. probably a bit easier the second time, but there is a lot to remove and hoses to clamp.
FWIW, our spark plugs looked really good at 124K miles on the odometer. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Not sure if you have had a coolant drain and fill but there is a drain valve wingnut under the front right bumper to drain the coolant when replacing the EGR, that way you are not clamping hoses. Car has to be level for this. The benefit is that when you are done, you can fill with fresh Toyota 50/50 fluid, knock out a coolant drain, and fill with your EGR work. For the EGR work, I use a grease-resistant marker found at home improvement stores to write on each rubber hose where it goes for re-assembly. Especially if you are going to complete the intake manifold which is critical if doing the EGR. To clean the intake manifold you have to remove the throttle body which is bolted to it and there are many rubber hoses that can get confusing at re-assembly. Read up on all the little ports you want to clean/flush out for the intake and cooler. Although there are needs for different size ratchets especially if leverage is needed, I found the 1/4 inch ratchet with various extensions seems to be the VIP of the job. Deep and standard metric sockets. Please let me know if you need more info on tools. As mentioned before, the angle pliers are a must. I also use a little spray lube on a towel to slide hoses on as easily as necessary. Hose removal can be a trick, I found that moving the hose 25 degrees forward and back cracks the seal and you can pull them off. Unique experience: to get the nuts off the back of the EGR I'm over 6ft and had to lay down a mat and lay on top of the engine to reach them (without dropping them). There is also one nut about the middle of the way under the bottom of the EGR cooler that you cannot see easily and is difficult to remove. Once you do remove the nut the next step is to remove the stud with a torx socket (E8) and keep it out permanently Mendel has a link in his description which I believe shows the problematic nut/stud that is recommended for permanent removal. This is not the stud/nut you remove in the front. For the EGR and EGR cooler, I believe multiple gaskets that need replacing when including the pipe. Research the gaskets you will need. The Intake manifold has 2 gaskets. My personal system in addition to the marker is to use solo cups (labeled) to keep the parts in each step of the way and a good table to store the parts in some semblance of order how I removed them. Overall preparation is key and you'll be a pro in no time.
For EGR have a look at first 2 links in my signature (on a phone turn it landscape to see signature). A few thoughts after reading responses above, most also covered in aforementioned links; 1. no need to disconnect throttle body hoses; they have sufficient slack to lift off the body and tie to something adjacent. 2. if not combined with a coolant change, you can just drain 3 qts into clean container, and all EGR components will be high and dry. See links for more info. 3. I wouldn’t replace all gaskets. Maybe the pliant ones at intake manifold, depending on condition. 4. it’s not mandatory to remove the lower/central EGR cooler stud, but it is helpful: you then pull the cooler out with the 2 rearmost studs still attached. This in turn avoids the rear gasket possibly dropping down.
Thanks for all the tips. I'll plan to do the EGR service before 100k. I'm also tall (6'5") so I may have to lay on the engine too. I also have big hands, so my wife might have to help if there're bolts I can't reach. I've watched a couple YouTube videos on the cleaning as well. I just have to find the time. I'll definitely replace the intake manifold gasket. The coolant is nice and pink, so I'm hesitant to drain it. It must have been done at a recent service.
Could the coolant lines to the throttle body be bypassed? I've done that to cars that had line to the throttle body years ago for a performance gain. It supposedly brought the intake this down. I know it's to keep the throttle body from freezing, but here where I live in southern California, it never gets that cold. Is it worth doing that on these cars?
There’s a 2nd gen guy here advocated it, @edthefox5? it might fail you at a smog inspection, not sure.
You want every nook and cranny warm as quick and long as possible on this engine during your drive. It not only extends engine life, but there's a reason for these hoses. Half of people's problems with clogged EGR's and blown head gaskets are due to short trips, not fully warmed up cars and no initial warm up procedure before blasting the pedal down.
