5k Gen 3 Prime — Milky oil

That sounds like trouble to me. Condensation would never raise the oil level that much.

 

What do you mean by "blame it on them?"

 

AND, oil should be checked warm, about 5 minutes after stopping engine after getting the engine oil to full operating temp. IMO, 7 miles driving with ICE is not sufficient to get oil to full operating temp. You wait 5 minutes after shutdown to allow the warm oil to settle back in the pan. Obviously you pull the stick out, wipe it off and then re-insert all the way down and pull out again for the reading.

Also, you never want to see oil above the MAX mark. In the hybrid Prius, the spec is 4.4 qts with filter change, but I only ever fill with 4.0 qts. This leaves me about the middle between MIN and MAX lines.

 

Always leave it at the middle when cold and you fill 4q, then run the engine to temp, and then check the levels. If you want to top off at that point yeah.

I think with the level being high, and the milky appearance, maybe the ICE isn't running long enough and it's slightly overfilled which means it will take longer to boil off condensation too?

That or OP is super unlucky and got a coolant leak super early in the car's life. It's unlikely but it is *possible* if he's got bad luck.

In the winter I think it's probably good practice to run the engine for a longer 25km+ drive once a week anyway. And most of us can probably do that on a commute

Also, it can't hurt to run the defrost and idle the engine for 5 minutes if you have a shorter drive to start the day out, or on the way home in winter. Alternatively the thing isn't a monster car but it does have 220HP and isn't a complete slouch, so let it live a little every once in a while. That will probably help too.

 

Because the heat pump allows the car to run more without the engine, and that is what most want, or think they want.

 

It would be nice if Toyota tracked how often the engine ran, and in what conditions and had a sensor to watch oil quality and then give a little notice to the driver that its running in HV mode for engine maintenance reasons.

The issue honestly probably comes from people not understanding the impacts of an engine never running, or running very rarely. They may get that this is an issue in a traditional ICE vehicle, and driving often enough self-solves that without much thought. But in a PHEV they *are* driving often, and not connecting the dots for EV mode meaning the engine does sit unused for long periods of time.

 

If you've got 2" of water in your oil pan, it's obvious you've been driving it that way already, so it probably won't hurt the engine much if you drive it to the dealer. Running the engine creates an emulsion, which looks milky, but still provides lubrication.

 

having blown the engine on my 2012 plug in due to years of engine going through warm up cycle then shutting down and driving ev, i think it's the worst part of the plug in hybrid design.

 

W.t.f.

 

Seems like most of the problems are related to short trips & limited usage.

Hybrids (and PHEVs in particular) have always been at a disadvantage in terms of providing full value to drivers who operate less than 15,000 miles/24,000kms per year.

 

Is the financial break point 24k? I feel like its a lot lower when we ran our numbers. But in Canada there's also a 5k rebate on the car. which represents 12% the cost of the vehicle before taxes. Maybe 10% after tax of the MSRP (not including PDI etc).

 

It depends on your cost of gas and electricity

 

It's not just a single breakpoint; it's going to be a little different for every case and it will absolutely change with energy prices.

But I would suggest that at recent average fuel costs, 15k miles / 24k kms per year is right about where any hybrid can save money vs. a cheaper/simpler gas-only car.

When it's a PHEV, the math gets weirder, and even more savings are possible... but again, the extra cost of such a car over a basic hybrid means that you aren't going get to those savings without a lot of utilization.

 

Too, if a Prius plug-in battery ever needs replacing, vs regular Prius hybrid battery, it's a lot pricier. To be fair, don't recall ever hearing of o Prius plug-in battery replacement being needed,d at least not here.

 

You need to do regular fifteen-plus-mile HEV trips with the Prius Prime (or Prius) to keep the engine in good working order. The engine won't warm up unless it is driven over fifteen miles.

 

I don't have any data on this either, but I would hope that a prime battery would last longer than a HEV battery, due to much less of a charge / discharge cycle relative to a regular HEV (as a % of battery capacity).

 

at 11 years old, the battery was the best part of my plug in.