10K oil changes are BAD! ??

Rebuilt engine

You can clear it everyday and it will come back on the next drive. It will mask a real problem.

 

True. The light came on within seconds of when the engine fired up.
I could check the codes with my Torquepro app everyday. Unlikely, will once a week be OK?

And what sort of code might pop up and be serious even though no change in performance is felt?

I feel I can feel the engine is smoother now. (I know.... a whole lot'o feelings.. Woe, woe, woe feelings....)
Can others do a quick check? (If you have the OBD dongle and the app to clear it.)
Or am I the only one that feels that: slight hesitation, stumble, non-response when adding just a tad of throttle....

 

Could you share a few reasons why NOT to unplug the EGR Valve?
I had a prius friend that has had many and goes to crazy high miles on his fleet of Prii tell me "It could Blow your engine."
I asked him technically what that means exactly. He couldn't say....

The theory is:
Mismatch EGR flow to all the cylinders due to more clogging taking place near the end of the EGR passages in the cold plastic manifold. Cylinder's 1 and 2 usually are where the head gasket fails, correct?
And that failure is due to detonation (?) in those cylinders due to insufficient EGR gasses in the mix, correct?

Therefore: Shutting off all EGR flow should make the mixtures all the cylinders get the exact same, correct?
And hopefully the ECM will keep things happy without that EGR flow, the way they do it in Brazil, correct?

This is probably not the thread to get into these details. Where should this discussion go?
I have plans to swap out the EGR parts with clean parts at some point. I have the spares waiting..
And I have plans to keep the EGR flow as hot as possible by insulating the pipe and spray foam the bottom of the manifold where the EGR passages are. I'll post pics when I have them.
This will all be long term testing. I'd wait for +50k miles on the modded EGR system to see if the intake passages are still clogging mostly near #1 and 2.

 

The arguments against egr deletes are weak other than legality in some areas and the check engine light.

MPG and emissions are secondary to a bad design which was redesigned in gen4. Even Mendel lets gen4 owners slide on egr cooler cleanings as they don’t clog up.

As stated before I would do it now if the light would stay off.

One of our resident programmers should code an obd2 scanner to read codes and clear egr related dtcs immediately while leaving them if other codes exist. They could display and alarm coolant temps while bumping the battery cooling fan when warranted.

 

Right. It might be illegal to drive around with a check engine light on in some states.
We have safety inspections on older cars are renewal time. I know they look at the ODO and maybe to see if there's a fault light. Definitely no emission testing. They don't have to go under the hood. Mainly brakes, suspension and exhaust is looked at.

To me the EGR cooler clogging is secondary to the main problem. That clogging might slow down the flow to the manifold.
But it's the clogging in the intake's tiny passages that creates the uneven flow between cylinders.
Isn't that the main suspect in this crime of design?

So I will try to check with my OBD reader 'often' while doing this experiment.
There is a dedicated Red warning light for engine coolant temp. This I know...
I saw it on a previous Gen3 while climbing the Rockies with a beginning head gasket failure.
No idea what you are saying about 'bumping the battery fan'....

 

Some apps provide manual control of the battery cooling fan but must remain connected to do so. Otherwise the hybrid system immediately takes over. Certain people think running the fan faster will benefit the battery.

Regarding root causes of hg failures, you look at the significant changes in gen4’s design including a cylinder wall insulator to even temps at that critical spot and egr collected after the cat among other things. I have posted documentation of these many times but Mendel’s cult like crusade drowns out the evidence. Not saying cleaning the egr is not useful; it keeps the check engine light off; but Toyota dealers would be selling the service if it had any real utility before a code.

 

Agreed. And if this service meant a long and happy life for a Gen3 engine why wouldn't this routine cleaning and servicing be in the Maintenance Schedule?
What's Toyota's stance on this 'Off the Book' servicing of the EGR system?

And do you really think that plastic doo dad stuffed in the open deck design of the block will really make a difference with Gen4 HG life?
Maybe there is less carbony crap building up in that EGR system. Who knows... time will tell if Gen4's are any better in the HG department....\

I'm hoping the latest SW update my Gen3 had has something to do with Water Pump duty cycle, the way it's mentioned in the TSB for Europe Prii. Maybe spinning the water pump faster while I'm cruising I-70 at 80mph uphill into the Rockies might help.... How? I don't know. Toyota mentioned it in that TSB... fingers crossed....

 

Oil changes are comparatively cheap enough to do every 5k for oil and 5-10k for the filter and oil is the most important fluid in an engine. I stick to that.

 

Agree. The reason on gen3 engines is new oil protects the rings better. Oil in the piston groves is highly fuel diluted in a low tension ring. Once the rings get carboned up it’s too late as blowby increases and is feed directly back to the intake by an egr system picking up exhaust and blowby before the cat. Gen4 fixed both factors and uneven cylinder wall temps.

 

“Blow by” is combustion gas getting past the piston rings into the crankcase. If it is getting into the intake it would be via PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system only?

 

Yes you are right but the same rings allow oil in the combustion chamber which burns and partially ends up in the egr intake and further burns off in the cat. Once you have seen the massive carbon build up in the head you know bad things are happening. Down the road the dreaded P0420 means the cat is toast. Usually after the hg or engine was replaced.

 

Further input for people to try.

Insulate the pcv hose going from the side of the block to the intake with some sort of foam insulation. Leads to less water condensation which can make these motors knock in the winter. The engine is an atkinson cycle engine so the oil catch cans are pointless. It blows oil into every where from the valves hanging open at the last 20% anyways. And a great way to go is on oil change mornings, pour 20oz of e85 into the engine, let it idle up to temp, and then change the oil. Its a good cleaner and will free the rings.

I think its crazy to argue at this point.

Open air pcv system and egr delete here. If i could do it again i would just stick to the piston soak and egr delete and insulate the pcv line similar to other oem toyotas. My open air one is a bit smelly but not bad being into cars that are emissions exempt (not the prius) as i'm used to the smells.

 

First-
You're describing performing a piston soak, using E85 instead of products made for that purpose. Fine if it works for you.
But you left out the part of allowing the piston soak product to sit and soak its way past the rings to the sump.
I have a friend that raves about the oil consumption results after a long piston soak, as in days of letting the product soften the crud in the ring lands and the oil control rings. Not arguing the procedure, just the ways to perform it.

Second-
You sent your crankcase ventilation straight back to the 50's. JUST dump it out below the car. GA - ROSSE
Your car stinks and makes more pollution than it has to.
Maybe you don't smell it because your nose doesn't work??? Let me guess, , your toots don't smell either, right?

I'm onboard with EGR delete. I can't tell the difference in MPG or performance. But it's a temporary work around until I clean the EGR system. I want my car to be as clean as it can be.

 

Concur.
The last G3 left port in Japan in -what?
2015.

This is a self-licking lollipop, since even the G3's that are PROPERLY taken care of are sort of like WW2 vets.
You run into them every now and then but their numbers are dwindling.....

 

I get it. A lot of you are greenies so hate to hear anything in the like. But yeah it works. I have a piston soak procedure if you prefer to follow that instead. Go search the words and pull up my procedure i posted.

 

2017 Prius V

 

I soaked my pistons, but to no avail. Just at 200k on the gen 2 Prius, scoping the cylinders and they are already toast.

I will never buy any car that had 10k oil changes unless someone proves to me visually that the cylinders are rings are fine, which I don't see happening.

 

The last US gen3 was a 2017 Prius v. But Toyota sold very few 2016 or 17 v’s in the US since the Rav4 hybrid was far superior with a better engine.

However the gen3 engine was still sold overseas including Japan and the UK through the 2021 model of the Prius v/+/alpha. The Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) had three times more v’s than were sold in the US. Which may mean some JDM gen3 engines could be only 4 or 5 years old.

 

Let me get photoshop open and get back to you. Got a Prius I can sell you then.

 

This is why, when my current car is too expensive to repair, I may just forgo owning a car. New cars are too expensive, used cars are too expensive, and now I've seen way too many used cars with terrible damage hidden inside the engine and elsewhere that comes to light not long after the car was bought by a used car buyer, costing at times upwards of $10,000 to fix. I really hate cars right now.