fuel injector cleaning?

Are you experiencing lower MPG and difficulty in acceleration at speed? If you are, maybe you could consider it. If not, save your money!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jun 28 2007, 11:17 PM) [snapback]469876[/snapback]</div>

Chevron stations provide Techron detergent in each gallon you buy. I have been using Chevron since 1988 when I had to have my GTI de-carbonized with only 11,000 miles on the odometer. Since I switched to Chevron, no problems with carbon build-up.

 

The Toyota service department sells a $25 kit that includes injector cleaner, throttle plate cleaner and vacuum hose cleaner. It is a great buy and I'd recommend it and a new air filter as an annual expense:

• air cleaner - change this the same time the throttle plate is cleaned
• throttle cleaner - best if used with a long narrow brush, just spraying the can works too
• injector cleaner - dump it in the tank and don't worry about it
• vacuum hose - apparently needs a special tool I don't have

This is an easy do-it-yourself project and avoids problems with sticking throttle plate.

Bob Wilson

 

you can find DH's recommendations here: http://priuschat.com/What-services-you-nee...39t-t29898.html

 

we don't need no steenking ignition wires

as you probably saw in there, flushing is bad if not impossible. just drain and fill and go.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(smtrader @ Jun 29 2007, 02:53 PM) [snapback]470289[/snapback]</div>

Maybe not "flush", but galaxee did suggest consideration of replace (drain and refill) coolant (with all of the challenges of bleeding air bubbles...) at a certain point if it has changed color and replace (again, drain and refill) transmission (CVT) fluid.

 

I threw a bottle of techron in sometime in the spring; probably
didn't even need it but Wth, I'd hit 50K..
.
_H*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Jun 29 2007, 09:23 PM) [snapback]470425[/snapback]</div>

At about 20,000 miles the "idle" was a little rough. No other problems but it continued and at about 35,000 I procured some LUCAS brand injector cleaner. The rough idle problem seems to be solved.

 

Hi. I am new to the Prius chat and taking some time to find my way here. I was away from the country for a year while my car was taken care of by a friend. She doesn't know anything about cars and went for an oil change at a dealership (Millers Toyota in Culver City, CA).
Soon after that car started acting up. It is shaking and trembling during acceleration.
She went to service it again and then they came up with all the stuff that is wrong:
Check Hazard/warning lights operation. (Found DTCS P0301, C1249). Recommended "brake switch & one ignition coil.
Besides stuff like cabin air filter change, Engine air filter, and Fuel injection (EFI) service.
My friend let me know about this and told me the charges:
$277.58 - rec the brake swith & one ignition coil
$39.99 - replace air filter element
$89.99 - replace cabin/HEPA filter
$259.99 - perform fuel injection (EFI) service.

I am not an expert in this stuff but one thing I know is that changing a cabin filter for $89.99 is beyond outrageous. I had done it myself in less than 5 minutes using an original TOYOTA filter for ~20 bucks.

I asked my friend to just thank the dealership and that I would take care of it when I come back to the US though they had already done the first item from the list.

Now I am back and the car is running badly. It has this jerky performance while pressing the gas pedal. I understand it may be related the EFI service but I feel reluctant to go to this dealership and pay $259.99 for this while I know how much they up charge for the stupid cabin air filter.

What should I do? Can I do that maintenance myself? Is there a way to find a service shop that will do it well and for an honest price? Are there actually any honest authorized dealership service shops?
Please help.
Thanks,
Olek

 

Yes, the fuel injector service is probably rubbish.

Uhh, nobody ever sprayed water inside the engine compartment to "clean" it, right? or drove through water more than a foot deep?

I would guess that they overfilled your oil (which could be fouling the MAF), and/or damaged or dirtied the MAF while changing the engine air filter, and/or screwed up the coil installation. You should start by checking the oil level yourself, then inspect the MAF if you know how, and then decide whether to go yell at that dealer or take it to a different dealer.

If you are near the Bay area, Luscious Garage has the best Prius service in the known universe.

 

That's what I am guessing. I just put this Lucas upper cylinder and lubrican and injector cleaner and filled up the tank with gas. Drove about 10 miles so far. Car still acts the same - very jerky.

no. completely dry.

checked the oil. it is indeed a little over the top marker on the stick. but not much. 1/2 -3/4" maybe. after hearing how much they would charge me for all of this (nearly $1000) i just said don't do it. (I was still abroad) and they did not change the air filter. I checked it. It looks dirty but not excessively - some dust some particles, some little dead flies. - I am planning to order a new air filter myself as well as cabin air filter. I just need to find a place online that sells genunine toyota parts for real not some knock offs.

I assume MAF - stands for Mass Air Flow but other than checking the filter I don't know how to check if anything else is wrong with it.


QUOTE=richard schumacher;1120413]If you are near the Bay area, Luscious Garage has the best Prius service in the known universe.[/QUOTE]

unfortunately not. i am in LA area and all nearby dealerships are probably here only interested in making extra buck on suckers like me.

 

They did change the #1 ignition coil and "rec the brake switch" - I don't know what the latter is and can't verify if it was done or not. There is one of those ignition coils that looks new and clean next to the remaining three. So they must have replaced it as they said.

As I was searching through the forums here the symptoms are often tied to the ignition coil. Why it did not fix the problem if it was replaced?

Could there be another reason for this strong vibration? Right now I can tell it does it even if I don't press the accelerator - pretty much every time the gasoline engine switches on.

I looked up the diagnostics myself and in LAN monitor there is a red CHECK at the EMV line.
The codes that follow are:
01-D5 190-70-F
01-DC 1C6-98-F
01-DC 190-69-2

Searched for those in the forums but haven't found the exact match yet to decipher them.

Could it be possible that the dealership didn't connect something purposely so I have the problem until I come back there and have them do fix it all for the buck they want?
I know one thing - I am not paying $89.99 for changing the cabin air-filter.

 

I don't know the codes, but Pat wi,ll help you there. Have you lowered the oil level to somewhere between the two marks? If not, do so, by loosening the oil filter= an extra oil supply. Also cleaning the Maf sensor is simplicity itself. Take air filter off, remove sensor, inspect and spray with MAF sensor cleaner. I generally spray the cleaner with the sensor inplace and spray walls of air throat ( or whatever they call it now-a-days.)Based on the assumption that this roughness only occurs when engine is running: It almost sounds like you have an old fashion miss in the ice. Which means not all of your sparkplugs are firing because of excess oil or one igition coil not firing, perhaps they even cross wired your ignition. The plugs are easy to remove and clean or replace. IF: You are not up to all this, find a good mechanic &/OR another GOOD Toyota Dealership. You might also try pushing the last idiots a bit to fix the problem THEY created. Good luck.:cheer2:

 

so I guess since this is the conversation about fuel injection: they highly recommended to perform fuel injection (EFI) service. (for just $259.99). As I am learning from my wife they had convinced her to do that a couple of years back already. Is there any way that that could be the problem?
If not, I suppose I should move to some other thread or start a new one.
How can I find out what the diagnostic codes mean? How do I contact Pat wi?

 

Those codes are all about the audio and Nav system, nothing to do with the engine.
You need an OBDII code reader to get the engine codes. Is the CEL on?

01-D5 Absence of Registration Unit 1. Power source circuit of
component shown by sub-code
2. AVC-LAN circuit between multidisplay
and component shown by
sub-code​

3. Component shown by subcode

01-DC Transmission Error If same sub-code is recorded in
other components, check harness
for power supply and
communication system of all​

components shown by sub-code

 

i see. my friend has this reading tool for the car so I will try to check that again properly.
i guess I also found some clues to my problem in the IGNITION COIL REPAIR thread.
many thanks!

 

1/2" to 3/4" over the top mark is significantly overfilled. They probably used four quarts whereas three is plenty. Have the oil drained down to the proper level. If you're lucky that might possibly fix the problem. In any case deep six this dealer.

Ah, I just saw your post in the other thread. It sounds like they replaced the wrong coil. Oopsy. They owe you one for free. And bite their heads off if they try to remove the first new one; they owe you that one for your trouble.