Oil changing door we need a recall

Sorry, I don't know what an oil changing door is. Can you send a photo or diagram of the door? Is it something that the consumer would use? What change do you propose to improve on the design of the door?

 

Why a recall? Probably 99+% of car recalls are for safety defects or non-compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Is your issue one of these?

 

It won't be a recall. At most it'd be a TSB fix.

 

I'm planning a few strategies to preserve the integrity of ours, but I agree: Toyota screwed up: the plastic of the hinge point is too thin and brittle. By most report it's at least partially hanging off by 3~4 oil changes.

If you're going through the dealership for your service, you're pretty much at the mercy of the "we've never seen that before" attitude.

With a near new car that hasn't had an oil change, my DIY strategies:

1. Don't allow anyone else to open it.

2. Only open the door as far as needed to access the oil pan drain plug and filter housing. Secure it with twine (through one of the fastener holes) to hold it in that position. Do not flex it further to "loosen it up".

3. If opening the door in cold ambient temperatures, pre-warm it with a heat gun.

4. Apply pre-emptive strip of friction tape (hockey tape), along full width of hinge, on both sides. This requires one-time removal of the whole panel.

The longer Toyota ignores this issue, in the face of reported failures, the worse it looks for them. At the least they could be cautioning their service departments against aggressive flexing back of the door.

 

I don't want the door anyway....makes changing the oil waaay easier without it!

 

A recall for this, get real. This has nothing to do with drivability and safety. Just a minor annoyance.

Either go to dealer and try to come up with some solutions or better yet come up with some clever ideas on how fix this yourself.

I changed my oil by myself 4 times now, and it's still good. I bent it past 90 degrees and seems fine.

But when/if it breaks, I will make a hinge mod so that I can take it off completely to make the oil change easier.

 

Is this door even needed? What does it really do?

 

It keeps the airflow from getting into the area, improving cd by an unknown amount.

 

There's also a fair bit of insulation on it, likely with the object to preserve engine warmth. Or maybe it's sound deadening, not sure. FWIW, directly adjacent to the maintenance door is fairly big opening in the panel, I think for wrenching the transmission bolts.

Having just spent over $30,000CAN on this, it doesn't sit well with me having to cobble together patches. And customers are getting dinged close to $400 for a replacement.

 

That still doesn't qualify it for a recall. People want recalls for anything. May be a warranty item (if within warranty) but it sure is not a safety issue.

 

If there's a consistant pattern of failure of this door that's a problem in my book. I came from a second gen Civic Hybrid, that had similar underpanels. With that car the plastic is much thicker and softer. I was a little surprised when I had a look under our new Prius and tapped the panel: it almost sounded like sheet metal.

 

That's what TSB fixes is for. Make enough noise about it and there will be a TSB fix. Happened with the blurry A/C display, etc.

 

It may be a problem to owners. It may be a PIA. It may be most annoying, but it definitely is not a recall item. MAYBE a TSB. Probably not.

 

Couldn't agree more!

 

It seems to me a spring loaded piano hinge would be ideal. When you have it opened up all the way you could utilize a plastic slide rod that would hold the door open.

I will crawl under my car tomorrow and see what kind of shape the door is in.

 

Check out the hinge solutions on my below thread. It costs less than $10.00 to fix this minor problem. Do you think Toyota will issue a recall or even a TSB for a $10.00 non-safety related problem? Don't hold your breath. Just fix it.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...90903-oil-change-door-permanent-solution.html

 

The hinge is a good solution but it has to be done before it breaks. If the door breaks off, you can not fix it. It will fall to the ground and grind the plastic off. It has to be removed or replaced.

 

Perhaps Toyota should issue a TSB to drill 4 holes and install cable ties around where that living hinge is. It would save everyone a lot of grief and would cost pennies.

 

That is a good idea. It is a good idea to do that yourself. If they door breaks off it will not hit the ground with plastic ties. Once the door hits the ground while driving the door will never go back.