Oil Change Access Door

I watch all those NASCAR boys use that black tape to hold things together at 200 MPH. You could buy it online. Personally, I used Black Gorilla tape on the undernose of my car where the curbs are to high and you bend them. I have had the Gorilla tape on for 4 months and it is still there. I am going to make a Gorilla Tape patch over where the Oil Door use to be. All I have to do is replace it every oil change. And it is CHEEEEAAAAAPPPP. NO hinges just strong Duct Tape... And I am in Arizona !!!:mod::first::first:

 

Toyota responded to my BBB complaint:
"We did not change oil on your car and therefore cannot be sure the door had manufacturer defect" (somehow implying that that they are the only ones who know how to open a door ....). My next car is not going to be Toyota. And the one after that too.

 

Interesting reading through his thread. I just did my first oil change at 1k miles & I've never had a car with a lower cover like the Prius. Once I got the flap fasteners off I was surprised at how stiff the flap was. I think that I may use my heat gun in colder weather to warm the plastic before bending it to see if that helps, even though my Prius is in a garage. I like to change my oil every 5k miles & I'll have the dealer do the next changes since they are free. I've just always changed oil on a new engine at 1k miles & I asked the master mechanic at the dealer & he agreed, cheap insurance to get any crap out of the engine that is suspended in the oil. I'll keep an eye on this issue though & won't put up with a faulty design.

I used this to get off the fasteners & it works like a charm, worth every penny.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B000LNBLTK?tag=priuschatcom-20

 

I just had mine fall off while driving. Scared me. I took it to my dealer and they did not do anything to help. I called Toyota and am waiting to hear back.

I appreciate everyone's help.

 

This thing, actually a paint tin opener, is pretty good too:

Total agreement. Someone's in denial...

With a previous Honda Accord we had, our power antenna started jamming. Fast forward 5~6 years: most every same gen Accord was tooling around with their antennas stuck at halfmast, or replaced with aftermarket stubby's. Or coathanger wire.

 

I have a permanent fix.....

rip the tabs off. bend to a 90deg, and cut along hinged edge. end of problems works great.

 

If the door is missing, I would think there would be some serious road debris build-up on top of the rest of the cover, no?

 

Likely a bit. Also,

If you were to run over a snow drift, the opening could catch and rip the rest of the panel off. And, the inside of the panel has some insulation. I think the intent is to retain heat in the engine bay. The open door is well: an open door.

 

Insert standard childhood memory (assuming you grew up in a northern climate):

Mom/Dad's voice: "Close that door! You're letting all the heat out!"

 

Had to add my "three cents" Yesterday my wife called, funny noise under the car. Called Toyota roadside Assistance and they came out; pulled the door off. I went to my dealer and he ordered a hole new under cover. No argument. we have 17K on a 14 month old car. I had two oil changes at the dealer so far, so I I guess his guys did it!

I will post outcome when they call itis in.

 

The dealer did not do it!

It is a horrible design.

Every 2010+ Prius out will have this issue over time unless a mod is done.

 

I found a site for listing complaints and they claim to forward to manufacturer. The URL is:

CarComplaints.com | Car Problems, Car Complaints, & Repair/Recall Information

I would suggest we all file complaints and maybe get visibility to this issue.

 

The shortcoming in design is not so much that a flexible hinge is used. They can work fine, and be very durable. Lots of small containers, flip-tops on jars, tool boxes, etc, use a hinge which is just a thinner zone, designed to bend.

What makes them work, and last, is the material. Honda uses a very similar door on it's hybrid model, without problems. The difference is the material is heavier and softer.

IMHO: Toyota spec'd a plastic that is simply too brittle for the application.

 

In summary "A horrible design"

 

A possible factor that I don't remember being mentioned is vibration fatigue of the plastic hinge joint. If you get down on your hands and knees in front of the car and look underneath, you will see that the hinge area is on the lowest edge of the undercover and is in a position to be vibrated by air passing under the car. Vibration can cause the joint to fatigue and split apart. Also, being on the lowest edge, the hinge area is subject to impact by snow, water and road objects.

If this is happening it could be a contributing destructive influence along with opening and closing the door for oil changes. What this implies is that failure of the door hinge may correlate with miles driven as well as the number of oil changes.

If you want to maintain the stock configuration of the insulated undercover and its engine heat retaining efficiency that I believe contibutes to better fuel efficiency and possibly engine performance and longevity, it would be smart to take a proactive approach and fix oil change door before it falls off and is destroyed or lost.

If you think the oil change door does not impact on fuel efficiency, etc., then don't do anything, but recognize that if you are wrong, and I think you are, the negative consequences of that decision begin as soon as the door falls off and greatly exceed the $10.00 and two hours required to fix the door.

The hinges I installed per my thread below still appear to me to be the best solution so far because they are cheap, lightweight and permanent.

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

 

Is it possible to do this without removing the entire undercover? By opening the door, couldn't put the washers on the inside of the pop rivets? Or instead of the rivets just use a screw/bolt with self locking nuts?

 

It's not too difficult to remove the entire panel, as long as you're able to raise the front to oil change height. While you might be able to do something with the panel in place, it's a lot easier removed:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...hooting/90272-engine-under-panel-removal.html

I put a continuous strip of black friction tape (the cloth based tape used for wrapping hockey sticks, for one) on both sides of both hinges. There's actually two, the second one might be handy for transaxle fluid change: opens things up more. OTOH, at that point it's likely simpler to just remove the whole thing.

I did an oil change just last weekend, maybe 4 months after putting on the tape, and it's looking fine.

 

I just got 2010 prius.
Where is the door located?
Cant wait to play with that.
oil change every 3k for me.
C

 

Please read these before asking questions, the answers are most likely there.


Oil Change 2010 Prius - do it yourself

John's Stuff - Toyota Prius and more