Pictures of a clogged fuel injector, Gen 2 Prius - Possible reasons

I buy Techron by the case and use a bottle every 20K miles or so.

 

great pics, thanks. 120k on my neighbors '04, 55 mpg, no drivability problems, never used an additive. no idea on the state of the injectors, what do you think is a probable cause?

 

i don't know, but the first 105,000 were me and then my daughter. we always use whatever is cheapest. i don't think we even have arco around here.

all the best!

 

Can you post how you got them out of the car? I am having problems getting the fuel rail loose on my car to fully remove the injectors. The fuel line is solid, non-flexible, aluminum line. I do not see a disconnect anywhere near the fuel rail. Am I missing something?

 

The service manual shows pretty clearly where the connectors and fasteners are on the fuel rail (techinfo.toyota.com), but it does make the job somewhat harder than it has to be. The valve cover has a funny hook-shaped thing that sticks over the fuel rail, and the manual says to crack the valve cover loose for access to the rail, but if all you want is access to the injectors that's not really necessary. There is enough flex in the rail to sneak them out (number 1 is really easy, number 4 takes some fancy sneakin'). The connector (which you really don't need to disturb) is near the firewall, and there is one bolt fastening the rail on that end of the cylinder head, hard to see, and very close to another bolt so it's tricky to know which is which.

Another PriusChat member, astrolink, once changed injectors without doing anything with that bolt (thanks to not knowing it was there) and did just fine ... there is that much flex in the tube.

Edit: just be sure to use a compressed air blowgun if you have one, or something similar, to chase all the grot away from the cylinder head ports before you start pulling injectors out. Especially if you're sneaking them out and in with the rail not completely out of the way, you'll be concentrating on just getting them out and in at all, and it won't be easy to avoid knocking grot in the engine if there's any around those ports.

-Chap

 

I'm looking at the instructions in Prodemand and it is way more than I really wanted to do. But, it needs done. Fun times!

 

I have no idea what "Prodemand" is, but there really isn't that much to it provided you elect not to futz with the valve cover. I made a little 9 minute video for another PriusChat member a year or two ago that I can send you if you give me an address (about a 17 MB webm). (I haven't put it up on a video site yet because the audio sucks in some places and I haven't had time to re-dub it.) It shows a Gen 1 but the engine is largely the same.

Caution: I think the guy I sent that video to the last time must have thought a couple parts of it didn't really need to be there, namely, all the time I spend explaining the gentle twist motion, and the time I spend showing how to do an engine-off pressure/leak test before trying to crank 'er up. So, he kind of rushed over those parts. Then he spent more time and money fixing the stuff that happens if you rush over those parts. Fair warning.

-Chap

 

That would be great! My email is Ssweaser AT yahoo.com

Prodemand is along the lines of alldata.

 

Sent. (At least, my e-mail provider didn't choke on sending it...)

Aha. 1988 was the year I bought a car and decided to try out the service manuals from the manufacturer for the first time ... and the difference was so clear that I've never used alternatives since ....

-Chap

 

I am having similar issues so if you could also send along that video I would be much obliged. Going to try injector cleaner first but would like the video just in case. Thanks.

toolian at gmail

 

switch to TopTier gas

 

I already use it exclusively. I say I was going to add a cleaner but after reading up I'm not so sure. Thanks again.

 

I follow the personal protocol of using top tier (usually Chevron) gasoline and running a treatment of Techron through just before an oil change. Can I prove it helps? Not really. But it doesn't really cost that much, and I can say following this protocol I've never had fuel injector problems with any of my vehicles.

PS.
Is it my imagination, because it seemed not to long ago that the stations claiming to be "Top Tier" were much more exclusive. Now Arco and nearly "everyone" is claiming to be "Top TIer"?

Chevron is "Top Tier" but of course they also claim their gasolines have a degree of techron added from the pump.

 

Has it been determined without a doubt that the techron additive I can buy at Walmart will not damage the fuel tank bladder? I'm guessing it won't since chevron has it. I can't find a definitive thread about wether or not I should add anything to my fuel tank.

 

Interesting question.
Never thought of that.

While my gut instinct would be to say I would guess you'd be absolutely fine, since the fuel bladder is designed to hold "fuel" which as you note comes from the pump in some cases with additives already in the mix,- I'd have to say I really don't know.

I think I've never read a thread where anyone claimed to have fuel bladder deterioration or failure due to using an additive.
But I have to wonder if Chevron ever took in to account the Gen 2's fuel bladder?

Wondering if some long time owners of Gen 2 Prius that HAVE used Techron regularly could chime in.
I'm curious.

 

Valero and Costco are also TT sellers. We are using GasBuddy app when traveling and TopTier stations are marked up.

 

I suppose it's a good thing if more stations are meeting the "Top Tier" standards.

I was kind of surprised to see Arco advertising they were "Top Tier" as their advertising use to be based on the idea that they were just "Plain Ol' Gasoline" at a lower price.

At least in my area, it's probably a greater challenge to try to find a gas station that ISN'T top tier as opposed to finding one that is.