Just picked up an 05 Prius for short money with beaucoup miles (250k) from my cousin who was the original owner. Thought it would be a good urban vehicle for my son and experiment for me. I've picked up a lot of very useful info on this site (undo the battery before working on brakes, how to do the "chicken dance" and info about self leveling headlight malfunctions). So I thought it was time to stop lurking. The car is in pretty nice shape and the hybrid battery looks to be quite strong. But It had the worst sounding brakes I've ever heard though so I replaced the discs and pads in the front and straightened the horribly bent dust shields and that solved that problem. After driving it 100 miles home I decided to tackle the rear drum brakes. I hate drum brakes. Major wrestling match but I managed to complete the job successfully including new wheel cylinders. So now I have to get the brake system bled. Found a local dealer who quoted me $180 and that seemed to be "reasonable" given what some people indicted it could cost. Did I mention that I hate drum brakes. Also needs a new set of tires and a backup key. It has sks and after more research here I learned that there is no cheap solution so I bought a new smart key on Amazon from a dealer in PA for $150 and will hopefully chicken dance it into life. The over and under on the number of attempts before success is 11. I'm betting on the high side. Final thing (fingers crossed) before registration and inspection is that damn red triangle on the dash. The video display shows that the hid leveler on the rear axle was malfunctioning. I disassembled it and found that while the mount, arms and ball joints are all functional the switch itself was totally trashed as was the harness leading into it. I ordered a new switch for about $30 and am in the process of trying to rebuild the plug/harness that goes into it. Soaked it in PB Blaster for 24 hrs and was finally able to get the thoroughly corroded spade connectors free of the plastic plug housing. Now I need to figure out what gauge wire I'm dealing with and get the connectors and wire and then put it all together. Sorry for the book length introduction but it was quite therapeutic and my wife will only listen to so many auto war stories.
Thanks to you all for the warm welcome. I'm hoping that after these jobs I'm hoping that the Toyota reliability that I've come to know and love will kick in and my son will be enjoying some trouble free miles!
The HID leveling sensor will continue to be a headache for the remainder of the time you own the Prius if driven wherever road salt is used. I replaced the one in my 05 with a sensor from a Florida car. Three Michigan winters was all it took to trash that one. Luckily the lever arm rusted solid this time so the sensor itself remained in a neutral position and did not engage the stupid warning on the MFD. Never had to worry about that ever again. I made sure the sensor innards did not rust because I sealed the sensor and harness connector inside a piece of bicycle tire inner tube After that, I devoted my full attention to my obsession with my HV pack health. Oh let me tell you the hours I wasted monitoring battery block voltages with the Torque app for Android while out and about LOL!
Little update, 05 Prius is registered, inspected and rolling on the local byways after: -a new set of tires (General Altimax rt43 for $320 from pep boys) -a brake fluid flush and bleed $129 after $20 coupon from local Toyota dealer -replacement of HID leveling sensor $32 from 1a auto and rebuilding of plug/harness for same (about $35 for 3 wires with correct spade connectors from Toyota dealer) - new sks fob from dealer in PA via Amazon for $150 - (chicken danced about 13 times, lost count but succeeded) After that picked up new shell for existing key on Amazon for $12. -oil change -wash and semi detailing Runs good and drives well. Hybrid battery stays in the blue range and hits green occasionally. Only other thing I'm inclined to do is swap the plugs. Again thanks for the assists to the folks posting advice and DIYs on the board.
Arrrggh! Got this thing sorted out and looking good but I neglected a crucial fact when I picked this sled up for my son. I'm 6 ft. He's 6' 3". It felt OK to me but when I handed it off to him yesterday and the first thing he noticed was the limited visibility. That and the lack of a height adjustment means he's going to be struggling to achieve a comfortable driving position. Have searched priuschat and the inter webs for a decent solution and it looks like I'm SOL. Ah well at least I should be able to get my $$ if he can't get comfortable in it.
About the only thing you can do is recline the seat a bit. I'm 6'4" and that's the only way I was able to drive my Gen 2. Leg room was also a problem for me because the Gen 2 is actually more of a compact car closer in room in the front seats to a Corolla than a Camry.
Well I hope he can locate a comfortable driving position like you did jadziasman. Sounds like you've proven a tall man can put megamiles on a Gen II.
