Cracked valve cover

What can possibly be cracked off the valve cover? if it's plastic, it's probably not the cover itself

 

With a little luck it'll be the ornamental plastic piece that pushes on?

 

What do you mean by not starting? Does the car go into "Ready" mode, and then the gas engine won't start? Or nothing at all?

Do you have a check engine light? If so, there's definitely a system problem. The Prius engine control system is so advanced, I wouldn't be surprised if it could detect the broken valve cover and fail to start, especially if the break is part of the PCV system.

It looks like you can get one used on eBay for about $40, so it's not too expensive to fix. Add the gasket, of course. There's some some light labor getting stuff like the brake reservoir and ignition equipment out of the way.

 

If the aluminum valve cover now has a hole or a crack, then the car might not start since air is able to enter the engine at the valve cover, and is carried via the PCV hoses into the throttle body. That would result in a lean air/fuel mixture since the air entering via the PCV hoses is not being metered by the mass air flow meter located in the engine air cleaner housing.

 

Need pictures.

 

I stupidly did the same thing myself. Posted it in my car group in Facebook (old car group from college days when we actually drove fast and furious type cars back in early 2000s). As the son of a mechanic whose been learning his mechanical skillset since 3 it's extremely disappointing to me that I managed to do this, but I did. I ordered a new gasket and valve cover to fix it. My brother can't figure out how I managed it and neither can I, but the PCV Valve was frozen. However I digress.:

Warning for Prius drivers who do their own work:

I drive a generation 2 Prius nowadays so this is for anyone here who uses it as their daily driver. Managed to Crack the valve cover while attempting wrenching away the PCV valve which for some reason God tried to make me not change. Guess I should of listened. First, I forgot to pick it up (even though I wanted to after I got the car) when I got the Spark plugs to change after doing all the other 2 main maintenance items to keep your mpg going smoothly (oil change & filter plus air filter), but I noticed my mpg start dropping again and realized I probably needed to change the PCV valve as well. Why else would I drop to under 40mpg? So I started to do the work and suddenly realized I was missing my 19mm wrench.... the only wrench I was missing from 10mm to 24mm. Go figure.

Trying to make the PCV valve budge took everything I had and then I dropped my worklight, but kept going. I thought the cracks I heard was just the PCV valve finally letting go... it partially was, but evidently it was also my valve cover cracking. Needless to say the money I just saved doing the work myself is now going to cost me as much as having paid Toyota in the first place after I change the valve cover and gasket. Anything else I should be aware of while changing it when it comes in?

Long story short, I originally forgot the PCV valve, then didn't have my wrench, then dropped my work lamp. Guess I should of stopped.

 

Oh, and yes, the valve cover bits fell inside. Someone told me to J.B. weld the thing. I hope they were joking. Then again I'm the only guy in this community that is working on some car every other day. Oil changes are easy. Engine work like this can cost you.

I'm now having to change my fiancée's waterpump in her 2005 Prius, but was stopped by a frozen screw on the driver fender. Need to clear room by removing the headlamp, but evidently, even that's become embarrassingly difficult. Hopefully with the penetrating oil I blasted it with, it'll be fine tomorrow. I just loosened mine, put in a little grease and put it back to make sure I don't have that issue when it comes time to change my waterpump. Antiseize lubricant would of been a better idea though if I took some time to look for it.

 

Right where everybody cracks it: see just last Spring, for example.



A socket or box wrench should be safer than an open-end in that location. Mendel made a nice sketch:



-Chap

 

I used a long socket on mine with a breaker bar based on Mendels post.
That pcv is on there.

 

^ B-I-N-G-O!

 

It is a design shortcoming though: the natural instinct is to to try to break it loose with an open-ended wrench, and "crunch".