Extra Dealer Recommended Services

Probably not.

If they have planted fear, uncertainty, and doubt in your mind get a second opinion from another Prius certified service tech.

 

Neweagle99, you have 45k miles so your injectors probably don't need cleaning yet. Unless you have bought some funky fuel among those 1000 gallons.

The throttle body is somewhat different. Prius' Atkinson/Miller engine design allows some carbon (soot) to accumulate around the butterfly, and it does not take very long to become visible. Open the air filter box and perhaps you'll see it with a flashlight - just don't drop anything down there!

A little soot means nothing. A lot can interfere with the motion of the butterfly, and then you get error codes. At 45k miles, you are probably somewhere in between.

I think that if you did consult a different shop, you would find both of these services together for about $100. If you take your first cleaning at 60k miles, and then decide later how frequently this money needs to be spent, you will probably not go too far wrong.

 

i agree with DAS.

probably don't need the injector cleaning unless you're having engine trouble that may be caused by bad fuel flow.

the throttle body may be acceptable if there's crap in there. really bad oil overfills can sometimes spew oil into that area.

techs work on flat rate, there is no "extra commission" to speak of. they do the job, they get paid for x hours, no matter how long it takes them.

 

Is cleaning the throttle body difficult? I've done other cars, but not a Prius.

How do you do it? What chemical do you use?

And what do I have to do to clean the mass air flow sensor?

 

Our 15k/45k/75k comes with the Throttle body cleaning with it. I don't see why the injectors would need to be cleaned unless there is a drivability issue.

Stay away from over the counter injector cleaners. By the time it even gets to the Injecter it is about as potent as your piss. It is diluted and has gone through alot and isnt even going to work.

 

Thanks, Blackfang. I always wondered about those "pour it in the tank" products.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Blackfang @ Aug 14 2006, 09:41 PM) [snapback]303286[/snapback]</div>