New Owner maintence tips and gas tank questions.

Congratulations on your Prius purchase.

I would not worry about resetting the fuel gauge. How much fuel do you add after the fuel pump nozzle first clicks off? I usually will add at least 1/2 gallon. Obviously, each fuel pump nozzle is different, and you do not want to go to the point where you are spilling fuel or there is so much fuel in the system that the emissions control for the fuel tank is damaged.

You are right that the fuel tank capacity will expand in warmer weather.

The oil and filters that you bought are a good choice.

When replacing coolant, measure the amount of drained coolant. This will tell you how much coolant you need to add before you declare victory on project completion. This is especially important when doing the engine coolant loop.

Use Toyota Super Long Life Coolant which is premixed with distilled water. You will need around 9 US quarts, so buy three gallon containers.

The serpentine drive belt will probably be cracking by now (if original) and I would suggest replacing it. Check the engine coolant pump for coolant seepage at the pump bearing. This can be seen as a whitish or pinkish deposit inside the pump pulley or deposited on the air conditioner compressor housing below the pump. Replace the pump if you see this.

It is not easy to get air out of the engine coolant loop because of the coolant heat recovery system. My post here provides information about how to replace the engine coolant pump, thermostat, serpentine belt, and coolant.

How to replace engine coolant pump and thermostat | PriusChat

Remove the relay box mounted on the cowl, to improve access to the spark plugs. Install the correct NGK or Denso iridium spark plugs. Go easy when removing the old spark plugs as they may not be easy to remove after 10 years. Use the correct 5/8" spark plug socket with a rubber cushion so that you do not break the porcelain tail of the old plugs while removing them.

 

congrats and welcome, all the best!

 

Excellent advice on going slow and not rushing the spark plug removal.

When I replaced mine at 120,000 mi on my 2008 Prius I sprayed some PB blaster penetrating fluid with a nozzle down the plug hole before I tried to remove mine. Not a lot just enough to hopefully loosen them some. I then stuffed a small rag strip down the tube to clean up the hole from any excess spray before removing the old plug.

Mine still were very difficult to remove and made a 'squeaking' noise as I slowly removed them I was nervous as a cat the spark plug was going to seize and strip the plug hole threads. When it would squeak I would reverse the ratchet and tighten just a little then reverse it again and begin the extraction process once again.

I put some never seize on the spark plug threads of the new ones when I installed them. The manufacture say not to use never seize but after the nerve racking process of removing the old ones I did use never seize and was very careful to not over tighten the new plugs.

It's great plugs will last 120,000 miles today however the interaction between aluminum threads and steel spark plugs is not so great.

 

I'll drink to that.

Great user name too, welcome.

 

You can find all of the manuals (digital pdfs) that came with the vehicle here:

Toyota Online Owners Manuals and Warranty

 

Don’t pump to the brim, but you could probably pump one more gallon.

 

not in general, but yes for certain fuel bladders.