Tedh1979 2005 Prius Project with multiple issues looking for help!

I think what I am going to do is to stop into the Toyota dealership that I deal with on other cars that I've flipped. The mechanic I know there does seem to know a lot about Prius cars. He was the one who diagnosed my cousin's bad cell in his Prius hybrid battery. After all the reading I was prepared to do high mileage Mobil 1 5W-30. There are some good articles on here and Google that make the case for 0W-20 Full Synthetic. I was more tempted to do the high mileage oil as it sounds like it can help with oil consumption, but then you make a point about the engine starting at subzero temps. We had a few days of record setting lows this year which caused school buses not to start after the bitter cold left. Postal carriers didn't deliver mail. And I had stomach surgery the week before so I couldn't drive until the night that I needed to go back into the ER and I was worried that starting my car in subzero temps might ruin it. But it has synthetic and it did start with no issues. I also leave my cars out of the garage because I've only lived here for a year and I now have a larger home with a smaller garage so I still need to organize the garage and get rid of things I don't need anymore. My guess is that 5W-30 is recommended for most areas but in certain areas 0W-20 synthetic is recommended in a certain climate? I'll find out and post what the Toyota mechanic says.

 

@Skibob I am sorry I didn't see your post somehow, sorry. This website is huge and at the time I bought my 2005 Prius, I was only aware of the oil consumption problems on Gen 3 models. I remember asking someone Gen 2 VS Gen 3 and nothing was mentioned about oil consumption on Gen 2 but it was mentioned on Gen 3. EGR problems, head gaskets, intake manifold issues were also mentioned about Gen 3. May I ask what kind of oil do you use in your Prius? Conventional, high mileage, or Synthetic? What weight?

I know you didn't say it would cost $500 to fix my battery. You said, for under $500 I could buy all the equipment needed and fix the battery myself. I know for a fact I have at least one bad cell, but the others don't look that great on Dr. Prius. They are all over the place and also too dead to start the car as most all have agreed. So, every cell needs charged in my hybrid battery but I have a feeling when I put a good load on the cells, I am going to have a lot more than one or two go bad. The battery I bought is reconditioned so I know it is not new and I don't expect for it to last 10 years or anything like that. But I couldn't see spending $1600 on just new cells for a "project" Prius. This car when I am done isn't going to be a car that I can flip. It is either going to me or going to my son if I buy the Ioniq that is in my driveway right now. I don't mind not making money on the Prius, that wasn't my intention. But I don't want to be in upside down way in over my head. I wanted to learn and wanted to rescue the car. It is quite nice once now that is has been carpet shampooed and detailed.

I bought the hybrid battery from the same guy that I got my used 12V battery from. I got a Toyota 84 month battery dated 12/16, for $30. It is a scrap yard. So not everything is perfect but if I ever have a problem, he takes care of me. There are three big junk yards in my city and about 8 small ones. The main junk yard used to do labor. I bought an engine off them and they said they would install it for $600. It took almost a YEAR to get it done. The mechanic who was supposed to do it quit and the other mechanic broke his hand. They decided to take my vehicle to another mechanic's house and work on it in the barn. They did not have my permission to move the vehicle offsite. While they were loading it up on the tow truck, it somehow came loose and it dropped on the ground and rolled back into another car and got wrecked. The junkyard owner admitted to the wreck and paid to fix it and then the engine kept dying on the road and the junkyard owner kept having to send the tow truck to come get me again. When it was all over with, he lost money and held that against me even though it was not my fault. The other large junkyard offered to look at the vehicle and they fixed it properly for free. The owner knew that I went to the auto auction and the main client at the auction is the owner of the junk yard that messed my vehicle up. He buys perfectly running cars with excellent bodies and he parts them out which is a shame. I've seen him spend over $15K for a 3 year old car, just to part it out. That makes me sick. The junk yard that fixed my vehicle gave me a hat that said the junk yard's name on it and it has flames to get attention so I could wear it around the junk yard owner who messed up my vehicle. To this day I buy most of my parts from the guy who helped me out. I have helped him out over the years as a way to say thanks. His wife left him and I helped him move. I send business his way. I've given him a lot of good extra parts for free on occasion. He now goes to my church. Bottom line, he is not going to screw me over. The hybrid battery is in another state and its a few hours away. He said he goes that way once a week to pick up salvage cars. He offered to pickup the hybrid battery for me and then return my hybrid battery as the core. He has never done me wrong and I've never heard anything bad about him. So yes I trust this hybrid battery will be good for 3 years and hopefully more. If not, I can replace individual cells then. I still plan on buying the parts you recommended so that I can work on my own battery in the future and help others as well. I tried shopping for a 4 channel hobby charger and had no luck. Can you send me a link of one that you recommend? I do have a snap-on tools multimeter. I watched a video of a guy testing cells under a load by making a simple headlight bulb with a positive and negative wire on it.

I have a new Toyota OEM oil filter. I bought NGK spark plugs. I never intended to use old parts or fluids. That was offered to me because it was going to be $800 labor to install the engine and for a 13 hour job, with the price per hour I pay, it didn't add up. The mechanic said that included new gaskets, fluids, plugs, and wires. He said he could use the old parts and fluids and do the job for $520 but he didn't recommend using the old stuff and I agreed. I told him that I can get gaskets, fluids, plugs, and wires for less than $300 which he was quoting me. We agreed that he would do the engine install and I would pay him $520 and I would provide all new parts and fluids. I posted a post on my thread about antifreeze. Prestone has antifreeze that says "guaranteed to work in all domestic and asian imports. But then Prestone has 1/2 gallons of antifreeze that specifically says, "For Genuine Toyota Vehicles". But it doesn't say if it is pink or not. So since I don't know, I'm just going to get pink antifreeze off Amazon. I think that is about it for now. The Prius will be towed on May 3rd to the shop to get the engine swap performed. Flatbed tow also included in the $520 labor charge. He is working on some other vehicles for me that are more pressing right now.

 

Thank you. I did not even think about the fact of there being two different engines to be thinking about. I went back and noticed that everyone that recommended 0W-20 is using a 2010 or newer Prius. As far as using high mileage oil, I read that around 100K-150K they start consuming oil. The engine I bought has 132K on it, so I was going to just get high mileage Mobil 1 5W-30 and stick with it. But if you don't recommend that I do that, then I won't. I don't mind spending a little more for high mileage oil even if it isn't consuming oil. Maybe by using the high mileage oil I can prolong the period before oil consumption begins? But if not, I won't get high mileage then. I hope all of you on here have a Happy Easter!

 

I know now from looking back, that yes the Gen 3 is 0W-20 and Gen 2 is 5W-30. I have driven the Hyundai Ioniq tomorrow morning. Overall it is a great car, but there are so many things that I don't like about it. I don't like the color or interior. And while Hyundai advertises a great warranty, there are tons of catches to that warranty. Every time you take it to the Hyundai service shop, you have to do every little thing the recommend, or they will mark down that you DECLINED a service, and their prices are a rip off at the dealer. Based on that, I am returning the Ioniq. I'm not ruling one out but the Ioniq offered to me For $14,484 has 23K on it. I found a white Ioniq, 2018, with more options with only 9K miles on it for $17K. I loved the Ioniq 6 speed transmission. My last two Hyundais have had a 6 speed automatic and they've shifted smooth as butter. But I know the Prius transmission is supposed to be reliable as well. The 6 speed transmission seemed to make the car accelerate faster without using as much gas.

I honestly would have to say if I would have to pick between a Prius of Ioniq, I would get the Ioniq. But I do like the Prius Prime but that is so much more money than the Ioniq. I don't want to look at Audi lol. I've owned an Audi A6 before and it was a piece of crap. Never again. I will use the Mobil 1 and look into the rebate. Thanks for all the information.

 

Just wanted to update all of you guys on everything. I met a Prius expert who only drives Prius cars and he only buys Prius fixer uppers. As we got to know each other, it seemed like he needed me and I needed him. I got parts for the Prius that he was shocked at the prices. He told me that he has replaced a ton of Prius engines and that it's not all that uncommon for them to go out. My mechanic that I use has been very busy working on cars that I need done, so the Prius is just sitting and waiting.

Not knowing if a new engine and new hybrid battery would still solve all the issues, I decided it wasn't worth it to me especially when I need to paint the front and back bumper covers. I calculated what I paid for the Prius and the parts and fluids and everything, and he offered to buy it from me for that price plus an extra $600 in my pocket. He has also offered mechanic services to me in exchange for me getting him special pricing on parts and offering to find him "project" Prius cars at the auction. I currently have 16 vehicles that all need some sort of work. Some of them need parts or labor and some just need cleaned. But my mechanic is very busy and so am I.

The new owner of my car offered to help me check out another Prius when I am ready to get one, which I'm ready whenever he has time. I think I am going to get a Gen 3 even though I am not a fan of the inside cockpit. If I can find a Gen 3 with the navigation screen, I can display the energy consumption monitor on the screen like I want to. I don't like it on the instrument panel.

I think this is a win win situation because not only will this Prius be back on the road, but it will be properly done and will then go to a proper new home. And now I can focus on finding a newer Prius and I will check it out before purchasing. On an unrelated subject, I just bought a hybrid without even knowing it. I bought a 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco. I paid $800 for it as it was an "INOP" car. It also has one dent that needs fixed. The Chevy Malibu Eco is a 2013 with 96K and the problem ended up being that the hybrid battery is bad. And even if everything is running good, the car only gets 25 MPG so I'm not sure how it can be a hybrid. I got a used battery for $350 and it is installed and running now. Now I'm just waiting to get the dent fixed.

Thanks to all that helped me. I've learned a lot and am now much more prepared when I go and find a newer Prius and I will be back soon when I have a good running Prius.

 

@Skibob I'm not 100% sure that I'm going to get a Gen 3. If I can find a Gen 2 in REALLY GOOD condition and everything checks out, I would buy that. All this drama was attempts to learn about the Prius, and when I got conflicting answers, I spoke up. I have no regrets. I had tons of people, even some on this site, telling me to not waste all the time and money into this Prius. I'll take $600 profit to get out of a project any time. And I didn't punk out because I was with the new Prius owner today. The engine has already been removed and by tomorrow the new engine will be in it. I paid for the engine and hybrid battery but I didn't yet have to pay for the labor or the paint work that it needs on both the front and the rear bumper covers. If I had to pay for all of these things, I'd be over what the car is actually worth, so yes I smartly "punked out". The new Prius owner is going with me on Monday to the auction pre-inspection because there are two Prius cars there and I want to test the hell out of them. If they are junk and I'm not interested in them, then the new Prius owner might want me to buy the Prius cars for him and he is willing to pay me a finders fee. The only way that my Prius could've been a good deal for ANYONE was for me to find a mechanic that could do all the work himself. So it's a win win situation. I learned a lot on here and I will continue to do so because it's only a matter of time until I have a Prius.

I bought the 2013 Malibu Eco with 96K for $800. It wouldn't run or drive. I also bought an "INOP" 2013 Chevy Cruze. Both are black with leather interior. The Malibu Eco received a used hybrid battery yesterday and the mechanic installed it. I paid $800 for it and $350 for a battery. I sold it today for $9500. I bought a 2013 Chevy Cruze loaded with options. I paid $400 for the Cruze. It ended up needing a relay replaced. Sold it today for $5000.

I actually pretty much HATE GM vehicles with the exception of a few models. But I live in the City that employs much of the city to make Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks. So, people in this area just love GM vehicles and therefore I buy them and have good luck selling them. I myself have always been a Ford guy, but I do admit they have lots of transmission problems in almost all their vehicles. I currently have a 2008 Ford Expedition with the 5.4L V8 and 4X4. It has a bad transmission. Also, it has no rust but the black paint is peeling off of the tailgate. The tailgate has a weird texture under the paint. I paid $1200 for the Expedition and it's the Eddie Bauer Edition. I need to paint the tailgate black again and need to swap the transmission. I bought a transmission for only $400 for the Expedition with low miles, but it's a 17 hour job, so that'll cost me about $700 to pay my mechanic to install it. There is no perfect brand out there. This is not the first Toyota I've bought that ended up having a blown engine. They changed the rules in the auction last year. It used to be that you could only inspect vehicles one hour before the sale began. Now you can go the day before and check out vehicles so now I don't really buy cars with bad problems unless I buy them as an INOP car which I am willing to do anything, engine, tranny, whatever, because it's worth it based on the money I pay for an INOP car. Also thank you for the Prius reading material. I gave a copy of that to the new owner of the Prius. And I am still looking through it as it won't be much more longer until I get a Prius.