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Prius blown engine- what to do?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Dave Brewster, Jun 24, 2019.

  1. Dave Brewster

    Dave Brewster New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Littleton, CO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I recently bought a 2007 Prius with about 107k on craigslist. I had a pre-purchase inspection done and everything looked good. Last week it was time for an oil change so I took it into the local Toyota dealer and had it taken care of along with the inspection they do along with it. They told me everything looked great.

    A couple of days later I had to drive from Denver, CO to Billings MT and back. (about 600mi one way) On the way back, about an hour and a half in, the car slowed down and I had to pull to the side. There was a terrible sound coming from the engine. I had it towed to the Toyota dealer in Sheridan, WY and long story short I threw a rod and the engine was blown.

    Initially, I thought that there was something that the dealer did wrong during the oil change that caused it to happen. Apparently, all of the plugs are tight, the filter is on right and there must have been enough oil to get to Billings. I've been in communication with the dealer in Sheridan and the dealer here and it sounds like there's no evidence of anything they did wrong and likely won't do anything about fixing it. But it seems very suspicious that a car that ran perfectly fine would do that. I saw no oil light, no leaking oil, and no burning oil smell.

    Am I just that unlucky that an engine with 109k miles on it would blow? Or did something go wrong with the oil change?
     
    #1 Dave Brewster, Jun 24, 2019
  2. RacerX

    RacerX Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Des Moines
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Hello, this is just my second post and also have a 07 Prius. Unfortunately, I know that if your very low on oil the red warning triangle will come on. If you didn't see the red warning triangle before it stopped running, then I would say it is pretty unlikely the dealer did anything wrong like not put the oil in or forgot the drain plug. My Prius burns about a half quart every 500 miles and it doesn't smoke, smell or leak any oil at all.
     
    #2 RacerX, Jun 25, 2019
  3. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    Location:
    Torrance, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    I will speculate that previous owner(s) never checked the engine oil level as required. And probably never topped off upto the top FULL mark on the oil dipstick. Unfortunately for you, the years of abuse finally mainifested itself.
    page 325 of 2007 Owner's Manual. page 404 of 2007 Owner's Manual.
    upload_2019-6-24_23-0-25.png upload_2019-6-24_23-2-22.png upload_2019-6-24_23-3-36.png

    ​
    Did you check the engine oil level before you started the trip and before you started the return leg? Did you check the engine oil level at any point during the trip: rest, food, bathroom, gas?

    ​
    Is the mileage accurate on your 2007? It is not unheard of bad people installing combo meters (MPH, odometer, trip meter, gear indicator), with lower miles.

    Used Gen2 engines are cheap ($500+). Labor is costly, unless you DIY.
     
    #3 exstudent, Jun 25, 2019
    NoThrowningRocks, edthefox5 and Skibob like this.
  4. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
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    Yes this is not an uncommon occurrence. You will find many instances of gen 2 Prius throwing rods here. Usually due to people not checking the oil.
     
    #4 Skibob, Jun 25, 2019
    edthefox5 likes this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!
    might not have put enough oil in, or perhaps they didn't tighten the drain plug
     
    #5 bisco, Jun 25, 2019
  6. Raphael Muscarelle

    Raphael Muscarelle Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Probably like they said previous owner almost blew engine like others said. Then played trick with oil to get next person to buy it. But trick would hold for long.

    Used to do things like that for used car lot sometimes

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #6 Raphael Muscarelle, Jun 25, 2019
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    go to toyota.com/owners and join the forum. It will ask you for the cars vin so have your insurance card ready.

    Once you join can look at the cars maintenance history. Every time the car saw an authorized toyota service center it will show a service entry in the log.

    See if the car has any sketchy history like brought in for bad engine noises and engine proclaimed damaged and it was traded in on the spot. Off the car goes to auction for the next sucker looking for a "deal".
     
    #7 edthefox5, Jun 25, 2019
  8. Dave Brewster

    Dave Brewster New Member

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    Location:
    Littleton, CO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Thanks all for the input. I'm getting a better picture now of what went wrong. I'll probably still put a new engine in an be extra diligent in checking the oil.
     
    #8 Dave Brewster, Jun 26, 2019
  9. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
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    #9 exstudent, Jun 26, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2019
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