New 2 me 2010 very base Pri

ML, wish you were closer. We are having a picnic/ zombie apocalypse training party. There is this weird bar that just opened here in CT that features ax throwing. We ended up there with some friends. Way more fun then it sounds. Kinda like violent bowling. But it really was fun so we decided to have it at a picnic planned. One of our friends has a bum shoulder and can't throw axes. So for her I got lighter trowing axes, slingshots (with paintballs) and no kidding, a laser sited crossbow. Yes, Carol is making fun of me for going overboard. But the zombie thing could happen at any time if not sooner than later. Which could be now. And it's always fun and games until somebody gets eaten or loses an arm.

Paintballs are cheap and Harbor Fright has $6 slingshots. Really basic ones but it's an amazingly soothing thing to splat em against a tree in the back yard.

Beers and apocalypse training= good week-end!

Edit. The cube thing was not as much of a PITB as I remembered. Just gonna use that from now on. Better safe than sorry, me thinks.

 

@Mendel Leisk doesn't strike me as the zombie apocalypse type.

Although he did look like a bandit in the Mazda back up camera he had as his avatar awhile back.

 

LoL

Paintballs came yesterday. Laser sited crossbow comes tomorrow!

Got a cow bell and might get a high end bb rifle.

With zombies, to much firepower is about right.

Enough is fine until it isn't and then your....chum!
Only good zombie is ... you know what I mean.

 

Had replaced the left rear &RT front brake pads. #2 and 3 brake pistons were sticking and eat the pads. So only replaced those and not in pairs. Caught some Super High Intensity Training on another thread on how bad it was not to replace in pairs. 2 and 3,000 miles later, no problems.

But other day #3 driver's side rear starts making a steady "SHHHHHHHH" metallic scraping noise. I'm like "wholly super high intensity training, Batman" They were right. (They got a little overboard with "ilegal in some E.U. countries" and "SADLY mistaken" LoL.

But looked like I had been wrong. I limp home and tear it down. I hit something and had bent the inner gurad so that it was just barly touching the rotor. So a perfect scare the super high intensity training sound making devise.


But good thing. When I got the car it was getting 38 MPG. After freeing pistons and lubing slides. Now getting 49 MPG.

Driving 200 miles a day, that's a considerable expense. And insult to my mechanical skills.

And just so much smoother, more fun to drive.

 

Post script; Paintballs and sling shots work great! big fun and that satisfying splat when you hit the target.

Slingshots at Harbor fright is $6 and paintballs are around the same for 500.

 

The ^%$! oil filter is again not budging! Really starting to hate that thing. But the aluminum socket I accidentally melted to it came off. 3 oil changes later. (Don't care who you are, dat were funny!. the idiotic original event. Not the getting it off. And it hung in there for over 30,000 miles!)

Jockeyed the car around driveway and didn't want the oil to heat up. So shut down quickly. (still thinking that is some how making it difficult to remove filter)

But next day on starting up, shuddered bad. "check engine" lit up. Code said cylinder #2 but light went out day after that after many starts.
do not know
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Front right brake pads wore prematurely due to lack of lube on slide a good 43,000 miles ago. But left fronts were good so I only changed the rt side pads. The left finally wore out this week. So they come in 4's and had a set. Did most of it in the pre dawn hrs. Used Nutz about bolts" video to remember if it was the front piston that you can just push in.

A lot of folks told me this was very bad practice. To replace only one side at a time. If your paying to have it up on a lift and having a tech do it, I would have opted to just go ahead and do both at the same time. Not that I am suggesting this! But I like that it didn't end up in a landfill until absolutely needed..

When I started the car up after reconnecting the 12v, every warning light on the dash was lit. Kinda panicked for a second remembering everyone who many are far more gifted with this stuff than I warning me of dire consequences of not swapping out both front side pads. But restarted all lights went off. Test drive and brakes were better sounding then when car was new. (sticking piston, worn pads)

We should all chip in and buy Nutz about Bolts" a beer! Or 12. The guy really took his time and made some great vids. Seems like the kinda guy you'd wanna hang out and have a beer with. International TYN@B day?! LoL

 

It's not a good practice to just replace one side. Since you can only get pads/shoes in a set,
you might as well do both. PLENTY of room at the landfill...
People do it, and survive. And if YOU are doing it to YOUR car, hopefully if things go wrong,
you only hurt yourself. Because one side is weaker than the other. Less material on one side means
they will get hotter sooner and will wear more.
Pads on the Prius are easy to look at through the wheels so doing a visual check when you check the
tire pressure then you could notice if one side is wearing more than the other alerting you to a problem.
But, it's YOUR car....

 

Assuming you didn't, and correct me if I'm wrong: before reconnecting the 12 volt, tromp the brake pedal a few times to take out the excess brake pedal travel. That mighta been what triggered the lights. Just my theory, but worked so far.

 

Same amount of pressure and no excess heating with plenty of meat and especially with regenerative braking. The caliper feels the exact same pressure on both sides. The RT side looks barely touched.

Really think regenerative braking is brilliant. The only kind of vehicle that has me tempted is the new Tesla pick-up truck. But gonna have to wait as I don't buy cars new. But man, really cool truck from all points of what I'd want.

 

I'll have to try that, ML. Not sure but think any re-connection of the 12v has lit up the board? I'll have to make mental note. It always worries me until they go out.

Failed to mention I also open the brake fluid fill cap when pressing or turning brake pistons back in to accept new pads.

But, a few hundred miles and sounds, feels perfect.

Thanks for the thought!

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's a thing: if the car detects excess pedal travel it'll throw codes. Hence the pedal pushes before battery reconnect. Also, I don't think the brake reservoir cap is air tight, no need to remove cap.

 

I kinda wish it was, I've accidentally knocked it off more times than I can count.

 

Pressure, yesish. If the caliper is sticking, it will take more pressure to get it to move, thus the other one
would do more braking. And if it's stuck, it will rub, thus wearing the pads, which yours did. And the rubbing,
creates heat, which could warp the rotor.

 

The origin was a dry slide pin and caused the front rt pads to wear prematurely. Thus the change first week of owning the car. After replacing that side and lubing all 4, no sticking. And given that the brakes were funky from day one, I would regularly check the rotors. Never any heat or odd wear after. The left side wore out at an expected life span.
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On the '08, cruise control got better MPG than manually driving on the Hwy. This 2010, the CC does really poorly. Havn't looked to hard but have to figure something out. I drive upto 200 miles a day and is kind'a drag.

 

Not finding a lot on the cruise control getting worse MPG on the 2010. The '08, I would try and beat it. The ten, it revs the engine higher than needed at whatever given speed. I definitely do not want to mess with that via Techstream, computer. Only keeping this car a few more years. So might just have to live with it.

Hungry people in the world and I am complaining about having to press the accelerator manually.
Yup, gonna just suffer threw it, LoL.
(But do enjoy these lil puzzles)

 

I can play with the throttle to get higher mpg's, but it's a pain. I do a lot of highway.
I set the cruise a few miles higher, let it settle for several seconds and level off.
Then I start bumping it down 1 mph at a time. That seems to keep it higher.

 

Very cool and Thanks, ASRD. Will try that.

If this were common. The vast difference between the CC on the '08 vs the 10. I'd think someone would have noticed somewhere. Leading me to think something could be addressed. But is reving high and have hope your suggestion works on this one as well.

Thanks again!

 

Had the "check engine" light, light up. do not know why that is seemingly terrifying with a hybrid. But always gets me like a punch in the gut.

Was gonna do the check thing at autozone or the like but light went out in a few days. I have been lending the car to my housemate, partner for the last few weeks and think it was just not clicking the gas cap.

Really funny thing. She gets exactly one less MPG than I do.Exactly one.

 

The cruise control on my 08 also does better than me on highway driving.