2010 PRIUS IV - engine/transmission - headache/migraine

Excellent, excellent I do think I will continue to do a little more homework before committing that giant leap! Such as not only verifying part#'s but also checking local bone-yards just to see how much a bone-yard trans would be just in case they get it apart and find a fried input shaft (and I determine it's too costly to repair that too). Then maybe I can work out some kind of deal with the shop owner like "hey I can't afford to 'fix' the trans so, can we just toss in one from the bone-yard [while you have it apart]"... ... ...

Hopefully it doesn't come to that but I guess that would be the worst case scenario, where, they get it all apart and find out that the input shaft IS screwed, AND I determine I cannot afford to have that "fixed" too (at a trans shop)! I still would like an "out" so that I can get this thing back to true ROAD-WORTHY-NESS! And from what I understand - boneyard transmissions can sometimes be had as low as $200!

Middle case scenario would be they find it screwed and I can afford it, even if I have to hold my nose while I swallow that pill...

BEST case scenario would be, they get it all apart and do the damper and flywheel and put it all back together and she's just like she was before all this nonsense started!!!

 

Oh I will be sure to keep everyone up to date - also so it's a reference for the future for fellow prii owners!!

 

If the car ever had a blown head gasket (before me owning it) I would think it would have been doing this since the beginning though (if it was a bent rod). I have owned and driven the car probably somewhere just under 100k!

I am going to hope it's just the damper/flywheel at this point. I think I am going to just purchase the parts as earlier discussed especially since Mendel pointed out a REALLY cheap vendor for me for those!

At this point, given my exact circumstances and finances it would be most economical to just to that. If it DOES still wind up being something else, well then I guess I'm going to have to get employment I can just bicycle to, or go get my CDL and drive a "big truck" for a few years in order to just get a NEW prius... =\

 

Okay, so I am officially taking the plunge! I just created the order and have to wait for them to finalize payment from the one part having a "?" for it's weight... Got the email saying they will double check my order and send payment instructions ASAP. They are estimating that the parts will ship in 7 days...

I did call a local dealership / parts department and provided my VIN to confirm that I'm even ordering the correct part numbers for my vehicle based off it's VIN... I was/am ordering the right parts (and holy crap do they want SO much more money locally)!!! Has to be like a 400% markup at my local "stealership"!!! Don't mind waiting for shipping with THAT much savings! Just hope this is all I need to do to have my car back, "like normal"!

Will surely keep this thread up to date as things progress!

 

I am sorry for the delay but here is the official update:!

On Monday March the 16th, 2020 my new flywheel and damper assembly arrived from Japan! I must say, I was VERY impressed by how well it was all packaged! (Photos to come!) I made sure to unearth and verify all parts, and photograph them in their new state for everyone here at PC as promised! Later that night I dropped off my car and parts as they sat in the passenger seat to my new favorite shop. Tuesday the 17th they called to verify everything and said they would likely begin working on it on WED the 18th, or THUR the 19th. I stopped in, in person on the 18th just to kinda check to see if they had an estimate for when I'd be getting it back. That day they ended up being backed up and had not began working on my ride yet, but assured me that they would be beginning the necessary work on my car on THUR the 19th. Thursday March 19th, 2020 I received a phone call in the middle of the day informing me my baby was done and ready for pick up!

I arrived, tendered the agreed upon $900 for labor and was happily told that, that was indeed for sure 100% the issue, and that my car was 'good to go now'! As requested, they returned the damaged parts to me, so that I could see for myself how bad off they were, and to of course photograph them and share them with you all here at PC!

We did determine/discuss that the flywheel in fact was NOT cracked all the way through, and did not really have enough damage to *require* replacement. I agreed that, I still thought it a good idea "while we were in there anyway"! Not to mention the flywheel was the cheaper of the two parts between it and the damper assembly! So now, BTW, I will either be hanging onto the old one as an emergency spare part, or selling it AS IS. Either way I'm likely going to clean it up as best I can! If anyone out there needs a 3G prius flywheel let me know!

So, at first, posting the update here at PC was one of my first thoughts, but the excitement of having my baby good as new or better overtook me. I immediately went back to work! I must say, she is as good as new, or even better now! But today, my first day off, Sunday March 22nd, 2020 first thing I had to do was get this update complete!

The damper was SO bad off, only ONE of the FOUR springs remained in place! THREE of the FOUR had cracked off! I thought they may have made their way out through the little viewing window, but as it turns out, they were returned to me with the bad damper. They must've been floating around in there, with the prospective of causing further damage.

He assured me that the input shaft was in good shape!

Pictures to follow!

 

Pictures (all are pretty self explanatory), the one of my ODO was the exact mileage when I dropped the car off at the shop!

 

YES! I cannot thank you enough for letting me know about that site! That is the ONLY reason I was able to get the new parts as cheap as I did!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

 

I know! I am glad I am very 'in tune' with my car(s) [and motorcycles] and caught it early on, and (for the most part) 'baby footed' it while the issue gradually got worse. By the time I took it into the shop I almost towed it in just to be safe, but ultimately wound up 'limping' it down to the shop! I am very great-full everything turned out the way it did! I know this could have wound up so *much* worse, especially had I not noticed it so early or continued to drive it like that!

 

I am also very glad to announce that since all the repairs I have done I am getting MUCH better fuel economy than I ever have before out of this car too!

Before the repairs were all done (my 'best' was): 59MPG / 532 miles


After repairs my best has been 65.5MPG and i pulled 715.5 miles out of the ONE tank!


Both trips were reset upon repairs too, and I use TRIP A as a "long one" and TRIP B for each tank-full. So TRIP A in this photo is since I got it back from repairs! Since I got it back from repairs I have traveled 2,745.1 miles and got an avg of 62.7 MPG over the last 2,745.1 miles! WOW!

 

My single best tank out of this car to date!

 

Oh, and for future reference: If I had to do this all over again knowing what I now know (or the next time this happens to me or someone I know), I'd pretty much do it the same all over again! Start cheap and work my way up.

- run compression A/O leak-down tests to assure head gasket integrity
- clean intake/EGR system
- replace plugs/coils/PCV
- replace damper assembly

Only thing I'd probably skip out on was replacing the flywheel unless it HAD to be (wasn't gonna risk the additional two weeks ordering from Japan, so I just ordered it with the damper)!