The manual confused me further...

He'll show up soon enough... In the meantime, what are your questions?

 

i can wait for mendel if she can...

 

I see a big bill coming with those miles

 

Here's one thing I'll suggest right away: you are driving a rolling collection of two dozen computers that are constantly watching things in the car and detecting if something is amiss. Therefore, in preparation for any time something seems not functioning correctly, you definitely want to have a way to find out what those computers already know about it, because that is usually the one step you can take with the greatest payoff in telling you what's going on.

A sort of "gold standard" around here is an old beater Windows laptop and Techstream software, which is what the dealers would use, so it can tell you everything it can tell them. Some people use other OBD-II apps instead, maybe on a smartphone, and sometimes those can be made to tell you a lot of the same stuff Techstream could, but sometimes it's up to you to make them, while Techstream just already knows how.

I usually have the laptop tossed in the car for any longish road trip, but not always when I'm just tooling around. However, I always have a short piece of wire, or the equivalent, that I can use to trigger the feature where the car blinks out trouble codes on the dash lights. Only a few of the computers in the car can do that, but they include important ones like the brakes, so that means if those warning lights ever come on, I can pull over and find out why, immediately and wherever I am.

PriusChat often sees questions from people who hope we can answer what's wrong with their car just from what dash warning lights are on, and maybe a little description of some weird behavior, but that's usually a vain hope. There just aren't nearly enough lights on the dash to go with the hundreds of conditions the car's computers can detect, and they light in certain combinations for reasons that are simple but don't tell you much. Honestly, the best thing you can do when warning lights are on is move straight to finding out what the trouble codes are.

One oldie-but-goodie place to start might be the Gen 3 Prius user-guide put together by old member john1701a. There are some "education" pages toward the end, with a very brief overview of how some of the magic happens. (Tune out his comment about a former reduction gear being "replaced with a second PSD", which isn't quite right: Gen 3 did add a second planetary gear but it has a different purpose, it isn't a "second PSD", and it doesn't replace the reduction on the way to the wheels, which still happens. Aside from that quibble, those pages are a pretty good introduction.)

When you're done with john1701a, there's a bit of a jump in level of detail that you can take, and two ways you can do it:

• You can subscribe to Toyota's Technical Information Service, as described here, and delve into the New Car Features manual, which is Toyota's way of telling you what the pieces are, what they are there for, what they do, and how. You can pay $20 and subscribe to TIS directly, or look for some of the free options also described at that link.
• You can look on YouTube for Prius videos made by Prof. John Kelly of Weber State University.

Both of those options represent about the same leap in level of detail up from john1701a's stuff, but they're also different. Prof. Kelly's videos are mostly focused on the parts of the car that make up the powertrain, and how those work. They are great for explanation because of course you have the video.

In contrast, the New Car Features manual has sections for all the bits that make up the car. If you want to know what goes into the heater or the power windows or the dash display or what not, all that stuff is described there.

The NCF is not the same as the Repair Manual, which you also have access to on TIS. It's more the background info. The repair manual often reads like it is jumping into the middle of things, just telling you how to take bits apart and repair them, because it assumes you already know the basics of what they are and what they're for, from the NCF.

The New Car Features manuals that appear with the first year of a new generation are the ones with the most information, so that would be 2010 for yours. There's other background you could fill in by wandering back through the 2004 and even 2001 NCF, which gave the first explanations of how a Prius does what it does.

Even if you don't think you would ever DIY anything on the car, and you would rather always have a mechanic do the work, knowing where to find the NCF and the repair manual will always mean you can go in well informed about what it is you'll be asking the mechanic to do, and what it really entails. That can be very empowering.

 

I am totally blown away! I found just the thing for Shenine. Plus a couple other items.

 

congrats on your new to you prius!
you would need a course in auto mechanics and electronics to even have a vague idea of what might be wrong due to a leak or sound.
you have an incredibly complicated but wel made and reliable machine. at 180k, some of that reliability is less due to wear and tear.
i think the best you can do is spend time here looking through threads and asking questions. when something breaks, come here and start a thread. your ability to understand and learn will be based on your time and desire.
the maintenance schedule lists all preventative maintenance. when you get to the end, start over at the beginning. be careful to note maintenance intervals that are shorter as you rack up more miles.

a few things need regular checking like oil level, tire pressure, air and cabin filters, hybrid battery cooling fan filter, and the 12 volt battery once in awhile. remove the mechanical keys from the fobs and make sure they unlock the drivers door. lube the lock once in awhile and check the keys every year.
learn about the 12 volt jump point under the hood, and the emergency release for the hatch.
these are all spelled out clearly in the owners manual.

all the best!

 

saving gas cost a lot of money.

 

lol

 

mendel? where are you?

 

If he came yesterday and we weren't here you may be sure he won't come again today.

 

Yeah who knows, lol.

1. EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system cleaning should have happened at least by 100K miles. Toyota is maddeningly silent on this, and IF the dealership service departments take it on, they won't stoop to cleaning, just replace, and the parts alone will be around $700 USD. This is definitely #1; head gasket failures start happening around these miles.

My "opinion" is that there is a direct correlation between clogged EGR and head gasket failure. The latter may require a (salvage) engine swap, or entail an expensive pro-rebuild, or an arduous (and still at least $500) DIY repair, with head bolts, gasket kit and sub'ing the head to a machine shop for check, seal replacement and clean up.

More info on EGR cleaning, in particular for the DIY approach, in the "bad flywheel" link in my signature.

2. Transaxle fluid drain-and-fill; again, Toyota says nothing about it. Very simple, about the complexity of an oil change, and requires about $40 USD of supplies: 4 quarts/liters of Toyota ATF WS fluid, and replacement washers for the drain and fill bolts. Correct level is achieved by filling with the car level, till it starts flowing back out. Drain/Fill bolt torque is 29 ft/lbs. Simplest fill method is a funnel with hose extension from above. It'll take about 3.5 qts, so go slow after 3. See attachment.

3. Brake fluid replacement: again, Toyota USA says nothing about it. Toyota Canada says tri-yearly or 48K kms, whichever comes first. See attachment.

4. Brake inspection: The Toyota USA schedule "hints" at a more in-depth brake inspection, every 3 years or 30K miles. But I get the sense dealerships AND owners enable each other, ignore/neglect the regular brake inspection. See attachment.

 

let me turn the tables, don’t answer it’s a trick!

 

Remember that, touche...