my 2014 prius v is still going strong after 200k now

wow, congrats! and great job taking care of her. this should be a sticky on how not to blow yourgen3 headgasket

 

Good to hear a success story. How many miles are you putting on yearly?

Looking through my log, I cleaned the intake and EGR components in September 2017, around 70K kms. November of next year will be 12th anniversary, and the odo will be around 97~98K kms, and due for spark plugs (12 years or 160K kms), so as long as I've got the wipers and cowl off, I figure to do the EGR and intake again at that point. Second time around I'm sure it'll go a lot smoother.

 

I am all for preventive maintenance, as my 2013 v is my Uber driver vehicle. Still yearly EGR cooler cleaning might be more than needed. I did mine at 94K, and I plan to do it every 2 years or 50k from now on. I might consider doing the EGR passages in the Intake Manifold every year or 25k.

@Dusty rug: do you know if your 2014 is late enough in the model year to get the improved oil control rings?

 

Not sure if it's just typo, but the revision is to piston rings (plus the pistons, to fit the revised rings).

This document from Toyota indicates the VIN cut-off, for the old rings:

 

IMHO 5k Oil changes are the most important thing for longevity. My 2013 v has 104k on it, and uses about 1/3 quart in 5k miles.

I put at least 25k a year myself. My opinion is cleaning the EGR passages more critical than cleaning the EGR + Cooler. Each cylinder has its own EGR passage in the intake manifold.

The EGR test that is performed for emissions tests all 4 Cylinders together. That test won't throw a P0401 code when only one passage is blocked, but you can be sure that is the cylinder where the Head Gasket will fail. Removing the Intake Manifold and cleaning the passages is a pretty easy two hour job. If you can get the EGR out that quickly, then go ahead and clean it. Getting the EGR cooler out is a PITA. Note, if either the EGR or EGR cooler get plugged, you will get a P0401 as a warning.

As for your catch can, are you careful not to overfill with oil? I recently learned that I have been doing the final "top off" of oil during oil changes wrong. Doing the "top off" on a cold engine, will lead to overfilling when the oil heats up. Most cars, this small amount of extra oil would not matter. Most cars have their PCV valve on the top of the engine, not the side.

 

If your oil consumption is low, I wouldn't worry about the rings. IMHO the rings are mostly a problem for those who follow the Toyota Recommended 10K oil change interval, instead of 5K. Can I assume you are the original owner, and that the 5K oil changes have been consistent for the whole life of the car? Since you are being proactive with keeping the EGR paths clean, you have a good chance of not needing a head gasket replacement either. You should be proud of your proactive work.

 

Of course the brake booster (Accumulator?) issue may still be looming. Did you get the Inverter Recall taken care of? Either of these could leave you stranded, although there is a campaign to fix the brake booster, if it fails. Don't know the mileage limit on brake booster.

 

Now the real pain begins................

 

I'm glad to hear about the v pulling heavy trailers. I pull a trailer occasionally with mine, and I've never had a problem, but I do worry since Toyota recommends against it.

 

@rjparker help me here. The Prius v has a longer wheelbase, and low center of gravity. This would cause the car to be subject to excess nose - tail oscillations. There is a computer controlled feature that adjusts the torque on the front wheels when it hits a speed bump and with the help of the braking system, tries to neutralize these excess oscillations (this feature has a name, RJP, can you help?). It does a great job, as I take regularly take parking lot speed bumps at 17 MPH, and I feel almost nothing.

Add 50% to the weight of the car with a trailer, and this feature will be out of tune with the actual weight of the car+trailer. I could imagine this would put excessive stress on all sorts of components: Brakes Motors, and the trailer hitch itself. If you are pulling a trailer, and hit a "washboard" at a green light at the right speed, and bad things are likely to happen. A washboard is caused by trucks and buses stopping on hot asphalt, causing "waves" in the pavement at stop lights.

 

Pitch and Bounce Control

 

My 2012 Prius V has 164k on it. Has been running great since I bought it. I change oil every 5-7k. On the last visit, the local mechanic pointed to some oil leak and recommended I get it checked from a Toyota dealer. Is that a leaky head gasket? He also recommended looking at purchasing extended warranty. I'm not very hands on with cars so need some input from you guys. If I take it to Toyota, and find a problem, I'm told the extended warranty won't cover it in the future. Not sure how to proceed.

 

Try to determine where the leak's starting from yourself, if possible, or with the help of that local mechanic. Some possible sources:

1. Timing chain cover
2. Timing chain tensioner
3. Oil pressure sensor
4. Oil pan

The first one is a bit of a cash-cow for dealerships. The timing chain cover is large aluminum cover at the "front" of the engine, right end of the engine (passenger side end). It mates to the engine with form-in-place gasket, which sometimes starts to leak. The leak can be minor, or it can be worse. Dealerships will push removal and resealing, charge anywhere from $1500 on upwards.

To check that one yourself, you can jack up the front right corner, remove the wheel, remove a few of the plastic fasteners on the plastic panel at back of wheel well, pry the panel back.

 

There is a static load control bias in the P&B system, with a sensor underneath the right rear chassis, between rear axle beam and chassis, so that the instant loading and pitch determine how P&B operates, which includes the effect of parked and running static trailer hitch loading. The P&B biasing is not dynamic, however, in the sense of unbraked or braked, dynamic, vertical or forward/aft, oscillatory trailer loads on the hitch.

 

I am a little confused about what you are saying about the "P&B system". I think you are saying that the P&B system won't like "braked, dynamic, vertical or forward/aft, oscillatory trailer loads on the hitch". I think you are sying that the system won't compensate for dynamic changing in braking requirements by adding a different set of wheels: (the trailer).

 

Correct. Works great on the loaded v but likely won’t accommodate dynamic trailer hitch loads because they are not detected by the chassis sensor.