Hey all, so I figured that I would just start a new post instead of trying to get the title fixed on the other one. So I just recently purchased a nice used 2013 Prius. Here's the first question. So the previous owner told me about the control arm on the passenger side needing to be replaced. I did some research and I can buy just the control arm itself from Rockauto or I can buy a packaged deal through other websites. My question is should I just go after the control arm itself or should I just go ahead and replace both control arms? Also how soon should I start to look into doing some preventative maintenance in the engine area? From what I saw, all of the reservoirs are filled up properly. I want to ensure that I don't make the same mistakes I did with my previous Prius
That would depend on how many miles, how much work is needed, and what was done to the car previously. On a recently acquired car; I like to spend as little money as possible to get it road worthy again. Then go from there, to determine how much additional work is needed and it's priority. I may end up flipping it, to a mechanically inclined friend with the laundry list and priority of each item. These are project car guys. They don't do it to turn a profit, like me. I've got about a dozen of these guys on speed-dial. They like me, because I give them a good deal with a laundry list of things that need to get done. I've already done a through once-over and shake-down for them, so no surprises. Mistakes happen, as long as you learn from them and don't repeat them - That's all a part of LIFE... Good Luck.....
The difference between a pair of control arms and one control arm shouldn't be mission critically large but if it is by the one that's needed it has the bushings in it and all of that so you're just pulling bolts putting it in you need a long bar and figuring out how to put it in and pull on it while you pull the or put the hardest bolt in it can be a real pain but other than that that should do it I don't know whether you need a new lower ball joint and all that other stuff or not If the car was smacked or something happened I have no idea but you want all that suspension stuff to be pliable and working as exposed to You don't want a lot of clunking and all that kind of funny business going on.
So what I'm considering doing is going to Pepboys and getting their 120 point inspection performed on the car, which its been on sale all year long. From there, they can help me determine if the control arm is just bad or if more parts need to be removed as well. I do know that the ball joint needs to be replaced on my truck since it always grinds when I turn it to the right, but I don't hear any noises on the Prius. However, I certainly won't ignore this if they call for it to be replaced however. I am hoping that this will fix the steering situation as the steering wheel stays at a 45 degree angle towards the right side.
I would hope grinding while turning is not your ball joint but that's another whole issue with your steering wheel sitting like it's sitting 120 point inspection I don't know if that includes putting the alignment heads on the wheels like they're aligning the car I'm sure it does not so what you need is a person to put the alignment heads on all four wheels and see what the problem is not 120 point inspection Why is the lower control arm bad? Is this thing been curbed or something?. 120 point inspections fine like if it's near free I mean you should be able to get well I'm not even going to go there anyway yeah I would go to a front end shop or alignment place a place that's known in your town to do alignments for very reasonable like where I live it's 50 bucks instead of the normal 80 to 120 they will set the car up put the heads on it and align the car if they can align it they'll tell me why they can't because such and such and so and so needs replacing boom.
Gen 3 has funnier control arms than my generation too I think I've got both cars here about to go out and look for some reason people seem to be able to tear them up pretty easily on the generation 3 or I hear people talk about replacing them for bad bushings or whatever the case may be that goes wrong in the things on four or five generation twos we haven't had to touch the lower control arms We put ball joints front hubs brakes and the like struts but no control arms bushings aren't worn out nothing that just hanging there
How many miles are on the car? That's important. It's not likely it needs control arms, UNLESS, either or both have been damaged from hitting something in the road. How does the car drive? Same with the ball joints. These things last a LONG time. "IF" you need too replace the control arm, you "should" do both at the same time. You can buy them yourself and replace them. A little tricky, you can't force them. And don't really need too, it's just getting them at the correct position to remove and install. Watch at least 10 different video's on how to do them. So you'll have a good idea on how to do them. Maintenance will depend on the mileage. 100,000 miles is where everything starts. Coolants, transmission, spark plugs.... Guide pins for the rear (and front) need to be cleaned and regreased sooner.... You can do a search and find what needs to be done. Also, and most important, the egr system NEEDS to be cleaned at about 100,000. A little more work, but very doable. As for "that" place, I wouldn't even waste breath on saying that place. Going to a shop the KNOWS about the Prius and how to work on them is your best bet.
Hey man so I was actually considering getting the set, but this is my first time experiencing this situation. Also to your comment about hitting something, there is external body damage (very little). Also I did look at 1aauto's video about the top 5 things in which they did talk about the egr valve, so I am fully aware of that. However, I'm not aware about the guide pins, so I'll definitely look into that as well. Unfortunately where I live, we only have 1 shop that works on hybrid cars, so I'll talk with them to see how much they charge to take a look at the control arm area & go from there. But one video said that the drivers side control arm is easier to replace than the passenger side, so they did a video on how to replace it from the passenger side. Since I don't have the necessary tools to replace the passenger side, I'll probably have the shop do that. According to the video, it required using a floor jack to slighly lift up the transmission or something thats connected to the control arm in order to get that unbolted. However, I just recently got the car, so I'll just do some more searching as there's no big rush yet. Lastly, the car is currently at 169k miles. Supposedly they replaced the spark plugs, but honestly I'm just gonna get myself some platinum spark plugs because I don't know what kind they purchased & the young man I bought it from is still in college, so I highly doubt he knows what kind of spark plugs were put in. The coolant level is for sure good because I did see that and it's full for sure. All reservoirs look fine (for now).
You don't need anything special, just a regular floor jack to list the engine. It's just one bolt you take out, then a piece of wood under the engine and jack it up to be able to remove the front bolt for the control arm. Does the car drive straight and handle okay? The plugs might be cheap chinese copies. Either get them from the dealership or a good parts store. I use bosch plugs from autozone and haven't had any issues. And of course the platinum tip ones. When you have the plugs out, try to shine a light into the cylinder and see if the #1 and 2 pistons look cleaner than the #3 and 4 pistons. If it does, the head gasket is bad. It's probably okay, or you'd notice a knocking when the engine starts when it's cold or has been sitting for a while. And the coolant level would be down. Though he might have filled it.... The coolant "level" may be good, but I doubt he changed the coolant. Easy to do. Same for the inverter coolant. For the transmission oil change you'll need 4 jack stands or two ramps and 2 jack stands. The car needs to be level. Then some tubing and a funnel. All is very doable.
So per your first question, yes the car does drive straight and it doesn't want to veer right or else I wouldn't have bought it from him. Also I will be replacing the spark plugs with ones from Rockauto since that what I put into my Camry, so I know which brand to get. For sure there's no knocking in the engine area as I did do a test drive with the previous owner and there's none of that. Now for the transmission oil change, I'll have to study a video and see if I feel confident enough to do that. I do know that I don't have the necessary tools to remove spark plugs (yet), but hopefully that shouldn't be too difficult.
Since it drives straight, the control arms are likely okay. Do the wheels look straight when you look from the front? Rockauto has been selling a lot of junk the last few years. I'm very dissapointed in them. Hopefully, the plug will not be the chinese copies. Actually, the hardest part of the transmission fluid change is getting the car up, and level. And remember, loosend the 10mm allen FILLER plug FIRST! Then the drain plug. I think autozone has the 14mm MAGNETIC socket for the spark plugs. And then a long extention.
So I do plan on going with Iridium spark plugs, but which brand would you recommend that I go after? According to Rockauto, the NGK brand looks very popular. Also my local autozone is sold out of the magnetic spark plug socket, so looks like I'll have to go on eBay for it. Also the wheels do look straight, but like you said, I'll go ask the local shop to take a look at it and figure out why the steering wheel is that much off.
Ok so small update; so I took the Prius out for a quick drive and immediately noticed that it actually needs a front end alignment rather than replacing the control arm because when I allow the steering wheel to stay straight, the car veers left. Now I've tried to search up videos on how to do a basic front end alignment and they seem to be strictly for regular cars, so I don't know how much different it would be for a hybrid car. However, I can't really do it today since there's forecast for rain all day and unfortunately we don't have a garage, so gonna have to wait til tomorrow. Good news is that I have jack stands, so I can lift up the front end and will begin to work on aligning it as close as humanly possible. However, the spark plugs will have to wait til next week since all the rest of my $ went towards getting the car in my name. Aside from that, I' gonna work on getting the upper glove box situation fixed so that I can possibly use that area in the future.
How much wear on the tires? Try switching the two front tire. How much does it pull? A lot, or is it a drift? If it's a lot, something is bent. Or the bushing are bad. There is no caster adjustment, or camber either, though you can fiddle with it a little bit with the bolts. Same with the caster, with the 3 upper bolts of the strut, but again, very little. Toe in/out is all you can really do, on the front. For the rear, you can adjust, kinda, caster/toe in-out, but I doubt they will do it on a regular alignment because you have to loosen several bolts and mover either end of the axel forward or backward. Some people have bought plastic shims in an attempt to adjust the caster when they have damage to the frame or control arm. But it doesn't REALLY work, or last. They are PLASTIC! The car NEEDS to be on the ground, all for wheels. Or on an alignment rack.
So it looks like I'll have to remove the front bumper if I'm gonna be able to do it on my own since my car is just a few inches lower to the ground than other Prius models. Apparently its not possible to put the car on 4 jack stands and still get this completed. Also apparently the mechanics around me want to charge around $200 to do this, which seems rather ridiculous.
??? Get what done? Transmission? Alignment? You put the stands on the frame in the front, and the axel beam for the rear. I use ramps for the front. I put a piece of 2x4 at the lowest part of the ramp and drive the Prius wheels on the wood then the ramp so as to not damage the plastic underbody. Then I jack up the rear on the axel with 2 pieces of 2x4's so I can get it up high enough to put the jack stands on. It doesn't have to be perfectly level, just close enough.
Your Prius is lowered? Same question here. ^ I’d stick to the proscribed front and rear jacking points. I use “alternate” safety stand bearing points as well, but not the rear axle. More info here: New Owner Preparing to Change Oil for the 1st Time | PriusChat
