These photos were taken yesterday at the NJ Prius meet. It seems to me that the unshielded wiring is going to be a dirt & grime collector. Do you have exposed wires or a plastic shield on this component? Barbara needs to know if she needs to make a trip to the dealer. Thanks. Jim.
Hi Jim, I just checked mine and it is exactly the same as in your pictures so Barbara doesn't need to worry about planning that trip just yet.
Looks like Toyota didn't protect them. I would find a way to add your own protection. Maybe some clear RTV will do the job. After years of road dirt, grime, exhaust, oil, etc, enough junk could build up and cause intermittent problems later.
The wires connecting the car's horn(?) look very fragile too, as if getting hit by some gravel would break it. In Toyota we trust!
I believe we've found another advantage for 2010 grill blocking. I also vote for finding something to cover that up. Thanks everyone.
I'd argue it'd be pretty hard to get something high speed and damaging flying up in there unless something pretty significant was going on (i.e. front end collision). Most of the airflow will be "filtered" by our poor radiators and A/C condensers before making it into the engine compartment. With the amount of panels below, most of the air will be "exhausting" down there vs. entering.
I'll have to look at mine tomorrow. It is a 2004. Why not just protect it with some duct time loosely around it?
Those aren't the only wires with exposed connectors. Just follow the cable from the picture around to the left side of the Power Control Unit and you will find another set of exposed connectors. Perhaps a Toyota guru can explain the reason for this type of connector design and whether they considered making a cover for the connector.
My 97 Camry was the same way. Many of the connectors looked like this and yes, they were a grimmy, dirty mess. After a 126K miles did I have a problem, no, at least not the I am aware of. Peter
Pretty sure you are just looking at bare wires, that the pins that are crimped on the wires are pushed through a rubber seal into the plug giving a water proof seal. I would not "pot" the backside of the plug as it could make removing the wires at a later dater very difficult.
