Dashboard lit up like an Xmas Tree; Finally stalled out and facing the music

We'd been religious about changing the oil every 5,000 miles since owning our 2006 Prius with approximately 160,000 miles on it. Our house recently destroyed by fire and thrown things into turmoil, including maintenance of our vehicle.

Probably driven about 5,750 miles since last oil change. Around 750 miles ago the maintenance light went on. Closer to 350 miles ago Red Triangle of Death came on along with check engine, etc. (every indicator except Brake light, which I believe is the only one the manual warns not to drive vehicle at all, and ABS light). Additionally, the PROBLEM notice at top of the console control screen along with an annoying beep was on.

I know it was a (perhaps big) mistake to continue driving under these conditions. However, the only symptom at the time was delayed acceleration on occasion while driving over 45 mph on the freeway. There was a lag (even with pedal to the floor) but then it accelerated as usual.

Recently, the engine started making a loud clicking sound and shortly thereafter the car stalled out as I pulled into a parking lot (the VSC light also just came on at that time). Praying the damage done wouldn't prove fatal, I had the car towed to Pep Boys for repair.

I learned their store didn't handle hybrids, but the checked the DTC codes for me nevertheless, Unfortunately, the codes weren't written down and the mechanic described them (2) as "relating to the engine being under-powered... probably the battery." Also, they checked the oil and found it was very low (no leaks) and added 4 quarts.

Unaware of Techstream at the time I purchased a VeePeak OCD2 bluetooth adapter and ran several apps using my tablet. Initially, no codes were showing so I just checked out the battery (results below). I decided to drive it around the parking - after waiting 10+ minutes for codes to appear - and drove it until a couple warning lights came on. All I got was "P010A Mass Air Flow MAF B Circuit Malfunction" error,

The short drive around the parking lot was far from smooth and the sound from the engine became (not surprisingly) more pronounced. After parking the car I took a picture of where the clicking sound is coming from (below), specifically in red rectangle.

1. Will codes show up on Techstream that are not now appearing in Torque, etc? (Perhaps it's able to see the history of error codes that were already cleared). If so, I'll purchase the connector (actually, going to do it anyway)
2. Am I correct in assuming it's stupid to drive the car around the block or at higher speeds to get the car to generate more codes? [Most will probably get a good laugh out of that one, but just asking)
3. What repairs can I expect and any ballpark estimates on costs?
4. Do any of the screen shots tell you anything about the state of the HV battery?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
Best,
John

 

1. We religiously changed oil every 5k until lives thrown into turmoil after fire burned down our home down and 99% of our personal belongings. It's difficult to empathize with someone going through this experience unless experienced it yourself. I appreciate your recommendation to start looking for replacement engine, but the "habit of checking engine oil regularly..." comment unnecessary, especially when at 160,000 miles we've changed the oil over 30 times so it's a pretty well established habit. However, you only need to forget once to commit a colossal f-up, which is what I did and you correctly pointed out.

2. How would your recommendation change - if at all - if the mechanic only added 2 quarts of oil? Not trying to be dismissive of the importance of routinely changing oil, but any thoughts on other symptoms mentioned in my initial post?

What blows me away is the Prius was driven roughly 750 miles past the 5,000 marker and now the engine is toast. A friend drove his Nissan Maxima for 6,000 miles before changing the oil and it didn't destroy his engine (maybe he was just extremely lucky - perhaps classic dumb luck).

3. I started pricing Prius engines and vendors are selling 2004 engines with low miles as compatible with the 2006. If true, will all Gen2 engines work with the 2006 or only certain years?

Thanks for your reply. Wasn't what I hoped to hear, but what I needed to hear and I appreciate that very much.

 

Thanks for your reply!

Quick question: Why do you say it's time to move on to a newer car? I've seen quotes for lower-mileage 2006 engines $650 to $1,000 and labor hours needed to replace engines around 15 hours. The interior/exterior is an excellent condition and at $80/hr labor cost I could be looking at a new engine for about the cost of a new battery or $2,200 ($1,000 engine + $80 x 15 labor = $2,200).

Based on another reply it sounds as though the battery, however, may be on its last legs (?). It looks like, if I'm reading this chart correctly, each cell is holding roughly 7.5v, No idea if "State of Charge 58%" means it's still charging and could increase the voltage or not.

Is the battery almost a goner?

I'm willing to sink maybe ~$2.5k to get the car safely back on the road since many live well past 200,000 miles. Pep Boys sells new batteries for $1,200 (excl install costs).

If I'm making some seriously wrong assumptions then I understand how you quickly determined it's a goner. Maybe I'm in denial.

Any recommendations on what to check to find out if it's a lost cause for sure?

Thanks!

 

I apologize for making that statement about moving on. we all have our own pain thresholds, i was projecting.

Hey, no worries. I didn't take it the wrong way and appreciate your advice. I'm just trying to research whether it makes sense to invest more in the car or if it's throwing good money after bad. I'll definitely keep a much closer eye on the oil level assuming I take the former route.

I regularly changed the oil, completed routine maintenance and never had this problem with any of the cars I've owned, which include a Honda Prelude, Nissan 300ZX, Volvo S80 (nightmare), Corvette, Ford Explorer, Porsche 911, Honda Odyssey (started family), Nissan Maxima, Honda CRV. The only car purchased new was the Odyssey,

I had no idea the Pep Boys HV batteries were re-manufactured, reconditioned, rebuilt, etc.as the guy definitely told me it was new. I assume this is stated somewhere on the box and I might have caught it then, but the info is much appreciated.

I'll keep you posted on how things go. Thanks again for your help, much appreciated!

 

First, big shoutout to exstudent (his call the "Engine is toast!" was - unfortunately - spot-on), Mendel Leisk (helpful insights), Skibob (tips for saving money) and of course bisco (knowledge and unique ability to be simultaneously very direct and empathetic) - a great group of guys whose feedback and helpful advice is greatly appreciated!

PLEASE ADVISE on recommended next step(s):

Introduction
So this is a basic repair/replace issue with a twist: The repair cost could run as high as the cost to replace. I would choose to repair instead of replace if that happens - in my current state of ignorance - because better the devil I know than the one I don't. Body/interior in very good/excellent condition. Not confident I tested it correctly, but it appears nothing wrong with the battery (see Techstream, "HV Battery Live" results below). I'm also attaching a couple Techstream "Health Check" results, which may have relevant information.

The car is marginally operational. I drove the car at low speed in Pep Boys parking lot hoping to get error codes back (idk why Pep Boys cleared the codes after checking), but didn't want to push it (lol, or else I'd literally end up pushing the car into a parking space!). Only DTC codes generated were: B1421, B1200, B1207, and B1271 (all seem very minor based on my research).Stored Data

1. Mechanic's Assessment: Took car to Ozzie's, a Toyota shop with ~200 very positive Google reviews for assessment. Mechanic said he thinks a rod was thrown (maybe overheated?) and engine is "toast." He replaced the spark plugs (?) with no noticeable improvement in engine performance and said 95% confident engine is a goner.

I read somewhere 2004/2005/2006 engines (maybe all Gen2) are interchangeable or essentially the same part. I asked the mechanic if claim is accurate and he didn't know. He also didn't know for certain a rod was thrown (after a conducting a preliminary assessment). Is this indicative the mechanic is not competent/qualified? I can see how this could go either way.

2. Cost Estimate: Mechanic quoted 15 hours labor (@$95/hr) to install new engine* and $2,000 for the replacement engine (roughly $3,500) OR I could purchase replacement engine myself, but they wouldn't warranty anything if I did. Seems reasonable the shop wouldn't warranty an engine it didn't purchase, but if anything goes wrong with the car I'm concerned it becomes a question of "Is the engine faulty?" or "Is the problem with the installation?" Is this the correct way of looking at it or just unlikely to happen? I think buying a lower-mileage engine with a warranty should eliminate this issue.

The mechanic said a recent customer bought his own part for a different repair and the car still had problems for which the shop wasn't responsible (is this a red flag?)
* # Hrs engine replacement estimate seems high, but may include replacing parts one should do while engine out. What parts should be checked/replaced if I move forward on this?

3. Engine Replacement: If I'm going to buy an engine, want to make sure I'm buying correct part. The relevance of the VIN 5th digit confuses me. Researched it and this is what I found:

* Entire document below​

I can't see the difference in 5th digit between "B" and "A." Some sellers listed the 5th digit as "K", which I believe is in error (looks like it was the 4th digit). Am I missing something? Do I need to buy a "B" engine If the 5th digit on my car is a B? Also, is there any truth to the claim a 2004/2005/2006 engine can but placed into the 2006?

4. HV Battery Status: Please see the Techstream output on the HV battery below. Short version is all blocks about 15.3V. Not sure but maybe has ~3 years left?

Thank you for any assistance you can offer!

As aside, I don't like how the Prius dash doesn't include a heat gauge (perhaps "PROBLEM" is used instead, but why not say, "ENGINE OVERHEATING" or something more specific or critical).

 

I can't find a comparable Prius in similar condition (excluding the engine issue, of course) for less than $4,000. I'm meeting with the mechanic tomorrow to get specifics on what the $3,500 estimate does - and doesn't - cover. I got the impression it's going to include some small jobs that's easy to complete with the engine already out, but need to make sure.

The shop I'm hiring to do the work, Ozzie's, has a reputation for completing jobs at or less than their estimates (+1). I want to know the mileage of the engine going into the Prius. I went to a number of sites looking at engine prices and it's hard for me to find one near $2,000. At buyusedengine.com the most expensive Prius engine on the site $1,320 (incl shipping - see here) with 38k miles on it.

Even if we put a 40% gross profit margin on top of the retail price of $1,320 we get ~$1,800. Not $2,000. but then again, Ozzie's is providing a warranty (need to find out how long) so an extra $200 may actually be more than fair.

 

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated. I'm certainly not taking your comments as an insult - I made a serious mistake and I hope others will learn from it. I'm far from proud - ashamed is more accurate - of how I handled the situation, though I'd like to believe I did the best I could under challenging circumstances. Dealing with the complete destruction by fire of our home for 15 years combined with insurance company failing to live up to policy terms, Greentree/Ditech unlawfully withholding funds to rebuild our home, a home contractor blatantly violating terms of contract, etc.

Admittedly, even in hindsight this falls far short of justifying my failure to listen to the Prius telling me it desperately needed the attention I failed to provide. I suppose I would've stopped driving the car if I saw a simple H/C gauge climbing to HOT (as I've done before with other cars). Then again, the contrary argument, "You received way MORE warnings to not drive the car..." is FAR more persuasive.

In one thread (not this one) I someone recommended buying a replacement engine with a dipstick! That point has very effectively been driven home (no pun intended) and is a mistake I will NOT repeat. I have Techstream, will be monitoring the oil level at least monthly (I like the idea of getting into the habit of checking every Sat morning before running errands), and have to learn from my mistakes and move on.