What Did You Do To Gen4 Prius Today

I'll have a post up soon and still working on the steering wheel controls, but I completed most of this today:

Finally got rid of Entune for wireless Carplay with sub $300 ATOTO F7G110XE (prime day deal)

 

Holy huge screen, Batman!! But I do like it....great job!! Looks expensive!

 

Yep, it was pretty big, I was hoping I could inset it a little more, but its not too bad, there's a 1 din pocket for "storage" behind, angle looks worse, but from my driving position I can still see AC controls, not bad for under $350 in parts (self install)

Fixed the steering wheel controls and completed my write up here
2016 Prius 3 with ATOTO Carpl | PriusChat

 

I put my wife's very scratched-up right/rear hubcap back on her car. Yesterday, she was out driving to see our granddaughters' volleyball game and claimed the sun blinded her so she didn't see the curb....DUH! Curb-1 Prius-0.
The hubcap is not cracked but looks pretty rough....I'll have to add one in my next on-line Toyota shipment....expected them to be $100 or more but Amayma has them for $45 so not too bad. (We need some wiper blade refills, anyway, so will see what else I'm low on and place an order.)

 

what’s the size of that screen (as well as overall “chassis” including bezels)? I want a larger screen, but also don’t want to block the vents or button access, and this seems to hit the sweet spot.

 

It is a 10" diagonal screen, you can also move the screen up and down via 5-6 preset positions, the angle I have when I sit is the top vents are unobstructed and I can make out 95% of the AC controls (fine enough for me), you can modify to be slightly higher.

 

Got everything I need to replace the fluids in my wife's 2017 Prius transmission and coolants so was trying to remember how to put the car into Maintenance Mode because that's what you do to refill the coolants (have to wait for the radiator cooling fan to come on and off twice).
Anyway, I could not get the stupid car to go into maintenance mode. Push Start (without food on brake), gas pedal to floor twice, brake and put into Neutral, Gas 2x, brake and put into Park, Gas 2x, then brake and Start. SUPPOSED to go into maintenance mode but does not. I even suspected maybe the car needs to have parking brake on so tried that....nope.
What am I missing?

 

This is what worked for me (wasn’t clear if this was what you did, so forgive me if it was):
Maintenance Mode

Press Start 2 times (Ignition)

Fully Depress Accelerator 2 times

Shift from P To N

Fully Depress Accelerator 2 times

Shift from N To P

Fully Depress Accelerator 2 times

Depress Brake Pedal and press Start to start Engine

 

I gave my ‘22 a second wax job and black trim treatment for the winter.

 

Thanks, I DID get it working, finally. If I just push start once, only the radio comes on, not the dash lights so that was the issue. Then, I have to do the rest of the steps slowly and she goes into "2WD Maintenance Mode".....WHOOP!

 

Beautiful day Saturday so got my wife's 2017 Prius LE up on the Quick Jacks for her 5-year service...coolant, transmission, and brake fluid all drained an filled. Some lessons learned:

-Unlike other Toyota Hybrids, the Gen 4 Prius does NOT have a drain plug under the engine for the traction coolant...instead, there are two yellow drain cocks on the left side of the radiator and it takes quite a long time to get a gallon and a half drained out even after opening both coolant reservoirs.

-Have a breaker bar for those 10mm Hex drain/fill bolts on the transmission....seems like Toyota used some locktight on those suckers!

-Removing that huge cover underneath wasn't as tough as removing the skid plate on my Tundra....just 4-5 10mm bolts on the front then removing about 8 clips. (Lots of gravel and crap inside of it so I cleaned it out before putting back on there.)

-There's a filter inside the brake fluid reservoir that's, supposedly, removable but I couldn't get it out so just drained an extra amount from each wheel. (Did it old-school...disconnected the negative battery terminal and used the Mityvac bleeding tool.) It did take longer to bleed each wheel so I suspected the ABS system was the reason. After I got out about a cup or so from each line, I left the bleeder open until a few drops came out to ensure no air was in there.) Took about a pint and a half from new bottles...I never keep brake fluid around...threw out the unused half a bottle.

-I hate pumping differential and transmission fluid so used a funnel with a long hose to refill the transmission from the top of the engine which took about 3 3/4 Qt of WS. Easiest tranny job EVER!!

-After refilling the coolant, you're supposed to put the vehicle into Maintenance Mode and top it off as the ICE runs. Then, you're supposed to wait for the radiator fan to come on twice...this takes FOREVER..probably 20 minutes...I almost gave up waiting and when it finally came on it jumped me! But the 2nd time is not long after.

-Had a concern after everything was done. I pumped the brakes to ensure the lines/calipers were okay and started it...got a big message on the screen about the ICS not being on...not sure what that was. So drove the car around and brought the old fluid to the car store to recycle and drove her for 20 minutes or so. Came home and the ICS warning no longer was there and no check engine light and topped off the coolant and checked brake fluid. Brake pads are 5-years old but not even close to needing changing.

Next big job is the Tundra turning 10 in a few years...will need the same plus new plugs and PVC and MAF sensor and Throttle Body cleaning. (She gets lubed yearly and front/rear/transaxle diffs are done every 3-years.)

 

Thank you for the write-up on what to expect.

I just searched for it, and the Toyota guy admits that they get stuck. Who would have thought?!

3:46 in this video:

Did you use Toyota brake fluid, or just a good brand of brake fluid?

 

Adding - wow, I'm glad your little problem led me to that video. I would never have guessed that merely opening the driver's door while bleeding would mess up the system. I wonder why they chose to have a brake fluid pump run every time the driver's door is opened?
Seems prudent to D/C the negative terminal then, but even then not opening the driver's door.

 

Coolant and Tranny fluid were Toyota Super Long Life and Toyota ATF WS. I forgot to buy Toyota brake fluid when I was there so just got a few pints of Preston Dot 4 Synthetic from O'Reillys.

Mambo: I know, The Car Care Nut scared me but when he said that even the dealership just does old-school drain and fill I was confident I could do it....I've watched a video of a mechanic using a Scan Tool (which I have) but looks like it takes a lot longer and really requires two people. My MityVac pump has been used on a few other cars so is starting to fall apart so I'll just buy a new one when I have to do another brake bleed....el cheapo Chinese crap!

 

I had a brake bleed kit from either Harbor Freight or Amazon, and it worked for the two vehicles I needed it for. Cheap, worked well enough, but throw-away.

 

We have two Gen 4 Prius and found a repeating issue...the rear struts for the back hatch in my 2021 are failing...you have to lift pretty hard to get it to open, now. The 2017 did the same thing after a couple years. I know I'm still under the 2-year Toyota warranty and can get them replaced free but the Chinese ones' I put on the 2017 are, still, working fine so I just ordered them on Amazon but was surprised the ones for the 2017 don't fit my 2021 even though both have the rear wiper.

 

WHY ? To much money and time on your hands ??

 

Why replace the struts? Because the hatch is on the verge of coming back down after opening it because the struts aren't pushing it open like they are supposed to.

 

Hey Boo. I put "Chinese front struts" on our 2012 v wagon ( see to the left ) a few years ago and they are still doing great.

 

Bumped the front tire pressures up to 41 psi two weeks ago. Ride quality is a little harsher. Tracking in hard corners (read: on-ramps and off-ramps) is improved (finally). MPG seems to have gone up a little.