Mechanic Tears Down 300,000-Mile Toyota Prius Engine, Carbon Buildup Galore

[PF52]

Now someone show us a breakdown of a 2004 Chevy Cobalt w/300,000 miles (or a Focus or was the Neon still around then?). would be a nice compare/contrast.

I'm getting close.... You'll have to settle for a pic with the valve cover removed until then.

 

[eljefino]

I could feel the carbon buildup in my saturn s-series. They were stick shifts and would bog off the line due to timing retard. I tried all sorts of stuff-- techron, thicker oil, water decarbs, a ring job...

A prius has a pretty healthy electric motor boost right off the line, so may not appear to "bog" to the casual driver. So they wouldn't do any of this stuff. They also don't engine brake, unless someone uses "B" mode, which I've never felt a need to do. Engine braking is better for sealing rings.

Took my 05 prius to 303k without it really burning oil. Maybe 1/2 qt in 5k miles. Getting the battery pack out is a cinch-- you could do it with the $10 HF 40-pc socket set if you really wanted to. No rust inside the passenger compartment, no crazy torques.

 

[Shel_B]

Being hybrid, does the engine actually have 300k miles of running? How many miles did it acquire in electric mode vs engine running?

Apart from the stop-start feature, the 2nd Gen Prius runs gas most all the time. There's very little battery only driving. When we back sweetie's Prius out of the garage, the engine starts about the time the front wheels reach the garage door, and, unless stopped at a light, the engine pretty much runs continuously.

 

[hardcore302]

I propose this: could the prius in question never have seen WOT? No Italian tune up not even once?

 

[Dorian]

Our RAV4 was junk at 50K miles, Our Yaris at 60K. Toys are not magic at all. Agree with the Neon though, that was a barely spot-welded together garbage can. Cavaliers and Cobalt are some of better, pleasant rental cars I had driven in FLA years ago,

Do you have posts about these two cars for the past? I would like to think this is a joke.

 

[Malo83]

Nasty!