Got a rust free Prius for $750 and it just needs a

So I drove 45 miles and all the I/M monitors clicked in. HV Battery display went from 4 bars to "one less than full". Filled the tank. 47 MPG indicated.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
So I drove 45 miles and all the I/M monitors clicked in. HV Battery display went from 4 bars to "one less than full". Filled the tank. 47 MPG indicated.


Nice find and well done!!
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Originally Posted By: fdcg27

I am a little envious, since a cheap Prius is every fuel economy loving cheapskate's dream.
These are among the top five best cars Toyota ever built. Others might be the original V-8 Lexus cars, the old Land Crushers and the nineties Camrys.
They also remain a must-have fetish item among academics and other nerdy types.

Around here, nerds are buying Subarus. Uber and Lyft drivers are snapping up Prii, but not to the same degree as Altimas and Elantras.

Prii/Echos/Scions and anything with a Toyota NZ/ZZ/AZ engine do develop a nasty tendency to burn oil - the rings either get coked up or in the case of the Prius and Camry, low friction piston rings. Timing chain rattle is common. I'm starting to see oil consumption at 1qt/3K, even with the use of PP/M1.

As dull as a Prius is dynamically(I was gifted my parent's old one), they're not that bad. If anything, while the interiors don't age with grace(but the dash melting/cracking that affected the mid-2000s Camry/Avalon/Sienna/Lexus IS doesn't affect these) the Prius is actually a fairly durable car, probably as durable as a Ford Panther seeing how many Prii are serving as taxis/Ubers after their first/second owners.
 
I know the main 'focus' here is the battery packs and getting them working again, but, if not maintained, the IC engine in these are know to burn oil like crazy, which will foul the cats, which may be a bigger hassle than fixing the battery packs!

How does the IC engine look? It's the 1.5, right?
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
I know the main 'focus' here is the battery packs and getting them working again, but, if not maintained, the IC engine in these are know to burn oil like crazy, which will foul the cats, which may be a bigger hassle than fixing the battery packs!

How does the IC engine look? It's the 1.5, right?


With that many miles the 1.5 is probably already burning lots of oil. My 08 had 245k when I sold it and I added a quart almost every 1-1.5k miles. Wasn't a big deal to be honest. I loved the car and didn't care it burned oil. Only had to do the brakes once at 220k miles
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I'm running 5w20 and haven't burnt a drop in the first 1000 miles.

Got techstream (ebay edition) to talk to the battery pack and seems pretty well balanced:

 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
[img:gal:165859aade8bb7839]

So it has a code for "random misfire" and I had some slightly used plugs from my camry with 30k (left) that went in there. But my barely used plugs still have a nice little mini-prong (iridium) on the ground electrode, something missing from the plug on right, which came from the car.


I remember seeing a TSB from Toyota / Lexus that tells you how to "test" an iridium spark plug that supposed to be changed every 60k on the IS250. They ask you to check the resistance between the center and ground electrode and make sure it is open circuit (>10M Ohm). What it means is they are checking for carbon buildup that short them.

Your plug seems to be way too dirty and the spark probably didn't happen because of the carbon build up on the insulation. You can waste your time cleaning it up or just throw in some clean used plug like you do. I'd imagine for a Prius running cold engine all the time, carbon deposit will short the plug before the electrodes are worn out.
 
Incidentally, anybody noticed how Elje put his life on the line by using "Horror Freight" free multi-meter while working on this project? I expected all the Fluke guys to show their displeasure.
 
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Originally Posted By: Vikas
Incidentally, anybody noticed how Elje put his life on the line by using "Horror Freight" free multi-meter while working on this project? I expected all the Fluke guys to show their displeasure.

I think Autozone/O'reilly sold something similar. Even same color.....

And our El Jefe is a welder in current incarnation.....
+ the experience from troubleshooting his many cars.....

I think he was safe
 
If I'm welding stuff with my prius battery I'm doing something very wrong.
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Oil consumption is about a quart in 5000 miles. I've got nearly 5k on it now. My ebay special wheel bearing is making a weird noise so it's getting replaced again.
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I always though a Gen I Prii would be fun car to hot up. Convert to plug-in hybrid. Add some wider mags and stickier tires, nice paint, Reccaro seats, etc. Everything but a f*rt can exhaust ... Don't much care for the styling after Gen I. This one ain't that bad though
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Well done, have fun
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measuring single cells is ok.
i would not measure the whole pack.
meter failure could be explosive with a high energy source like a hybrid traction pack.
having a doctor dig harbor freight shrapnel out of your face?
PRICEY!
flash burns are no fun either.
Originally Posted By: Vikas
Incidentally, anybody noticed how Elje put his life on the line by using "Horror Freight" free multi-meter while working on this project? I expected all the Fluke guys to show their displeasure.
 
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The only way to actually blow up the HF multimeter is to replace the fuse inside it with a bullet and then put in the 10A scale, put the probes in the 10A hole and touch the hybrid traction pack.
 
Slightly off topic, but I have been really annoyed at how long the glue-on face plates stay on Chinese instruments before they curl, peel and fall off ...
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Now I'll only buy instruments with silk-screened faces
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Like this thread on how to get older Prii working
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Don’t read 300K? That’s interesting I thought they did. I know the one in our Camry and my sisters Corolla does.
what year Corolla?
My buddy has an '03 Pontiac Vibe (basically a rebadged Toyota Matrix, ie: Corolla wagon)and there's a well documented "glitch" in that generation of Vibe/Matrix/Corolla,etc that the Odometer Stops @ 299,999 like he pictured above in the Prius.

Sadly I doubt his Vibe will make it that far.. it's around 250k mi now, but falling apart... litterally... the Driver's door is going to just fall off one of these days..the hinge bolts are actually pulling through the "A" pillar. it was wrecked and slapped back together before he bought it 10years ago, with 120k mi. had I seen it first, i'd have told him to steer clear of it, but, he's gotten 10 years out of it and put 130k mi on it.
 
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