Under the valve cover - Prius edition

[nthach]

Over the weekend, I decided to pull the valve cover off and check things out. This car has almost 200K on it, it’s been in the family since day one. I did all the oil changes on it - usually PP 5W-30 or M1 5W-30 but Castrol Syntec, Valvoline MaxLife and PYB have all seen this engine. The recent OCIs was with Rotella T6 MV 5W-30 but I did an experiment with HPL’s engine cleaner mixed in with a concoction of ST and whatever I had on the shelf. While the HPL EC did a good job of cleaning, this engine looks pretty good for its age, save the loose timing chain. That’s a job in my future.

The VC was resealed with a new Fel-Pro gasket, two dabs of Permatex Ultra Gray where there’s a gap with the timing cover and I reused the OE Toyota grommets.

 

[Kjmack]

Nice , length of OCI ?

 

[demarpaint]

Looks good!

 

[wwillson]

Did you cut the oil filter after the HPL engine cleaner run? Would be interesting to see if the cleaner knocked carbon off internals like it did on my Durango.

 

[TCL]

Cam chain looks like it has a lot slack in it.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

Looks good. The timing chain seems a bit lose.

[Edit]

Never mind, I should have read your entire post all the way to the very end

 

[Sayjac]

Looks good. Be good info to know the average oci with it.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Cam chain looks like it has a lot slack in it.

I agree. (That, or it's an optical conclusion).
That's a very clean engine. Keep doing what you're doing.

 

[nthach]

Did you cut the oil filter after the HPL engine cleaner run? Would be interesting to see if the cleaner knocked carbon off internals like it did on my Durango.

Nope, I’m thinking of sending it off to @53' Stude.

I did a piston soak some 8K ago, using B-12 Chemtool and BMW FI/intake cleaner - same stuff as GM, made by Chevron to help free the rings. That helped get oil consumption down to 1qt/4K. And there was an trial with Valvoline Premium Blue Restore for 10K that did little to resolve the oil burning.

 

[nthach]

Looks good. Be good info to know the average oci with it.

5K OCIs per Toyota.

 

[Trav]

Looks great!

 

[53' Stude]

Nope, I’m thinking of sending it off to @53' Stude.

I did a piston soak some 8K ago, using B-12 Chemtool and BMW FI/intake cleaner - same stuff as GM, made by Chevron to help free the rings. That helped get oil consumption down to 1qt/4K. And there was an trial with Valvoline Premium Blue Restore for 10K that did little to resolve the oil burning.

Hey, shoot me a PM sir. I’ll gladly cut and post it

 

[annual]

Looks excellent. What year Prius? Have you avoided a head gasket leak? If so, what was done to avoid the head gasket problem?

 

[nthach]

Looks excellent. What year Prius? Have you avoided a head gasket leak? If so, what was done to avoid the head gasket problem?

It’s an 2009, second gen model with the underpowered but solid 1NZ engine. 1.5L of noise above 3K.

The 3rd gen cars have the head gasket issues - the Lexus version(CT200h and HS250h) and the Corolla aren’t immune to it either. However, the Corolla doesn’t have cooled EGR or an electric water pump either.

 

[wwillson]

Hey, shoot me a PM sir. I’ll gladly cut and post it

Adam - if you do get the filter, would you cut the media out and post some pictures of the media stretched out?

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Looks good

 

[OVERKILL]

Adam - if you do get the filter, would you cut the media out and post some pictures of the media stretched out?

2nd this, I'd like to see that.

 

[53' Stude]

Adam - if you do get the filter, would you cut the media out and post some pictures of the media stretched out?

I can do that, sure. I’d be glad to cut and post the filter

 

[14Accent]

Beautiful shot, nice to see something so well maintained.

Just my .02: forget about that timing chain. You just happened to remove the valve cover while the chain was in a slack position. When the engine is running and the tensioner is supplied with oil pressure there's no slack to be had.

 

[Bjornviken]

Cam chain looks like it has a lot slack in it.

+1 on that