Got an air compressor? Tape up the tailpipe and put a blowgun to it to mildly pressurize it. Then spray soapy water around junctions. No hot parts to work around and you might even be able to listen for the hiss of the air escaping if your compressor isnt cycling.
Apexcarver wrote: Got an air compressor? Tape up the tailpipe and put a blowgun to it to mildly pressurize it. Then spray soapy water around junctions. No hot parts to work around and you might even be able to listen for the hiss of the air escaping if your compressor isnt cycling.
That's a good idea- I'll have to try that once I get the power running in my garage again and have power to run the compressor. Or at least run an extension cord out to it. 
Haven't updated the budget in a little while...
Previous Balance: $2,015
Detailing: $140
Tip for detailing: $20
O2 Sensor Spacer: $4.94
Fender Clips: $2.59
Driver's Inner Fender: $18.47
Parking Brake Pedal Pad: 11.95
RockAuto parts order (brakes, filters, lug nut, wipers, plugs): $117.77
Bumper insert & splash shield: $59.41
Total Money in Car: $2,390.13
(that will end up $10 lower down the line since I have a $2.50/plug rebate)
I brought the (very few) necessary tools to open the dash in to work as I hoped to have time between work & practice to try and fix the clock that had gotten pushed back into the dash (in the earlier pictures of the dash, there's a good-sized rectangular hole under the MFD). I did get the time, and was able to get it pulled apart and pop the clock back into place with a minimum of fuss. So now the dash looks complete and much better. For now it's largely a waiting game for the parts I have on order.
Ashyukun wrote: It's not impossible that it's the O2 sensors (there are sadly multiple sensors, costing >$100 for the upstream one) but pretty much every case of it I've found in searching has been the cat.
If I'm not mistaken, it would be your downstream O2 sensors that would be throwing a cat code, if any; not the upstream sensors. But from what I've learned, O2 sensors rarely go bad and it is unlikely that is actually the problem.
If you have a laser thermometer, get the car to operating temp and then check the temps immediately before the cat and immediately after, if the temps entering and exiting are the same or very close it's pretty safe to say the cat isn't working.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VZ5K8n5jj0
Yeah, the downstream would be the one that would be the issue.
I unfortunately don't have a laser thermometer at the moment. That might not be a bad investment at some point...
If you have a scanner, you should be able to check it as well.
This is a good article. You may already know all this. Just trying to offer any help I can.
http://www.easterncatalytic.com/education/tech-tips/the-misleading-nature-of-the-po42o-code/
Tmc22 wrote: If you have a scanner, you should be able to check it as well. This is a good article. You may already know all this. Just trying to offer any help I can. http://www.easterncatalytic.com/education/tech-tips/the-misleading-nature-of-the-po42o-code/
I actually didn't know a lot of that. Since I'd never really dug into what data I can get from the wireless obd interface and my iPhone app for it (EngineLink), I did some digging and found how to set up custom gauges for some of the data streams that it doesn't usually display, including what appear to be temp readings on either side of the cat. I uploaded a screenshot of that to the album- it looks like there's consistently at least a 100 degree (the units say Centigrade but that seems high) differential with it hitting upwards of 250 under load.
Unfortunately, the Prius is hard to take readings from since it keeps switching between the electric motor and the gas engine so the gas engine isn't running consistently to take readings from.
EDIT: Doing some quick calcs, it looks like at the point I captured the data from that the cat was at 1100F, which is within the ideal operating range of the catalytic. I picked up a (hopefully since it was $10) more powerful OBD app(DashCommand) that says it can do data logging so I can get a full drive's worth of data from the O2 sensors and temp readings.
So, a fair bit of progress but not as much as might have been nice over the weekend.
Most of the parts have come in- I have all the brake parts now and were I not a bit under the weather was hoping to do them this afternoon, as it is I may just stick to stuff that doesn't involve as much strength like the plugs & PCV valve.
Got a set of tan rubber floor mats from WalMart and cut them to size- they're not as nice as the Prius-custom ones, but they also cost 1/5 what the OEM ones do so that works for me. Also picked up 4 quarts of WS ATF to change the transaxle fluid- something that from talking with the dealership it looks like has never been done. Oh, I stopped by the dealership, and they said while they'd only seen it every few years it had all but the most recent (and relatively benign) safety recall done on it. Picked up some touch-up paint, a new PCV valve, and Chevron Techron fuel system cleaner to try and clean the injectors out a bit.
After a lot of waffling about it, I found a really good priced new OEM clock spring on eBay and ordered it- half of the steering wheel buttons don't work (the climate control side), and this seems to have been a common problem with when the steering intermediate shaft was replaced that the wheel was rotated too far and broke the wires. I had debated just leaving the buttons not working, but they're literally the ONLY thing on the car that I can find that didn't work, so I figured it was worth the $35 to be able to not have to say "Everything works BUT...." at all when listing it/talking with potential buyers.
Finally- I picked up DashCommand before the weekend and got the chance to do some data logging with it while driving around, and put the data and a few charts into a Google Spreadsheet. It's really pretty interesting- there's a ridiculous amount of data in there, and the charts clearly show the usage of the gas engine vs. the electric motor, and is from my driving around town doing some shopping. The link is here- I've made it (I hope) viewable (and hopefully downloadable if anyone wants to play with it) to everyone: 2005 Prius Data Log 1
Just amazing how awful that interior had become. Makes me think the car was a gift to the PO so since they had nothing 'invested' they had no real sense of ownership or pride.
That graph of LTFT and STFT is really nice. Did you fix some vacuum leaks?
Petrolburner wrote: Just amazing how awful that interior had become. Makes me think the car was a gift to the PO so since they had nothing 'invested' they had no real sense of ownership or pride.
Ding Ding Ding! That's exactly the case- they were given it/inherited it from family. Not that it seemed they took much better care of their other car either fro what I saw...
mfennell wrote: That graph of LTFT and STFT is really nice. Did you fix some vacuum leaks?
Yeah, I love being able to graph the data. I haven't done any vacuum leak fixing yet- haven't looked up how to put the car into 'inspection mode' so I can do so- without it, the engine won't be running when the car is just sitting...
Thanks to being a bit under the weather yesterday I wasn't able to get everything I wanted to done, but did get some accomplished. Changed the spark plugs and the PCV valve (still looked to be moving, but was clearly VERY dirty)and inspected the coil-on-plugs while doing so. Didn't find anything wrong with them that I could see. Replaced the air filter when I put it all back together. Also forgot to hook the MAF back up until a ways into my driving out to run some errandts and the engine bucking hard when I would try and give it some gas. Oops.
Ran fine- or at least about the same as before, perhaps a bit more smoothly, after I hooked it back up. Recorded another data log with the new plugs & PCV before putting in some Chevron Techron fuel system cleaner and filling the tank back up. Had to drive the car in today instead of riding since I found that my bike had a flat tire. Thinking about it, it may be running more smoothly since I don't recall noticing the engine kicking on and off, but I was also fiddling with the new FM transmitter I picked up to allow me to play the iPhone through the stereo. :P
If the weather is decent this evening I'll probably be tackling the brakes and checking out the inverter coolant pump. If it's not, I'll be working on tearing down the El Camino back half so I can get it out of the garage and use the garage for actual cars...
Grrr. Yesterday since the weather was bad I tried tackling something inside the car- checking the fan the cools the Hybrid battery. That itself went fine, but what DIDN'T was that when it started raining I found that there was water dripping down INSIDE the upper body of the car and running down into the area where the 12V battery sits! Some checking on the Prius forums found that apparently almost ALL 2nd Gen Priuses (Prii??) have an issue with roofline welds failing and cracks developing that let water in. Berk. Now I need to try and find the cracks and silicone them so the car doesn't flood when it rains...
Good news is that almost all of my parts have shown up- just missing the fasteners to hold the trim pieces on and the new clock spring to hopefully get the steering wheel A/C controls working.
Couldn't you hit the carpet with some rattle can fabric dye and then some cheapish mats?
In reply to moparman76_69:
I'd be worried about the dye not matching very well, but I already picked up a set of $20 tan rubber mats from WalMart that fit fairly well and improve the way it looks.
Got the chance to look over the back of the roof in the light yesterday- and son of a bitch, there's definitely cracks there just like pretty much everyone else on the Prius forums has found. Guess I'm going to be cleaning and trying to seal them this afternoon instead of doing the brakes and trans fluid like I'd hoped to.
I'd guess one shade of beige isn't that far off another shade of beige and if you hit it lightly it would remove just enough of the grungy stuff to make them look less worn. Throw some mats over it and it's a whole new car.
The new mats do plenty, I've read too many mixed reviews of the fabric sprays and the mats cover up the worst of the wear.
Got out the shop vac and cleared as much of the water from the weld cracks as possible last night and then put flowable silicone sealant in/over the cracks. Of course it had to rain only 8 hours or so after putting it on, but hopefully that was enough time for it to set- at worst it should prevent as MUCH water getting in.
Got next to nothing done on the car over the weekend due to being a bit under the weather and it being bitter cold much of the time. And unfortunately uncovered something else I need to fix- the blower fan apparently isn't working, which led to a rather displeased SWMBO when we took the car out shopping and to dinner last night and it effectively had no heat...
Well, with finally having a decent day and not being completely under the weather I tackled the brakes last night. Replaced front pads and driver's side rotor (passenger side had been replaced already) and cleaned and painted the calipers- I've gotten LOTS of good use of that can of silver caliper paint over the years. Front brakes were by and large a piece of cake- the driver's side caliper bolts took some effort to break free since they hadn't been removed as recently as the passenger side ones, but it wasn't anything a breaker bar couldn't fix.
And then, I tackled the rear brakes. And over the course of the next few hours came to the conclusion that I really don't like drum brakes. It took far too long to get the driver's side one even completely removed and way too much more time to put it back together. A special mention and LOTS of swearing goes to the parking brake cable, which the instructions I had suggested to remove to make getting the clip that holds the parking brake lever to the shoe off easier. Getting that back ON took literally 30 minutes of wrestling with the thing. I'm still shocked I didn't just haul off and throw the thing as far across the yard as I could. The passenger side went more quickly since I learned from my mistakes on the driver's side (left parking cable attached, dealt with it being a bit unwieldy getting the clip off & also didn't install the wrong side's large spring like I had on the driver's side) but was still not a lot of fun.
But, the brakes are now all shiny and new and from the drive this morning all seem to be working exactly as they should.
Unfortunately, I also got to try jumpering the relay for the inverter coolant pump- and found it unresponsive. So, that's another likely $120 or so part I'm going to have to replace. I would have LIKED to have replaced the clock spring and changed the transmission fluid, but I both didn't have time and don't want to replace the clock spring until I've gotten Toyota to do the one remaining recall on the car which is replacing part of the steering intermediate shaft. I've read the they will frequently break the clock spring while doing this (may be why it's broken now, since this is the second steering shaft recall...) and I'm not too keen on having to purchase and install a SECOND one if they do.
I'll have to install the spacer for the O2 sensor too while I'm under the car. It goes on the rear-most sensor, right?
Rear most sensor is correct.
In reply to Dusterbd13:
Cool, thanks!
Work was insane this morning, so I took off over my lunch break and dropped the Prius off at the dealership to have them do the intermediate shaft recall work and it should be done after work this afternoon- so hopefully I can tackle most of the other stuff (clock spring, 'AT' fluid) tomorrow afternoon.
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