Toyota Auris Hybrid 200 000 miles service

Ok, today was the day to change something on the engine for a first time at 210k miles. It’s the timing chain tensioner.
 The reasons for that were first the usual oil leak from it and the second that on first cold start I noticed recently a drivetrain noise similar to when you change the oil and you start the car , which make sense as there is no oil in the oil filter for the first 2 seconds and tensioner is not under oil pressure. Job done and all seems good but will see if the noise remains or will completely disappear. I will test later on and share how does it drive. Here some photos  👍

Good evening tony The rusty screw in the second photo is from the motor support base;

21 minutes ago, xrhstosgr said:

Good evening tony The rusty screw in the second photo is from the motor support base;

Good evening. Yes it is. We have a lots of salt on the roads here during winter and cars are getting rust easily and quickly. I have few more rust spots but in general it’s not too bad for the age and mileage 👌

Great work as usual Tony. I bet your neighbours are knocking on your door and asking for help with their cars.

59 minutes ago, Rav4ster said:

Great work as usual Tony. I bet your neighbours are knocking on your door and asking for help with their cars.

Thank you 👍

You are right, they do sometimes and I am happy to help mostly with small jobs or free advice. 👌

Hi Tony , would you know when the coolent should be changed on a 17 plate 1.6 petrol Toyota verso , also manual gearbox oil and spark plugs , I’ve only done 30.000miles at present but was thinking of getting them all done at next mot time when I take my car to Toyota. 

I’ve asked a couple of local Toyota dealers these questions and all give different answers, my car manual says different answers aswell . I do change my oil at 5.000 miles myself and 10000 at dealers but may stop going to dealers as not convinced by the relax warranty. 
I just want to keep my car in good condition and make sure these extra fluids and plugs get changed at the right time . 

2 hours ago, Eddiefh said:

Hi Tony , would you know when the coolent should be changed on a 17 plate 1.6 petrol Toyota verso , also manual gearbox oil and spark plugs , I’ve only done 30.000miles at present but was thinking of getting them all done at next mot time when I take my car to Toyota. 

I’ve asked a couple of local Toyota dealers these questions and all give different answers, my car manual says different answers aswell . I do change my oil at 5.000 miles myself and 10000 at dealers but may stop going to dealers as not convinced by the relax warranty. 
I just want to keep my car in good condition and make sure these extra fluids and plugs get changed at the right time . 

Hi, 

spark plugs intervals are 60k miles 

Coolant if it’s pink first change at 100k miles or 10 years and then after every 50k miles or 5 years. Engine oil 10k miles, transmission oil check every 40k miles and perhaps you can change every 80k miles with new, drain and refill only. At this age and mileage I don’t think you have worry about anything other than oil and filter, air filter and pollen filter once a year or 10k miles also a good idea and air conditioner re gas at least once every 4 years. That’s pretty much all. 
Regards 👍

Hi Tony, I noticed in one of your earlier posts you said your reset the codes, would you mind telling me which scanner you have please?

2 hours ago, Auris Geezer said:

Hi Tony, I noticed in one of your earlier posts you said your reset the codes, would you mind telling me which scanner you have please?

Hi Trev, 

I use Carista bought from here https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00YVHGTBM?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_KJBA2TT3B3N0B4DYVMGD

I also have purchased a subscription from them to unlock all futures (£50 a year) you can stop any time or buy monthly only if you need it. The adapter can be used with other apps free or with their free version that still allows you to check engine, stop beeping seat belt alarm etc. The full version helped me read and clear hybrid system malfunction and found faulty wheel bearing speed sensor. Apps I use are: Carista, Dr. Prius and Hybrid assistant 👍

Hi everyone who is following here and thank you 🙏. 
Today I have done another little task., cleaning the vvti solenoid. 
( assy camshaft oil control valve). Why I needed to do that.? I wanted to make sure that all is nice and clean as additional peace of mine after my timing chain tensioner replacement. The car is running great btw. 👌

Very easy job and seems my engine it’s very clean inside as usually from what I have been watching on YouTube some valves are full of deposits, sludge, carbon etc. My one was looking really clean, first pictures as I had it out of the car.
Here what you need for the job, 10mm small ratchet, a flat screwdriver , voltmeter, and crocodile clips, egr or max sensor cleaner, or wd-40 and access to your 12v Battery. 
First remove the top engine cover. Disconnect the wire harness. Undo the 10mm bolt and rotate the solenoid to crack free then with slight movements left to right and pull it out. Now measure the resistance in ohms should be above 8ohm, then measure of its shortened, voltmeter to dc and connect one lead to outside body of the solenoid and with the other touch one pin then the other, should not show anything. Then go to ignition and turn it on without starting the engine , you need to measure the wire harness for getting any voltage. We all done here and now cleaning. Spray some cleaner into all holes and openings few times, let it dry and wipe any excess. Then you can connect the crocodile clips to the Battery and to the solenoid to test if it’s moving freely, if all ok the use some oil on the o ring seal and put back in, it has to click in place, tight the bolt to 10-12Nm not much and secure the harness. Well that’s pretty much all. Start the car and see how engine is running and check for any fault codes. 
Here I forgot to switch off ignition after voltage supply test and started the car like that, and dtc popped up. Well it worked even better as I had taken some pictures how I tested it and reset the code using the Carista obd scanner. 
Thank you all for reading my posts. 👍

On 5/13/2022 at 5:10 PM, Wooster said:

Tony - I was thinking of putting a query on here about E10 and if it would have any detrimental effects.  But then I read that Brazil uses E80 (80% ethanol) and Toyota sell cars to Brazil.....  But, ethanol is a solvent!  I'll be very interested in your conclusion in 3 months time.

Just an update regarding the valve train noise. 

It was not from the oil or the use of E10 95 petrol or excessive idling during winter. The reason was slack in timing chain because of faulty (worn out) timing chain tensioner. Since I have changed and then cleaned the solenoid which actually was clean I never experienced any chain noise on my first cold starts. I have covered few hundred miles and had dozens of cold starts., so far so good. 👍

3 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

worn out) timing chain tensioner

I guess at over 200,000 miles this is only to be considered normal. 

45 minutes ago, Wooster said:

I guess at over 200,000 miles this is only to be considered normal. 

I think so 👍 I have no access to Toyota service repair manual as I don’t work on cars currently, only on my ones and have no idea if Toyota recommends any intervals for replacement of this tensioner. It’s not expensive anyway and it will be a good idea anyone with 150k + miles to check and replace too, for a peace of mind. 

When you consider most cars have a cam belt, and most manufacturers insist on 60,000 mile replacements, which also includes the tensioner and any water pump that the belt also drives - 200k for a Toyota tensioner seems pretty good to me!

On 5/24/2022 at 5:58 PM, Wooster said:

When you consider most cars have a cam belt, and most manufacturers insist on 60,000 mile replacements, which also includes the tensioner and any water pump that the belt also drives - 200k for a Toyota tensioner seems pretty good to me!

Thanks for the info.  My past 06 Prius and 04 Sienna tensioner was still original/fine after 210k miles when I sold them, but it is good to know that rattle can be caused by that although often it is from wear chamshaft VVTI sprocket.  Toyota Timing chain system is very robust, it last forever. 

Carista is also my favorite OBD2 scanner, it is similar to Veepeak and compatible with Dr Prius App for monitoring hybrid Battery, etc.  It also can program TPMS sensor and keys. 

Well done Tony, always interesting to see posts from someone who gets his hands dirty! I've ordered a load of fluid film to treat the underside on mine so we'll see how that keeps the rust away. I'd like to inject the sills but can't see a way in other than drilling holes which I don't want to do. Plastic bungs on the sills can't be removed without destroying them unless anyone knows otherwise 

21 minutes ago, Saxmaniac said:

Well done Tony, always interesting to see posts from someone who gets his hands dirty! I've ordered a load of fluid film to treat the underside on mine so we'll see how that keeps the rust away. I'd like to inject the sills but can't see a way in other than drilling holes which I don't want to do. Plastic bungs on the sills can't be removed without destroying them unless anyone knows otherwise 

Thanks Geoff, 

I think the easiest way to protect the undercarriage is to wash it nicely and then when dried to apply a thin coat of oil, wd-40 or similar everywhere, then leave it to attract some dust. This is perhaps the best and easiest solution. In winter when washing the car a good water spray inside arches , suspension and under the car plus regular engine bay washes are also helpful. Once every two years or every year depending how much you drive. A lot of salt gets into the radiators and through there into the engine bay. While driving on motorways in heavy rain is also a good underbody wash, as long as it’s during summer and no salt and grits on the road. 👍

Fluid film is Lanolin base coating. You can spray directly after pressure wash it to remove muds. The corrosion starts under the radiator where salt and grime hit first. Surface rust also form on stabilizer links bolts, edges of control arms, struts, and the braces. I only use brake cleaner and spray it with Zn coat primer. It holds up for the past 2 years. Especially on the struts. 

Interesting about under the radiator, that's somewhere I'd never looked, I know I've got very minor surface corrosion on a few suspension bits but car is only 4 years old so want to keep on top of it long term. I'm always scared to chuck any sort of water around in engine bay and only wipe stuff with WD. Obviously can't get in all the nooks and crannies that way. I did notice last year a few minor brown rust stains from inside box sections just behind rear bumper, I gave it a quick aerosol injection last year but that will get the lanolin treat this time 

Mm, John’s car looks good and new.
My one rusty, but after the all abuse that she gets driven every winter on the salty uk motorways no surprise. I was worried previously to wash the engine bay, but after I watched videos that some people take Priuses through rivers I went for it and I have done already 3-4 times, I wish I did it earlier. Water is the best cleaner for everything. A lots of water no problems at all, only need to block the air intake and then unblock before you start the car. Every car wash ( weekly in my case) I spray a lots of water on the radiators through the grill, it cleans any dirt, leafs, insects and salt and grit which are actually the reason for premature wear on the radiators. I noticed rusty coolant hose clips, but already changed the coolant therefore I will change these on next coolant service or whenever water pump thermostat job comes in. 👍

I'll certainly be hosing the radiator but probably won't find courage to do it round the engine!

Check the struts if the paints are bubbling.  It is only surface rust but 80% of the paints were bad and bubbling.  I scrub them and clean it with steel brush.  After that I coat it with ruststop Nigrin and coat it with Zn primer.  These area hits by water regularly and often have extensive surface rust behind the paint bubbles.

3 hours ago, AisinW said:

Check the struts if the paints are bubbling.  It is only surface rust but 80% of the paints were bad and bubbling.  I scrub them and clean it with steel brush.  After that I coat it with ruststop Nigrin and coat it with Zn primer.  These area hits by water regularly and often have extensive surface rust behind the paint bubbles.

Thanks. 
The thing is with my car that I have no time or stop it and carry on any works that are non urgent( breakdown that eventually may keep the car off the road). Plus the car is too old and with a bit of miles on. The car has a lots of paintwork issues throughout the bodywork, some surface rust underneath and on suspension parts etc, a think it’s a bit too late to try to preserve it.
I made my decision to keep driving it and continue to maintain major components and keep it up in good shape but I am not planning to pay attention to try to stop or preserve rust any further until it becomes mot failure and then will carry on minor repairs or simply scrap it and move on. For now this car is a hero and it keeps going strong with only few exceptions 🚗🏁👌

It is amazing that Tony has 2010 2ZR-FXE engine that last 200k miles.  99% of 2010 Prius owners already have many problems from head gasket leaks, clogged EGR valves and intake manifolds, burning oil 1L per 1k miles, dying catalytic converter, brake booster issues, etc long before reaching 200k miles.  

I agree with TonyHSD, keeping it MOT certified and basic maintenance is the most important things. Dealing with Rust is often just to stop or slow it down, no need to be perfect.  Most Toyota cars are pretty good with rust protection and most cases is just surface rust, not perforated rust like Benz, VAG,  or Hyundai/KIA. 

I usually only pay €1 for 3 minutes pressure wash the underbody on car wash when  we have snow and road salts.  It really helps protects the underbody.  Most newer Toyota has fully covered underbody including nuts and bolts with plastic caps. Like stabilizer bar links and brake fluid bleeding valve. 

On 2/7/2022 at 7:12 PM, TonyHSD said:

 it requires very simple maintenance, cleaning cooling fan grill, air ducts and the fan itself

Is there an info how to remove the rear trunk plastic to access the cooling fan? New Auris HSD, 2011 owner and according to the interior filth of the car from the previous owner, cleaning the cooling fan is on my urgent to do list. Battery was replaced 2 years ago :).

PS: I must say that I am impressed with your car, that is some serious mileage. Mine is at cca. 90.000 miles, I hope to get another 90.000 out of it ;).

On 7/1/2022 at 11:21 PM, AisinW said:

It is amazing that Tony has 2010 2ZR-FXE engine that last 200k miles.  99% of 2010 Prius owners already have many problems from head gasket leaks, clogged EGR valves and intake manifolds, burning oil 1L per 1k miles, dying catalytic converter, brake booster issues, etc long before reaching 200k miles.  

This is very dependant on the use of the car. Tony is doing serius mileage with his car, thus the engine is always in the optimal temperature range and this is extremelly good for the material wear. Short city driving distances kill the engine, since it is almost always operating in the non optimal temperature range (cold), thus wear is a lot, lot higher. And I would say that this is connected also with the oil consumption and oil dillution. If driving only long distances probably the oil change interval of 10.000 miles does not make such a difference. But if you are doing only short drives, it probably is smart to shorten the oil change interval to 6.000 miles.