My Prius forum is pretty lame - there's so few of those cars left on the road. I messed one up today and trying to figure out how to recover. Here's the deal:

3 cars - the one I'm trying to fix, the parts car, and one of my running Prii. Had a code for a bad "oil control valve" (OCV), so I just swapped one in from my parts car. Still didn't run right, but the connector was damaged, so I wanted to test the OCV in my running car to confirm it was good. The OCV is kinda like our IPR, but installs more like the EGR valve or our turbo oil line - with one retaining bolt just holding it in place and an o-ring actually sealing it up. The valve goes into the head 2-3 inches.

I'd pulled the OCV out of my project car without a problem. Like the EGR, you gotta crowfoot it a little to break loose. Ditto with my parts car, valve came right out. So, I go to swap it into the running car and its valve breaks off at the head when I try to pull it out. Looking at it, it's kinda flimsy. The electrical component is inside a shell that merely wraps around a lip of the valve component to hold them together. They separated at that lip, and part of the lip broke off.

Shouldn't be a biggie - the valve just slides right out; there's nothing holding it; only the o-ring should be offering resistance. But it won't come out for nothing. I've hooked inside with a wire and pulled on it. I screwed an extractor tool into it pretty tight and was able to grab that with vice grips that I leveraged against the head to exert some pretty strong force - it doesn't even budge. What the $%)W05y could be holding it in? How can I get it out? Here's pics:









The first pic is the entire valve, unbroken. I've tried to reach inside to hook one of those holes, then pull out, but I haven't found a good hook. Has to be short and strong.

The pic of the engine shows what's left of the valve. Hard to see but half of the lip exposed on the outside is broke off. You can see the change in color around the outside ring of the hole on the right. The other hole is for the retaining bolt. I thought that exposed part was plastic and haven't hit on it much thinking it'd break off; but, from the service manual diagram, that looks like it's part of the metal valve body, so maybe I can work on it harder.

I really got that extractor tool wedged in pretty tight, and when I got vice grips clamped to it, I really seemed to be exerting a lot of force pulling out, way more than should be expected to break loose an o-ring. I don't get it. I'm going to be passing the point of no return if I keep messing with this. End up having to remove the head and machine it out. That's crazy. Surely, there's some other way. I have sprayed PB Blaster and WD40 all over it.

 

Not knowing anything about it, could it be possible that debris could be across the ports of the valve and into the block that may be holding it?

Sometimes, o-rings can really lock on.

Depending on the hardness of the valve body, one thought would be to use a tap to thread into that hole. That may do two things. One, get the body to rotate, which can confirm nothing or something is in the ports holding it back. But it may also provide an internal thread where a bolt could be inserted to draw it out. I'm thinking of a bolt that can thread in and a sleeve slightly larger than the body of the valve that would contact the head. So, as the bolt is tightened, it pulls the body out. I'd use a fine thread.





HydroTek may have encountered something like this with his tractor/commercial equipment and have a better idea than I do.

 

Were you able to turn it at all before it broke? There might be some corrosion in there.

I like @TooManyToys. puller idea.

 

I looked around the parts house for some kind of puller. I thought the valve spun. Taking off the first two, after removing the bolt, the first I got them to budge was prying on that ear, and then the whole assembly would rotate. After turning it back and forth about 90d a few times, each valve then pulled out. I turned this one the same way, and went to get behind it with my screwdriver to pop it out and that whole top came off. Now, I'm thinking it was always only the top turning - like the way our IPR valve will turn.

And, as I look at the valve, the end of it is flat on opposing sides, as if it might be sliding into a slot inside the head, although I didn't feel it doing that when I swapped these in. Kinda felt like that ear for the retaining bolt lined it all up. I'll check in the morning and see if that ear is part of the rotating electronics or the fixed-place valve.

So, I was a bit hesitant to try to spin what's left of that valve by hitting the little bit still sticking out. I lightly punched it and it didn't move, but I didn't hit it harder. However, tapping it to try Jack's method seems like it would exert some rotation force. Kinda works either way - if tapping it does make the valve turn, I'd think that would free the o-ring and the valve would pop out. If it doesn't spin the valve, it's prolly held in a slot which would allow the tap to work and would mean the extractor bolt wouldn't have to penetrate far.

Geezus, what a PITA. I could understand if it were the other cars that have been sitting up for years, but this is my daily driver.

I don't think there should be any debris inside. This was a running car, the one I just drove a 1000m in over the weekend.

I have to think that if I can get this to move the least little bit, it'll break loose and come right out. It's almost like it knows I'm the one working on it, and if it just yanks my chain i'll freak out and cause major damage.

 

Whats remaining in the block is metal, right?
I have used similar self built pullers to extract bearings/sleeves/seals in the past.

 

yep, just a hollow metal tube left, with holes in it and an o-ring. I've got another task tomorrow, and then back to this.

 

I figured if it turned, it might free itself. The "sleeve" could even be a socket, the ID would have to be larger than the valve's shoulder.

 

@IHateCommieCars I think I asked in another thread... what are you doing with all these Prius-es? Flipping them? Personal use as golf carts?
Do they have resale value?

 

IDK, KB. I bought one with they first came out for my daughter's HS graduation. She gave it back to me a few years later when the HV battery failed and it sat in my garage for a few years until aftermarket batteries came out. Next, saw one for sale in auction, a city-owned fleet vehicle, that was "missing parts" and figured it'd go cheap and I'd pick it up for spare parts. Turns out, I suspect, that a city employee was scamming. It went for more at auction than I thought, and when I went to pick it up, there was nothing wrong with it except a dead 12v battery. So, I had two good cars.

Loaned one to my son when he came back from overseas, and some guy hit him. Only messed up the front fender, but his insurance totaled it and paid me 6x what I paid for it. I bought it back from them for $275 and with their money went looking for a parts car to get the fender, et al. That was around the time of Hurricane Harvey and there were hundreds of thousands of car for sale here. But every Prius I bought was too nice to part out. Before I knew it, I had 6, all of them free, bought with the insurance company money.

Since then, I fixed several and sold them, and drive the others, and bought others. They're very reliable and get great gas mileage. Now, the price bottomed out and they're going up in value. I can sell them for more today than 3 years ago. But, they're still cheap little cars, <$5000. Historically, IMHO, they've been undervalued because so many are sold/traded in with bad HV batteries. Doofus car owners see the dealer price for new batteries and trade them in at below wholesale.

Next, the pandemic cat thieves went crazy, and Prii were hard hit - their cats are high-dollar. So now, you see the insurance companies totaling Prii with nothing wrong with them except a missing cat...because in CARB-compliant states, it's too expensive to fix them. The cats are back ordered from Toyota forever. So, I can go buy them in CA, CO, NY for $1000, put a $200 cat on them in Texas, and they're great cars.

The CARB compliance issue applies to other cars as well, I'm sure, but these cars are especially great because so many people took great care of them. They were real popular with nerdy tree-huggers at the time, and you can still find beautiful ones with low miles. I see one at auction now with 78k miles.

I'm telling y'all my hack because I'm prolly not buying any more cars - got too many now. So, look for old cherry cars in CARB compliant states with stolen cats. They have to be cheap to begin with, less than $5k so the loss of the cat is enough to total them. At that point, your only competitors are the dismantlers.

Of course, the catch is, you have to transport them back home. I have my own truck and trailer and am able to book it outbound to cover my round trip costs. Or, I'll fly there with the replacement cat, bolt it on and connect it to the resonator with flex pipe to get me home where I have it welded up with solid pipe. Even on those trips, I was able to book cargo to carry back to Tx that fit inside the car and provided the revenue to cover the cost of my flight, taxis, and gas/hotel back. It helps because these cars get 50mpg driving home. If you have to pay to transport them, it prolly isn't feasible - unless you just want a nice car.

And that's kinda the bottom line - IMHO, these are just great cars. reliable with great gas mileage - that you can buy so cheap that they're like free. This one with the valve stuck in it I've been driving for several years, over 30k miles I've added, and it cost $300. It was beautiful when I bought it, a one-owner cherry, just needed an HV battery. Resale is kinda tough, but if you just drive them, you'll get your ROI. Gave one to my son who commutes 80m per day and it paid for itself fast.

 

Copy, thanks.

My wife commutes about 40 miles a day. I try to get her to drive my Tdi Golf (45+ MPG), but it's a manual and she prefers our 2004 Tacoma.
It's a 3.4 AT 4x4 and gets about 21 MPG.

 

I have an idea that these will be collector's items soon. Kinda the first mass produced "electric" car. They are already very rare - I go months without seeing one and don't recall seeing two in one month for years. I have some listed for sale now, along with my flatbed, just for some cashflow, but I got my first SS check this week, so I got fun money again. I'd like to get a fleet of these, all different colors, and sell them as a package deal on Mecom. But, a lady wants to look at one this afternoon - the Craigslist ad is still up - so I'll be down to 4 sellable cars.

 

I know a guy with Pacers who thinks they will be collector items. Meanwhile, good greenhouses.

 

Theres alot here in Washington. I see several any time I make it to civilization. We have a Seattle, I think they're very popular there. I avoid that place like the plague.
Spokane CL has 24 listed, shows 3 FSBO under $5000 within 100 miles of me.

 

Yeah, most of them are on the West Coast, always were. We got a lot that were city vehicles in Texas. Both Dallas and Houston used them.

The guy with the Pacers is just dumb. Someone should save one, just for the record, but they got no other redeeming value. Kinda like Gremlins and the Aztec.. The Gen1 Prius really does have historical significance. It was a gamechanger. New ones still are today.

It's not a big deal to me either way. Like I said, they're all basically free to me, all bought with insurance co money or proceeds from seliing one of those. For the record, I've done the same with a bunch of cars and trucks - buy cheap, drive to get my ROI in use, then sell it. Can only remember one that hasn't sold for more than I bought for, some for a lot more.

If you just need basic transportation, cars are free. Maybe you pay a little up front, but you get it all back when you sell. It's only when you get picky about the style and color and your image in it that cars start to cost money.

 

OK, I got the valve out. Thanks, Jack. I didn't have to use the sleeve, and I couldn't find a fine thread tap without buying an $80 set, but I got a single, coarse thread tap for $6. I got it threaded in about 3/4", but it didn't get very tight until I bottomed it out. From there, my pry bar could catch the head of the bolt and leverage on the ear above it.

Still didn't come out easy. Broke loose, but I still had to use that pry bar most of the way out. Covered in varnish. Good news is that the one from my parts car that I wanted to test went in just fine and the car fired right up. So, I got my car back, and I know it wasn't the OCV not letting my other car start. Just gotta get another OCV valve for it now since I broke the other ones. But, Mark will be excited to know that I see another wrecked car up for auction in Atlanta!! I still need two more HV batteries, so I might be doing a 1600 mile round trip, lol.