Chafing the oil today on my 2005 Prius with 170000 miles. Noticing this hunk in the filler cap. Smells a bit like gas. Lot of dust collecting all around the engine compartment. is this normal gunk build up? What should I be expecting to fix with this mileage? Thanks
Any other symptoms? How many miles? Also how many miles between oil changes? When I see this my suspicion is oil is not changed often enough and engine is not happy. I usually warn the owner about changing oil more often and just before I change the oil I add a 1/2 quart of "engine flush" and run the engine for couple minutes before draining. As for all the dust, keeping your car clean inside and out is essential preventative maintenance that will improve your odds of finding problems before they get expensive.
I do oil changes when the light comes on usually if not a it before. My fuel mileage is about 43MPG mostly freeway miles. IT has 169890 miles on it.
Not terrible, but; 1) change the oil more often, 2) replace the PCV valve and check the hose for restriction (or just replace it as well). Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
That's pretty minor. More build-up is often found in winter when the engine spends less time at full operating temp. Often enough all you need to cure it is a weekly 20 mile highway run just to boil the accumulated moisture out of the oil.
Really cheap Dino oil with poor oci. I would expect it’s a bad oil eater. I take it you never check the dipstick that gunk will be on it too. Poor oil oci leads to clogged piston rings leads to oil eating leads to destroyed motor from lack of oil. Very common on this site. The throttle body will be really bad too.
