CT200h - Intake, EGR valve and cooler assembly PCV swap & Lessons learned.

Nothing out of the ordinary here, this has been well documented. I didn't however need to take the plastic cowling, wipers and tray off. I was able to get to everything without doing so.  

Lesson learned:

So, this was interestingly annoying! I got the new egr valve with part number 25520-37120 which replaces the part number 25520-37110 that was currently on my car. Well, after swapping everything the car started but the 'Check Hybrid System' warning came on and I couldn't put it into gear and it wouldn't move. I reset the 12V battery and the hybrid battery with no change. On further research I found out that there was a TSB issued, L-SB-0015-16 in regards to the EGR Valve for 2011-2012. The TSB would update the ECU to accept the new EGR part. Considering that my CT has been serviced completely at Lexus till about 2020 I figured it would already be done. Anyway, dismantled my old EGR valve, cleaned it out, pulled the whole assembly out replaced the EGR valve from the assembly with the clean EGR cooler and reinstalled it. Plugged the batteries back up and all is well. 

Also, I didn't fill the coolant back up to 'Full'. Lost some coolant when I pulled out some of the coolant lines connected to the EGR cooler and throttle body. Instead of burping the system I usually just drive it for a bit till it reaches operating temperature and then park it and then next day fill coolant. The 'Check Hybrid System' message came up after about 5 minutes of driving but the car was still drivable so I attributed that to the coolant being low. Filled up the coolant the next day, reset the batteries again drove it around and no more light or issues. All's well that ends well. 

-AJ Abraham

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CT200h - Catch Can Install

 Was swapping out the EGR valve, cooler, intake and PCV valve so was the best time to install a catch can. To prep for this I had already 3D printed out a catch can holder that I found on thingverse, huge thanks to everyone who takes the time to share their work. I'll probably get one printed in carbon fiber later. 

After I found a good placement for it I drilled a hole, touched up the exposed paint with primer and then used a nutsert in the hole to hold the catch can holder. 

I cut the factory U piping from the PCV to the intake and used 3/8 barb fittings to splice into some 3/8" ID fuel hoses.  

The following pictures is just to denote how I routed the hoses  

During the actual install, I found out the front plastic engine cover didn't fit. I ended up trimming it to fit. 

All back together. Happy with how it turned out, will check on it to see how well it actually works over time. 

CT200h - EGR & Intake cleaning

When I purchased the CT the carfax reported a history of the head gasket being done 18k mile ago. Although a head gasket was done, there was no history of the EGR valve, cooler or intake being changed out or cleaned. Being serviced at Lexus I was pretty sure no cleaning of these said parts would occur so as preventative maintenance wanted to address all the GR components including the intake manifold. 

I am not not a huge fan of rushing things and knowing how picky I am I chose to just get a used EGR valve, cooler, piping and intake manifold etc. Obviously buying used with current prices online and then working on it seemed non beneficial to me and so was planning on just buying new EGR cooler and clean the valve, and intake manifold when I took it out. I had gone to the local pick your parts but all the Priuses already had the engine removed. Last week they had one listed and the listing was only 2 days old. Rushed to the junk yard after work and luckily everything was still there. Pulled off the EGR valve, cooler, piping, intake manifold, injectors etc. 

There are a bunch of how-tos on removal, cleaning and installation of said components so I don't feel like I need to reiterate it here. Also thank you to the everyone that do videos and guides etc. to make things easier for us. Some things I did do differently though so just wanted to point some things out.

I left the valve connected tot he cooler and blocked off all the open ports and filled it with carburetor cleaner. You can use aluminum tape for this, vinyl tape and paper will not work. I let it soak for a day or so and then started cleaning. 

I bought a brush kit that came in super handy. Wearing a  mask and eye protection I used the brush bits on a drill to clean up the parts. Used a brass brush bit for the intake manifold wherever it would fit, the kit that I got came with a couple of different bit sizes and had one thin enough to fit in the EGR recirculating ports. Did this with the intake manifold dry. Noticed that if it is wet with whatever cleaner the brass brushed clog up. When it is dry it just dissipates the carbon deposits as dust, hence the face mask. 

The intake manifold, cooler, piping, valves etc. were all nasty and definitely clogged up. This was what came out of the initial rinse from just the intake manifold.

With the brush bits I cleaned up all the piping etc. 

For the EGR cooler, leaving it soaked in carberator cleaner I think definitely helped. Used a thin welding road and noticed that it would go through fairly easily from one end to the other so then I used a pressure washer to clean it out. With light coming through from the other side I was very happy with how this turned out. 

As for the EGR valve I ended up disassembling it to clean it out.

Used lithium grease on the shaft under the magnet after cleanup as well.

With everything clean it is ready to get put on once I'm ready with everything else.

-AJ Abraham

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CT200h - Rearview mirror upgrade.

Went to the junk yard over the weekend because there was 2012 Prius listed and wanted to get the EGR valve and cooler assembly along with the intake manifold. Figured if I had a spare I could clean it out to my liking and then swap out the old with the refurbished old parts. Well obviously waited too long, went to the junk yard to find the whole motor was ripped out already. I did see an 09 Prius there with the rear view camera that had the home link and auto dimmer feature in it so got that to see if I could retrofit it into my CT that only had a regular rear view mirror. Also got the wire cover and the connector for the rear view mirror. Wasn't 100% sure if the rear view mounts would be the same but usually Toyota/Lexus cars use parts across multiple platforms if they can so took the gamble that paid off. Same mounts.

These mirrors are made by Gentex and come to find out they make the mirrors for a plethora of vehicle manufacturers. A lot of them also have temp, compass display etc. built in as well. Working with what I have and found the wiring diagram for it as shown below. The 10 wire connector uses the basic 3 connections to work.

I also wanted to not run wires down the A-pillar etc and wire it to look like it was stock. Was hoping to find a wiring harness already under the upper console but didn't so had to trace the wires needed. The wires needed are the denoted below. Just three wires, Constant 12V, Ignition 12V, and Ground.

Ran the wires from the rear view mirror through the headliner, through the factory loom itself and soldered it onto the corresponding wires of the factory harness. 

Used the wire cover off the Prius as well and everything looks like factory.

Simple mod that can be done for cheap and now I have home link and auto dimming. Everything works as it should and happy. Low key do want the rear view mirror that show temperature and compass. Also do this at your own risk I claim no responsibility if things go south. 

-AJ Abraham

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CT200h - Pickup, First wash and mod.

I've been on a hunt for a CT200h off and on for over two years now I feel. I say off and on because when I started in 2020 prices on average were under 10k for a 2011. I kick myself for not picking up a 2015 F Sport up from a private seller then for about 9k. My thought process on picking up any vehicle is to figure out everything that can go wrong with the vehicle, along with all maintenance items needed to bring it up to par. I price out parts, labor needed etc., add that all in a spread sheet and then figure out what I want to spend on a car. So with the CT, a high mileage one, will need a lot to bring it up to par. I accounted for everything, head gasket, main battery, hybrid battery, EGR cleaning or replacement, gaskets, etc. At that point purchasing a used CT for over 15k made no sense to me. It made more sense to just go buy a brand new hybrid Corolla. Well I didn't really need it but just wanted a CT really so I just put it no the back burner till prices for these cars came down. Few friends of mine who are dealers knew I was looking for me and out of the blue got a call saying that one was coming up for auction the next day and carfax mentioned that the head gasket was done 18k prior. He gave me the VIN# and I did my due diligence and found out it was a one owner vehicle with everything done at the dealer since new. It did have a reported check engine light on the auction listing but the body looked like it was in very good condition, same with the interior and excellent service history so took a gamble and gave him a max bid price I didn't want to go over. Well, HE WON IT! He had to pick up another car as well from the auction so I figured we can just go up together and I'd just tow the CT back. Got to the auction and my buddy plugged in an OBDII scanner to check the code and he had a smirk, popped the hood and found the MAF was disconnected, connected it back, started the CT and no more check engine light. 800 miles later the CT was home! 

Although a head gasket was done, there was no history of the EGR valve, cooler or intake being changed out or cleaned. Being serviced at Lexus I was pretty sure no cleaning of these said parts would occur so as preventative maintenance that is on my list. For now I'm just gong to drive it for a bit and see the issues, if any come up and then tackle all the needed maintenance items I had in mind done. 

First Wash, don't mind my drying towel on the windshield, it's drying.  

As mentioned before body was in great condition, I found 3 tiny dings that weren't really noticeable. It definitely showed it's age though, outside definitely needs a full detail. The bumper has a tab missing on the driver side so it is not sitting in properly at the fender. Might look into a front end conversion later. The headlights are horribly oxidized, I'll try the sanding, polish and clear method to see how it turns out. If it is not to my liking then I'll probably get some new headlights or at least new lenses if I can find some. Some clay, polish, elbow grease etc. and this will look beautiful.

I had a diode dynamics relay on hand so wanted to add that because I love the soft tap turn signals feature so did that. It was a pain to get my big hands into the tight spaces behind the dash but got it done.

On my LS460 it was easier to access the relay from behind the cluster so removed the CT cluster but was a no go on accessing it. Since I had the cluster out, figured I would just polish the lenses and protect it before putting it back on. 

The cluster being nice and clean lead me to polish the other display area.

A couple of minutes and a whole lot of satisfaction. Also ended up changing out all the interior bulbs and side view mirror puddle light bulbs to leds. Super happy and excited to own one finally. 

-AJ Abraham

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