When a company doesn’t want you to open, modify, fix, or upgrade a product they have sold you, they try to put as many obstacles in your way as possible. Some of these are small, like a sticker saying you will void the warranty if the sticker is removed. It is usually over one of the main screws that hold the product together. Others are bigger like using “security fasteners” to keep you out of your product. Apparently with Toyota and the first generation Prius, this was the plan with the Variable Valve Timing Gear on the intake cam shaft of the vehicle. Sometimes this is necessary as a precaution due to how the item was built, like if the cover holds a spring under pressure that can cause injury if not removed carefully. I personally have seen a coil spring shoot off a vehicle and bury itself into the underside of the roof when an unsuspecting (idiot) mechanic let off the last bolt with an air gun without using a spring compressor. Not Smart.
So with some trepidation I started working on the 4 bolts that hold this VVT Sprocket together. These bolts have an 11mm 5 point head. Yes 5 points, not 6 like a regular bolt, these are specifically used to keep you out of this part. Larger 5 point bolts are used by gas and water companies to keep you out of their equipment too. I actually don’t have an 11mm 5 point socket, so off to amazon I go. they have a 10 and a 12 and a 13 and 15 but no 11. So I do some more checking. I hold short of looking to Snapon or Mac, since It would cost more than the cars value. I decide to get the pack from amazon, and see if I could jam on the 10mm. and if that didn’t work just file down the head to fit. Since I am not planning on re-using these bolts to put the car back together It should be fine. I am not happy at having to shave down the damn things but that is what it came to.
I’m a little bit confused, there is nothing in this damn thing other than little plastic wipers with copper springs behind them to keep them pressed against the surface. There is a hole that is completely empty like it could at one point have held a spring and point to hold into the back surface which has a shallow hole in it. This is most likely the case since it would hold the gear in the locked position, but there is no hardware there. Not even small chunks of what could have been there. Weird, now what. Order a new one (which is not available ANYWHERE), or find one for a similar vehicle that uses the same VVT valve and engine? Or do I just put it all back together now it is clean? What ever I do I just need to get it done. This has gone on for long enough.
