ENGINE STARTS THEN SHUTS DOWN/TRIANGEL OF DEATH

the sound you think is the engine is probably just the cranking, and you have a no start situation

watch

 

So it's 71,000 mi this car hasn't even had spark plugs or any of that kind of stuff yet considering it comes with 100,000 mi plugs I think from the factory I would say not or has all this stuff been addressed and changed during dealer warranty used to be dealers with just whip out your hundred thousand miles spark plugs and put in some regular densos just because they could. I worked at the Toyota in the days when Platinum extended range plugs were first coming out the PQ series and in the shop that I worked at in one of the biggest Toyota dealers in North Carolina we would rip those plugs out and put in back in regular nip and denzo non-PQ series plugs I don't know what those were back then I can't remember all the numbers but it was going backwards for sure didn't really make sense to me but that was their business not mine. So it seems it's time to address some issues of the motor running proportions like the mass air flow sensor maybe the spark plugs make sure all the coils are actually in good shape take the wiper tray out and unbolt and lift the coils up Make sure they're not sitting in oil or water or anything else just basic stuff like that at 71,000 mi on a generation 2 even if it's an '09 That's a good many years of nothing done regardless of what the mileage you're supposed to reach generally people would be at that mileage by now in most parts of the car world so you're kind of a rare bird if you will I don't see many to many '08s or '09s with less than 230 on them and I see a lot of them but it sounds like that's where you need to start literally with things that can keep the engine from running not enough fuel pressure mass air flow sensor coils and door plugs things like that

 

13 to 15 yrs on a hybrid HV battery is about its lifetime. Sure others have gone longer but I don't think anything hugely over that generally speaking so you're right in the time frame where it's time regardless of the mileage seems to me time is more of a factor than mileage in this instance

 

The trouble codes do suggest to focus on why the engine can't start. And as warned in the video bisco linked, each attempt to start takes about 1% out of the traction battery, and the challenge is to solve the engine problem so it can start without making a lot of attempts, because once the battery is too low for any more attempts, it's a lot harder.

 

Do not misinterpret the above posts. Your original problem is not the hybrid battery. Your problem is that the engine did not start when the hybrid battery tried to start it. The seven seconds of "run" was merely the HV battery spinning the engine trying to start it. The codes popped up after the car realized the engine was not starting as it should have.

Unfortunately, each time the car does the "7 second start attempt" it drains the HV battery a bit more. Eventually your new problem is going to be a depleted HV battery. I had a similar situation with a 2005 my son was driving. The throttle body plate was stuck. Pushed it open using a screwdriver down the throat and it fired right up. There are many possible causes for failure to start, even running out of gas, but you need to get that figured out first..

 

Just remember you're at 71K. But for the year age of the car you should be at about 250 or so . To be honest about it I would open the air cleaner back up and get to this throttle body like biscoe or somebody up above did and make sure it moves as much as that car's been sitting and is not been driven I'd be looking for things stuck possibly things chewed I don't even know where this car is rodents that sort of thing but usually that starts a bunch of electrical problems but the throttle bodies on these car are a good place to be looking they do stick especially if they've never been sprayed cleaned or maintained and you should have 250 on the car and only have 70 so good chance things are just sticking That's a real good possibility actually fuel delivery is another. Improper fuel and improper air delivery is a definite no starter

 

without a proper code reader, everybody's guessing... my guess is you have to buy a new car

 

Well until your new scanner arrives if you have time I would watch these.

I did mine with a lot of q-tips and alcohol and wiped off the throttle body plate and springs on the side really well. If you plan on keeping the car for awhile and yo are unsure of the age of the spark plugs....and can DIY I would buy OEM plugs from Olathe Toyota for $9 each and replace them.

also check your air filter and make sure it is new and clean. I source mine from Walmart.Air Filter - Compatible with 2004 - 2009 Toyota Prius 1.5L 4-Cylinder FULL HYBRID EV-GAS FHEV 2005 2006 2007 2008 - Walmart.com

 

People often have code readers that can't get the codes from certain ECUs in the car that would help with diagnosing the problem.

In your case, though, because the engine isn't starting, the codes that matter are the ones from the engine control module. P3190 and P3191 are codes from the engine control module, and the code reader you already have showed you those, so you've probably already seen the same ECM codes any other reader is going to show you.

It's unfortunate that P3190 and P3191 don't really point to a specific issue for you to fix. They just mean the engine ain't working. (More precisely, P3190 means the engine was producing less than a fifth of the output expected—a fifth! that pretty much qualifies as "ain't working"—and P3191 means "that, and was trying to start at the time".)

While the hybrid car has all kinds of new hybrid-specific technologies in it, it's also got a gasoline engine, very much like anything else's gasoline engine, and I wish it were easier, but P3190 / P3191 just mean "here's where you have to dust off your old gasoline engine skills again and work out what the problem is with that".

 

Yes run through all the basics that you can You don't have to be starting the engine every time you do something like check the throttle body Make sure all stuff is clean connections are good The flow sensors are clean all of that kind of business obviously plugs that you can probably check coils with a ohm meter or something like that to get a basic idea whether they should be working The coils aren't sitting in oil or fluid in the bottom of the valve cover just basic things like that

 

oh Man, I hope it is not the fuel pump the pump is located inside the tank and that means an entire fuel tank replacement.

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• I've only heard of 1 tank needed to be replaced...so that is rare. Did you double check you put the air filter in correctly and closed all the clips?

 

Engine no-starts have been a thing for as long as engines have, and they often are caused by the silliest stuff. An unmetered air intake leak, a hose left off, some flaky electrical connection, you name it.

Fuel, spark, and compression are the big three things to check; then at least you quickly know which of those neighborhoods you should be looking in for the cause.

Maybe a better first test, instead of jumping right to the fuel pump (a specific cause), would be whether the engine fires up while spraying starting fluid into the intake. If it does, then you're looking at some kind of fuel delivery issue (of which the fuel pump could be one possible cause), and if not, then you know to start looking elsewhere.

 

How long have you owned the car? An 07 with that mileage. What were the codes in the Dr. Prius App? Maybe a P0A93? Dead Convertor Pump? I'm staying tuned. This is exactly what my wifes car did when it died. Hers had 97K IIRC. If you Ready the car without pushing the brake so it doesn't start and you have the coolant cap off you should see the pink fluid moving around inside and listen for the hummmm of the pump running. Given the age and mileage.... since we are all waiting for that scan tool.... Maybe look at that?

https://parts.olathetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-drive-motor-inverter-cooler-water-pump-g902047031?c=bD0xNyZuPVNlYXJjaCBSZXN1bHRzJmE9dG95b3RhJm89cHJpdXMmeT0yMDA3JnQ9YmFzZSZlPTEtNWwtbDQtZWxlY3RyaWMtZ2Fz
Dang $134.69 at Olathe is a steal...I PAID $183 in Colorado. Not sure where you are in Florida but you could try and get your local dealership to match them.
IMHO If I was unsure if this part was new. I would buy one and have it on the shelf to be ready...

 

Where in FL are you located?

 

these are good guys if you need help:

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The codes given in post #1 were P3190 and P3191. Those are codes from the ECM. They may have been read with a cheap code reader, but Dr. Prius is also able to read codes from the ECM, so dollars to doughnuts it will also say P3190 and P3191.

Those just mean the engine isn't working well. It has to be diagnosed. Just the way any gasoline engine that isn't working well has to be diagnosed, except very sparingly of start attempts, because those depend on the traction battery.