1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Knocking and shaking in engine with flashing CEL

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Saiji p, May 31, 2023.

  1. Saiji p

    Saiji p New Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2023
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    Washington
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Hello, first time poster here. I have a 2010 with 190k miles on it and the car has been absolutely fantastic until last week. Started up the car and loud knocking and shaking came from the engine and resolved itself. Drove to work and on the way the check engine light started flashing and stayed on. Drove to the dealership and they wanted $400 to diagnose, so stopped at the aitopart store and code for cylinder 2 misfire was read. I replaced all 4 spark plugs and coil for cylinder 2. Took it out for a test drive and everything seemed great until I put it in power mode and the check engine light flashed 10x and stopped. No codes. I figured it was a fluke, but yesterday the car was really struggling when trying to drive it and the check engine light flashed 3 times. I’m not sure what the problem is and I’m afraid my engine is toast. Taking it to the dealership cuts into my budget for the next car of the engine is no good. I’m going to try cleaning the EGR and fuel filter to see if that helps any but I thought I’d post here to see if anyone has had this problem and can give me some advice. I really love this car and was hoping to get another year out of her. Thanks for reading.
     
  2. Saiji p

    Saiji p New Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2023
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    Washington
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Edit: another detail is the spark plug on cylinder 1 had oil on it when changing it out. I’m not sure what kind of an issue that presents.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,261
    50,098
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    it does sound like the head gasket may have blown. are you losing any coolant?
     
  4. Saiji p

    Saiji p New Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2023
    3
    0
    0
    Location:
    Washington
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Coolant and oil levels are great. I’m concerned because of the oil in the spark plug of cylinder 1. Would this be indicative of a blown head gasket without coolant level changes?
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    110,261
    50,098
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    possibly, but not necessarily

    oil-on-spark-plug

    i would definitely try cleaning the egr circuit and checking the pcv
     
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    24,946
    16,246
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    The flashing check-engine light doesn't tell you anything extra about why the engine is misfiring, but it does tell you how badly: when the light flashes, the misfiring is bad enough to melt the insides of the catalytic converter eventually.

    So finding and fixing the misfire should be speedily pursued, if the light flashes, so the cat doesn't become another related expense.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    56,783
    39,276
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Almost certainly head gasket failure.

    The EGR components and intake manifold have never been cleaned? For sure get on that, but first deal with the head gasket: cleaning EGR now doesn’t undo the damage.
     
    #7 Mendel Leisk, Jun 5, 2023
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2023
  8. Pat006

    Pat006 New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2023
    5
    0
    0
    Location:
    Yorktown Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    What did it end up being?