Hi folks, I have a 2004 Prius that I bought 8 months ago, my Prius has 110k miles on it and I haven't done any maintenance since I bought the car , I have learned recently about the inspection mode , so I used the inspection mode to record the noise of the car while idling and I would like to hear you thoughts about it , is it normal ? it sounds like a diesel to me. I have attached the sound file, the first part is while the engine cover is on and the rest while the cover is off. Thanks
It is hard to tell for sure, but I would not say normal. Either a blown gasket, or noisy valves? It would be helpful to localize the source. I use a long piece of flexible small diameter tubing, like a doctor uses a stethoscope. Put one end to your ear, an ear plug in the other ear, and move the other tube end around (carefully!) to find where the sound is the loudest. I know it sounds like a strange recommendation if you haven't tried it, but the method works well. That way you can determine if the source is the exhaust manifold, or the valve cover, the water pump, or...
Probably the valves need to be adjusted? Prius has solid lifters and are required to be adjusted around 100,000 miles. H
OK folks, it seems that I was holding the phone too close to the engine , I have consulted a local expert and it seems like the noise is coming from the fuel injectors , I also hear a noise when Accelerating with Load.
Actually it's not the same noise, sometimes when I go uphill and fully depress the gas pedal to get more power I hear some weird noise , when I asked about this noise they told me that it's a fuel injectors one.
The Prius engine sounds very much like a sewing machine, I would say that is pretty "normal". Usually you don't have much chance to hear the engine at idle unless you invoke inspection mode, open the hood, and listen to the running engine.
