Prius v (lowercase v) Engine knock if not warmed up upon previous ICE start

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by butchbs1985, Jan 18, 2015.

  1. butchbs1985

    butchbs1985 Taking things apart is fun!

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    I know this issue has been posted and discussed multiple times on early Gen 3 Prius'. That said, I don't see much on it regarding the Prius v ( lowercase v for the Prius v wagon, not an uppercase ). There is also of course a TSB for earlier Prius' that had the issue.

    I can readily replicate the issue in that almost every time I 'think' it may happen the next time I start the vehicle, it does in fact do so.

    If I move the vehicle from the garage to the driveway or around in the driveway to clear snow, the ICE fires for a few seconds then I shut it off as the car is where I need it. Upon the next ICE start, there is a horrible knocking under the hood somewhere. Different from the previous messages and the TSB itself is that I never get an error code or MIL.

    I'm to the point where if I move the car, I let it warm up completely. I figure I'm better off wasting fuel than subjecting my Prius to whatever horrible thing is happening under the hood if I don't.

    Do others with the Prius v ( lowercase v for the Prius v wagon ) have the issue? Seems to make sense as others are posting the issue for late model Gen III's.

    Has anyone gotten anywhere with a dealer on this?
     
    #1 butchbs1985, Jan 18, 2015
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Not solving your issue, but to avoid the few seconds of engine run up: do you have maybe 10~15 seconds of EV grace, ie: a brief interval before the engine fires up? For a shift around the driveway you might be able to dodge engine start up, if you shut down fast enough.

    I try to do that with ours, am mostly successful.
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, Jan 18, 2015
  3. rdgrimes

    rdgrimes Senior Member

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    I wouldn't assume anything "horrible" is happening. If anything its just standard engine knock due to a fuel mix anomaly.

    You can also put the car into "acc" mode and shift to neutral - push it to where you want it.
     
    #3 rdgrimes, Jan 18, 2015
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it's the same engine, no? the dealer can't do anything, because toyota has been unable to figure it out. i came home last night, and my engine had just started. so i left it running with the garage door open, intending to come out and shut it off in a few minutes. 6 hours later, my wife tells me the garage door is open and the car is on.:eek:
     
    #4 bisco, Jan 18, 2015
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Better than "my wife tells me the garage door is open and the car is gone..." ;)
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Jan 18, 2015
  6. butchbs1985

    butchbs1985 Taking things apart is fun!

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    You're right that it is an assumption. That said, it certainly can't be good for the engine. I wouldn't dare call it a standard engine knock. I've had engines with a knock. This is a bone rattling shudder compared to those.

    I didn't realize that the TSB for previous years didn't fix it.
    If they can't figure it out, perhaps Toyota should fix EV mode so it works when cold. At least then I wouldn't have to take rdgrimes' advice and be pushing it around my driveway. :ROFLMAO:

    Edit: typo
     
    #6 butchbs1985, Jan 18, 2015
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agreed, 30-60 seconds of under 10 mph ev is definitely overdue.
     
    #7 bisco, Jan 18, 2015
    CR94 likes this.
  8. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    The UK versions of the Prius and Prius plus (US v) do have EV when cold if the HV battery has more than 2 bars left and you press EV before the ICE cuts in (within the first 15-20 seconds).
    I can drive up to 20 mph until the HV battery gets down to two bars if I don't accelerate hard, do you not have this facility in the US ?
     
    #8 kithmo, Jan 22, 2015
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    no, unfortunately, if the engine is cold, it has to fire up for emissions purposes. you get a few seconds depending on how cold the ambient is.
     
    #9 bisco, Jan 22, 2015
  10. ems2158

    ems2158 Active Member

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    You are correct about getting a few seconds on battery before the engine "fires up." Sometimes I want to back the car out of the garage to check the tires or wash it and never make it for than about 10 feet. Wish it would go for a minute or two. I ran into the severe knock/vibration and now just let the engine run until the shuts itself off and it never happened again. The engine runs for about 3-5 minutes.

    Seems like there would be much less emissions if I could run on the battery rather than running the engine just to move the car a few feet.
     
    #10 ems2158, Jan 22, 2015
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agreed!(y) why does the uk get all the good stuff?
     
    #11 bisco, Jan 22, 2015
  12. JACoH

    JACoH Enjoying the mileage

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    I have a 2012 v wagon, it was listed on the TSB recall, was fixed, and have had no issues since. Check with your dealer.
     
    #12 JACoH, Jan 24, 2015
  13. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    A theory...you start the car, the engine is cold, the injectors are told to push more gas into the cylinders similar to the old choke, you shut it off quickly while it is still stuffing gas into the combustion chambers. Now you start up and the mix of residual gas and newly injected gas is way to rich and you get a bigger burn than normal.
     
    #13 mikefocke, Jan 24, 2015
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i like it. i wonder how JACoH's new manifold is remediating this. and why don't other cars have this problem?
     
    #14 bisco, Jan 24, 2015
  15. butchbs1985

    butchbs1985 Taking things apart is fun!

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    How Did you determine that it was listed? Is there somewhere I can run the vin? I only saw 2011 nd earlier listed.
     
    #15 butchbs1985, Jan 24, 2015
  16. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

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    You mean like the extra row of seats and the Lithium battery :p
     
    #16 kithmo, Jan 25, 2015
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    exactly.
     
    #17 bisco, Jan 25, 2015
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