Is my engine toast?

Magic huh? Dark swirling evil magic if anything. It has me whipped and I might have to throw in the towel.

I have some more pics to post and hopefully some video of the engine going back in. I put some time in on this over labor day and got it all put back together. I did have the exhaust manifold and fuel rail on when I reinstalled. I tried with the water pump, but it didn't fit. The oil filter stuff seems more in the way than anything else, does anyone know what happens if we pull that part off?

So while I've been somewhat cavalier in my posts. I've done my best to go slow, be careful, and follow the manual and others guidance. The manual is pretty herky jerky. I think I did pretty good on most things but hurried some on finishing it up.

My 12v was at 13.4v and should be ok. I pulled codes at the first non-ready power. My dash was lit up like a christmas tree, all sorts of codes, including the mis-fire cylinder 1 from the old engine. I tried several code readers including a decent Innova and nothing would clear that code. I also tried a Ready power on and nothing happened. Dead engine.

Hmm.....So I went back over everything. Checked all the connections. Found the water heat sensor? on the right side of the engine unplugged. Kind of centered below the EGR cooler. I also checked what I thought was a water sensor in that funny x looking hose above the rear of the EGR cooler. It read .6 k ohms. My other one read 1.2 ohms. So I changed that out. Plugged in the lower sensor. Also found a larger plug on the top of the inverter I had unplugged to get at the hoses on the right side of the engine.

Everything all set, I non-Ready powered on, cleared codes, and started it up. Engine gave 1-2 knocks and started right up. Tons of smoke but ran fine. Nothing I could do would clear the codes though. Let it sit with both batteries unplugged again for 12hrs, multiple code readers, googlefu, nothing.

The engine was running but not as quietly and smoothly as I thought it should. So I pulled the plugs and changed the gap from .40 to .44 per the posts I've seen on PriusChat. I also tried swapping the plug and coil between cyl 1 and 2 with no change just in case. Now the engine runs like crap, the inverter has a whine, so I shut it right down. Codes still there.

My thoughts and plan right now:
1. get a better feeler gauge and regap back to .40?
2. Remove the Oil CC and hoses, and put in a normal PCV hose just in case.
3. I had taken apart the EGR valve and didn't know how much pretension to do. I can clean out and put my unopened 200k mile one on.
4. Start it back up again and see if it at least smooths back out.
5. Take it to the stealership and see if they can clear the codes?

I know this is a bit of a book, but any thoughts, criticism, or thermite so I can melt the whole thing down into a pool of metal is appreciated.

Codes that won't clear:
p0301
p0118
p0A4C
p0A4D

ABS which I didn't touch, go figure
c1203
c1210
c1345
c1392

I hope my ECU isn't fried, along with the engine and whatever that whine from the inverter is.

 

Only orange wire was to the AC compressor. And the HV connector kind of pulls itself back in.

On the good side, the hood went right back on with no alignment issues.

 

The thing is though, the p0301 popped before I even turned the car on for the first time. I think it was stuck from the old engine. It won't clear even with the engine off. Like this morning, the CEL was off but the code was still pulling on 2 different scanners.

Last night I re-regapped the plugs with a wire-feeler that I checked with calipers first. I was careful to bend the gap from the base both times so I stayed away from the iridium/plat disks. I also pulled out the oil catch can and hoses and put a normal pcv hose in.

The engine started right up and runs and sounds pretty good. Full power, good start/stop going in and out of EV as normal. I still hear a very slight whine, not sure about that. No CEL even with codes present that should be turning it on. So I finally put the trays and wipers back on. (hate this design. Want to change or inspect plugs, take out a million bolts and squeeze a bunch of metal out between glass and and a wobbly break fluid reservoir.)

The closest dealer is 20mi away, so I started it up and ran it down the highway to the dealer this morning. It is running great. Just has the e-brake, ABS, stability control, TPMS lights all lit up. I also asked them to remove a couple of sheared off 10mm bolts on the underside for the plastic undercover. I am tired of laying on my back and don't want to drill out and possibly have to retap them. I've finally given in to laziness on this project. Hopefully I'll hears something good from the dealer, not them wanting to try and sell me an abs actuator which I really doubt broke sitting in the garage.

 

Here is the engine going back in. I do have some video of it too, but not from the angles I had hoped. It went in with the exhaust manifold attached. I tried with the waterpump on too, but had to remove that at the last minute. If I could have pulled the oil filter section off the other corner it would have been 10x easier. That part kept hitting the axle.

 

So the stuck codes hunch was right. The Prius spent the day at the dealership. I spent a lot of time wondering. Toyota is known for reliability but the service department is bigger and busier than the sales department. They run 7 days a week and are open 13hrs a day most days, and have more work than they can handle. And they are just one of many dealers in the area. It makes you wonder....

So I think there was something wrong already because a code from the old engine (the cylinder 1 misfire) had carried over to the new engine before even starting it. Then with the two wires detached, and trying to start it. I threw a bunch of codes and took almost every sensor in the engine bay out of whack. The dealer spent several hours letting techstream recalibrate every sensor. That cleared all the codes.

I also had the recall/update for the ECU done that is supposed to help with the cold starts. I do wonder if not having that done and living 3/4 of its life in the North East had any affect on all this.

Total cost for the ECU clear and update $125. I also bought some bolts and plastic pushpins and had them do some cosmetic stuff but won't count that on the bill.

Drove the car all weekend, several hundred miles and everything is working great. I'm not 100% happy with how the engine sounds but the shop foreman checked it out and thinks it sounds great. So I will just drive it and see. I will post an update after a few k miles and see how its doing. I"ll also try to get the video up and post what the whole thing cost me. Otherwise this project is pretty wrapped up until I get to tearing down the old engine, but thats several projects down the road.

I couldn't have done this without this forum. You all have my sincerest thanks and gratitude for all the hand holding. (unless the engine blows next week, then I will curse your names ) Hunter