Started up my '12 Prius V today. It wasn't cold out. About 65 and humid out. (I'm in Florida.) It struggled to start, it was knocking, the idle was all over the place, it acted like it wanted to stall, and it was shaking. No codes, but I definitely could tell it was misfiring. Was like that for about 15 seconds, then smoothed out. Coolant is fine. But I checked the oil, it was dirty and was on the low line. I did the oil change about 5k miles ago. I run the Mobile1 full synthetic 10k mileage oil. Tailpipe wasn't too dirty. Seemed normal. It has 138k miles on it. The EGR pipe was done at 80k. Coolant done at 130k miles. (FYI: At around 120k miles, it would knock upon start-up for about 10 seconds only about twice in the winter. Really hasn't done it since those couple of times. It did give me cylinders 3 and 4 pending code for misfires back then.) I'm thinking about replacing the spark plugs, doing an oil change, and checking the PVC valve and hose. Any suggestions?
'thinking about replacing the plugs' they weren't done at 120k? was the whole egr circuit cleaned? does she burn any oil?
What do you mean by "pipe"? The red circled item: is commonly referred to here as the EGR "pipe". It is only a small portion of what needs thorough cleaning, which should encompass the EGR cooler/valve, and the intake manifold (yellow highlighted). Did you do the cleaning yourself? Engine coolant should have been done at 100K, but not likely a factor.
Well, I know the spark plugs definitely need to be done, that's for sure, because no, they weren't done at 120k. From what I can tell from the Toyota record, the EGR was replaced, and the rest of the system cleaned. It burns a little bit. Usually about a half a quart every 5k miles.
No. I have torn down an engine all the way down to the heads and block (on a V8), so I'm not afraid. I usually like doing things myself to save money.
Check out the first link in my signature, has some EGR cleaning info/links. In particular, @NutzAboutBolts videos 16, 17 and 24, linked here: Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat cover pretty much everything. Do read my suggestions regarding coolant in the first link in my signature*. There's really no need to spill ANY; with a few tactics that can be avoided. In the videos there's a lot of (ineffective) clamping of coolant lines. In some cases it's not even necessary to pull off coolant lines (at the throttle body), and with the EGR cooler, a preemptive 2 quart drain of coolant (at the radiator) will drop the level below all the EGR components. You can subsequently pour the drained coolant back into the reservoir. (* If you're on a phone, the signatures typically don't display in portrait orientation, but hopefully will if you turn it to landscape.)
