2014 Prius two P3190 - Poor Engine Power

Ok, the saga continues getting this bad boy to run. So far, I've done the following

Grid charged battery
Oil change
Spark Plugs
Cleaned intake and TB
Cleaned MAF
Cleaned fuel injectors
replaced vacuum lines
Checked timing
replaced fuel pump, drained and cleaned tank
Checked compression, 180psi on all 4
Checked for spark, all 4 coils are ok
Replaced ECU

Now that I've replaced the ECU, I can now get a response from the throttle body, and the engine will start and rev when you put it in drive. Then about 10 seconds later, it shuts down, and throws P3190 - low engine power. Does any of this from Techstream mean anything to anyone?

 

Long story short, I bought it from a towing company that put a new engine in it, but didn't want to spend the money on putting a battery in it. So, there are a ton of unknowns, which is why I did all that work, since I have almost no history on the car, or the engine. It was sitting for almost 2 years, so the gas was basically foggy garbage and the fuel pump was completely locked up.

I noticed that it was basically atmosphere also. That would have to be a giant vacuum leak to keep it at 1atm while it's cranking. I would suspect a valve train issue, but it has 180psi across the board, so the engine is making compression, which is what is confusing me heck out of me. Usually if there's a bent valve, bad headgasket, or if the timing was off, it would be low on at least 1 cylinder. That, or the cam is completely missing, and all of the valves are closed, hahaa.

The compression test passed with flying colors, cyl 1-4 were all between 179 and 180psi. The old plugs were nice and tan, didn't see any evidence of a blown headgasket at all. I replaced them anyway, just to be sure they were fresh. I've attempted to start it about 20 times, and there is fuel getting to the cylinders. When I loosely had the plugs in, with my spark tester attached, I could see some fire coming out of the plug hole. So I'm getting fuel and spark. It has 2/3 of a tank of fresh gas in it too, and a brand new fuel pump. I flushed the lines out using the pump, using the line disconnect under the hood. I also removed the fuel rail, flushed it, pulled the injectors, and cleaned them using a cleaning tool, a can of injector cleaner, and a 12v battery.

 

Since I'm a n00b at working on priuses. Would a plugged catalytic converter exhibit this behavior? I would think the lack of airflow would definitely prevent it from pulling a vacuum. But I can't find any posts/documents on how these behave when a cat is plugged up.

 

Haha, I'm thinking they didn't spend the time to finish it. The engine didn't have oil yet, most of the coolant lines weren't hooked up, quite a bit of the wiring harness wasn't hooked back up yet, the interior is mostly taken apart, and it was absolutely caked in dust. It looked like a "Why are you wasting time on that car, we have other stuff to do" job, that got stuck in the back of the lot, and forgotten about.

The O2 sensor isn't a bad idea. I'll do that tomorrow when I have a 2nd set of hands here to do that. Jumping out of the car, and diving under it in under 10 seconds sounds a bit more acrobatic that I'd want to do, haha

 

Unhooked the exhaust, and had the same issue. I did out my hand over it, and felt it getting sucked in though, which is definitely not right. I took a closer look at the engine, and it looks like someone had the timing chain cover off at one point. It was too hot/humid today to do any serious work, but I'm going to assume someone has the timing 180 degrees off on at least one of the cams. I'll pull the timing chain cover this week and update!

 

Well boys, my hunch was correct. Someone has definitely been in this engine before, and they don't seem to have been sober while doing it. It looks like it has a new cylinder head, but the timing marks are WAY WAY WAY off. I mean, look at these pics. It's not even close. Time to pull the side of the engine off!

 

I had to have cranked that thing around a couple dozen times waiting for them to line up, and they never did. Taking a break now, but I got it all apart, and I'm getting everything lined back up.

 

That's usually the case! I wasn't thinking that either. But, I got it all back together, and its running like a champ! Just took it for a spin around the block. Now to put all of the other parts back on it, and get her on the road! Thanks everyone for all of the support, and info the community puts together. I couldn't have figured this car out without you guys!

Now to get this half-dead battery a few charging/discharging cycles, so it can perform again.