fix you a head gasket

3rd gen Prius

Check engine light saying piston 3 misfire

Whenever it is cold, it will jerk the engine bay with the misfire, it sporadically comes on and off

has been driven with this issue for 20k miles

Will eat about a quart of oil per month

you open the injector to clean it, and you see oil in that chamber

Is this 100% a blown head gasket?

Suspicion: head gasket is blown and oil is leaking into that chamber

242k mile, has overheated once and completely shut off due to failed water pump at about 170k miles

the part you are fixing to order:



Part number: 11115-37062

This part number only include the head gasket

There is another kit for about $200 that has many extras,

Should you get just head gasket for $58 or get the whole kit for $200?

The job is scheduled for the next 1-3 weeks depending on timing since you are using the car daily

go now look for the part number for that kit and see which way your fixing to go

OEM Toyota 2010 - 2015 Prius Cylinder Head Gasket Set 04112-37254 Genuine NEW | eBay

kit from Japan 210 dollar

part number: 04112-37254

get just the gasket or the whole kit?

The only part of the install you are concerned while watching YouTube clip:

you have to take off the camshaft/timing chain/tensioner to do this task

You saw how they mark their timing at 2 o clock, but you'll be documenting it for this thread once you do the task in couple week

Goal: get all the detail figure out, then do the surgery in one shot so the car is not down for too long

update: it could not be the head gasket

Read some of this forum and mendel signature, also watched this video:

in this video, they talk about symptoms exactly I am having

They talk about EGR valve and PCV port problems, they get clogged and oil somehow get into the intake

I still do not understand the point of EGR valve and th PCV valve, read up on them and comprehend them

the issues that indicate it is not head gasket:

When you go full throttle, no shaking/misfire, but

when you drive flow of traffic, there is shaking

In the video, he discuss this being a symptom of bad egr/pcv valves

Why does it have the EGR valve? In the video, he puts a spatula blocking the whole system, and the car works fine

New plan: first clean the EGR valve and the pcv valves, then see if that help

Can we go without these systems? What is the point of them?

Try to research these two questions in the meantime while data is coming in

update: now you understand why our engine is eating its oil, unbelievable

in this clip, you get your exact answer as to how the prius engine can eat its own oil if EGR valve clogged

if throttle is at 0, and your egr valve is clogged, now the engine is starving for air

the vacuum will pull oil from the PCV valve from the bottom of engine into the intake manifold

wow

yes, now that new data come in, adjust your plan:

Clean you out that EGR system and that should solve your engine eating its oil

 

you've had enough of the misfire/shaking

fix it already, today is the day



you point: this is the valve that get clogged and suffocate your japanese engine

open everything up, let your engine breath so you can glide across your realm



take you out whatever in your way



up close of inside egr valve, filled with carbon



ton of accumulation on your egr pipe

maybe dissassemble the whole valve, go tinker with it



i show you what you fixing to do

this plastic manifold is filled with sut/carbon since,

your engine has been breathing exhaust gas for a quarter million mile, and

tons and tons of idling where only exhaust is going into your engine

keep dissassembling, take you out more harnesses, take you out your intake manifold



look inside your intake manifold, filled with gunk



trying to take out the plastic manifold, started taking off lines,

one of them filled with coolant, splash coolant into your eyes

suspicion: there is a coolant line going to the intake manifold that maybe cool down the exhaust coming back into your engine

plan: get you some files and part cleaner, go you into your engine cleaning out the gunk breaking it down with part cleaner, hit everything with compress air

plastic manifold complex: leave it as it is, clean it using the same protocol outlined



clean you out your intake with:

use paint brush to apply generous part cleaner, go in there with your file, hit the entire area with compress air

tried to put it back together, put back the harnesses to see if she would run,

no, "check hybrid system", tinker with it more tomorrow

you ponder: if all the harnesses are connected, and the pipe that puts exhaust back into your intake is not connected, does the car know not to run?

pretty sure you had all the harnesses connected but the computer would not let the engine turn on

This setup is fundamentally flawed, you wonder if the old Prius has a simpler setup

do not touch this engine bay without gloves, it seem like they make so much sharp plastic all over the place just to intentionally not let you fix it

This job so far is making you not like this generation prius, and want to look into older prius to see their design

 

Make sure all harness proper, see if you can run car without egr pipe



make sure all harness plug in fully, try to run the engine without egr pipe, if it dont run,

clean out your egr pipe and maybe take off the whole egr housing and clean that

then put it all back together and see if engine will run

how does it know if the egr pipe is install or not?



show you what you did:

put your egr pipe into a pool of part cleaner, then run you a metal pipe cleaner and rid you of all the carbon, hit with compress air



your egr pipe is ready to go another quarter million



then your egr housing was FILL with carbon, get you pipe cleaner, douse the area with paint brush part cleaner, hit you that area hard with compress air non stop



put back your new egr pipe, the bolts to get this in are so tight,

your hand would be pulverize if you dont have on glove

with it half put back together but all harness plug in,

your japanese engine roar to life with ZERO shake,

purring just like it come out the japanese factory

wow



then engine shut off because all these random code

woah: your japanese robotic hybrid is way smarter than you think, it know when its egr pipe is install even if all the harness plug in

unbelieveable, go now rig everything back up proper, erase the code somehow with your chinese gadget,

then see if you can get it to drive and not have engine fault

while you go back and reassemble your japanese robot complex, ask you

please someone show us how to get around the egr pipe for experimental purpose,

how can we tell the computer not to care about the egr and just run the engine?

update: it will turn the engine on, the engine purr properly, then it shut engine off after 20 second

the possible culprit code:

U0100, lost connection with ecm pcm A

look you through that internet, figure out what their talking about

woah, those flimsy sharp harness, if one of them get loose, you could be stranded who knows where having to deal with this, and

it makes servicing the car harder, leading to the thought,

there has to be a way to simply rig your overcomplicated japanese robot,

to override its ability to shut down your properly functioning engine,

go now search about that code on the internet,

hopefully someone spill the sauce on how to overide the system to use the car

woah, check out what you come across on that internet

he put a paper clip in the 4th top, and 5th bottom of your OBD port, then

he go into the fuse box and take out your big white wire, then

he hit the brake 10 time,

and all the code are gone

is this a troll or for real?



woah, look you through the comment on that video, everyone of them is:

"I was stranded on the hwy and you saved me, bless you and your family"

from every angle of the world, this little trick saving tons of people

articulate what he does:

There are different thing he is doing, the paperclip and the removal of white wire in the fusebox

paperclip: that might have something to do with resetting ABS fault

white wire removal: you are resetting your hybrid system to check all its pathway are proper

hopefully, the white wire trick should work to get your prius at least able to be used

notice you last time you try to run your engine:

after it shut off from the warning, you walk back to your hood, and you hear clicking of relay in your fuse box following a certain pattern, almost like a song

please y'all comment on what is happening:

where does that white wire go and why does it work for all those people?

What exactly is happening when you put a paperclip in those 2 obd port?

you do need to use the car so hopefully you get it work out

also for the help of million of people to keep their Prius running,

discuss we the way of how these system work, and experiment I and show picture until fix

 

experiment with your prius, ask nature to give you a break

soon we go experiment with reset prius hybrid system, experiment with the prius hoping to get it to run again

although you have decide already that you will not let it go, and get to the bottom of the issue, still you say to nature:

nature I am tired of solving problem, somehow please give me a break and in exchange, I share with the people the sauce on how to get around the prius safety feature so they don't need a tow/get their gold/cash taken from them for no reason

and to show the people that yes, their prius is amazing, the Japanese engine, but

it was the lawyers/insurance/corporation that put pressure on Toyota to make a faulty product

your theory: the engineer that make your prius is secretly on your team, to get around all the faulty setup,

that they gave you a way to get around all the problem stopping your prius from gliding you across your realm

go you now: make that narrative true, prove to everyone that yes, the Japanese engineer is on your team, to keep your prius on your road

solved, your japanese engine purr back to life like nothing happen

what an idiot: you did not fasten the grounds on top part of your engine,

What gave it away:

"Lost connection" code lead to you figuring it out

yes, still you experiment with running your japanese engine without egr pipe etc

go you now glide across your realm with your japanese hybrid robot

turns out your just an idiot and the japanese engineer is on your team

 

sorry i am a real person diagnosing their prius, the writing stye is to hopefully invite solution

apology if it is confusing, but I intend to not break any forum rule and spread solution to other

update:

glide across your realm in a bit of limp mode

does not have full power, check engine light throwing code only about air flow sensor, was disconnected, but

the code for the misfire gone unbelieveable



continue experiment:

take off egr pipe, but leave all harnesses connected, including the air flow harness

what happen if you take out egr pipe, and plug all harness properly, can we get all check engine light gone?

now you go test

@Mendel Leisk

mile 245k

Tried running prius without egr pipe, will run for 20 second, then shut down

the code it throw:

P3190

go look you up that internet and see what they say





put egr pipe back in, plug in all harness, zero check light, wow

your japanese hybrid robot know when you take out the egr pipe and will not run your engine



in this picture, you try another experiment, shove you some paper into egr pipe to see if you can trick computer,

no, computer does not get trick and know not to run engine

now it is running fine with a tiny bit of shake

plan: go you through the rest of the egr valve, you already clean the closer half, take you out the entire egr assembly, hit that with all the cleaner, let it sit in part cleaner, etc



take you out the rest of the egr assembly, try not to take out too many other harness/etc

get you in there and clean it, and rid your japanese engine from the small rattle

car been running 1 hour cycling, no check engine, no misfire

go you now and finish the job





go you back in your egr situation

found more carbon inside the plastic intake manifold, get you a massive pipe cleaner, go as deep as possible, dose it all in paint brush part cleaner, hit entire area with air, do this multiple time

tried to reach bolts to remove rest of egr body, couldnt, might have to take out your windshield wiper

go watch you a video see how they take out the egr body

in this clip, you see what it take to take out your egr assembly:

remove your windshield wiper, get you the right torx tool to remove the big stud holding egr body to engine block, use 12 mm on swivel to take out rest of bolt,

ton of work to clean your egr assembly



somewhat defeated since you cannot finish job due to time/tool, put your engine bay back together

you need a 2 day span of time to take out all the everything to take out egr assembly

but at least your check engine light gone, japanese engine purring, gliding you across your realm

 

search you for hour and hour for the solution, and it was on your forum

wow, in the quote, you get your receipt that yes, the Japanese engineer is on your side, that

all you have to do is just unplug the egr harness and your car will run better

articulated perfectly and exactly how you imagine it, @Paladain55 spill the sauce for everyone

soon, go you try to unplug your harness on your egr, and see if the trick work

remember: if you reset the system, the car will do that thing where it run for 20 second and shut down

you have to plug egr in, let it run, then unplug if you reset 12v system

if this work, you could possibly take out the egr pipe, and disconnect the harness, and it should run better

also when looking around for solution, it seem like EVERYONE has the same exact problem, all you hear is the death rattle and egr talk

How many prius have this problem before we say,

"putting exhaust back into your engine is the dumbest idea you ever come across"

5 million prius? 10 million?

I bet you right now there are 20 million prius in America with death rattle

In that thread reference, there is someone in Brazil that declare that prius in other country does NOT have egr and will go 500k miles with same head gasket etc



unplug the harness that go into your egr, make that check engine light come on

go run you around doing errand, see if it improve

it has full power when you want to go, but during idle still some shaking, with one episode of big shaking

next experiment: try now to take out your egr pipe with the egr harness not connected

report back with what happen



take you out your egr pipe and unplug egr harness



no, tried to take out egr pipe and the harness, computer will not allow it

computer so picky, even if you try to run it without airbox, it knows and wont run the engine



sad sad, pour you some oil thinking it wasnt that low, no

you poured half a gallon to get it to full,

rip your gen 3 prius, and many others will all start to break down at this time

You were hoping @Mendel Leisk was not correct, but yes he is completely about the head gasket

you are FUMING as you work on your plastic engine bay with sharp stuff everywhere,

thinking about how much you paid in gold for this machine that you thought was made proper,

nope, just like the forum said, by the time you figure out how it work, your head gasket will be rip

they successfully did it, the lawyer broke the toyota reliability

calm down try to come up with plan:

1. you have to figure out how to run the engine successfully without exhaust going back into it

someone know the sauce on how to put a resistor on some wire to make it think everything is fine with egr

2. spend you probably 3 day dissassembing and assembling top of your japanese engine cover in sharp plastic everywhere

take off windshield wipe situation/literally everything/all harness/the timing situation with tensionor/chain/complete nightmare

it is not worth fixing unless you get make sure you can figure out #1, the exact question,

"How do we trick computer into letting it run without egr pipe so it can pull in regular air?"

you are a bit nervous that you will be stranded somewhere if it keep eating this much oil

calm you down a bit, adjust your narrative:

"the japan robot took you around the world almost ten time, saved you thousand and thousand of gold in fuel cost, you have slept in, camped in it, etc,

cant you appreciate that it took you that far? who care if your japan robot down for 3-4 day for heart surgery? if you do it yourself, and everything work out, it can cost you $200-300 total,

humble yourself, save your estate, do the title of thread"

wow



here is another 3rd gen that was total, part prius, 93k miles, also has death rattle last it was running, not eating much oil but who know



inside of your part prius

what could happen:

take you out the engine from this prius and put it into the other if this one does not have blown head gasket

then you can rebuild your other engine properly and still have a car to run errand

the engine that currently need fix, need:

head gasket, spark plug, piston ring for all 4, connecting rod bearing

that should be it but that alone will cost 400-500 dollar, and who know what else your missing

or, watch you a video of what it take to take out your death rattle engine, and place in the 94k mile engine that might have death rattle

summary:

either fix the current engine, or just bring in your spare engine into your prius

dont decide anything yet, soak it all in, about what this mean, be you frugal in your plan

your so angry about it not letting you run your engine without exhaust going into it, that

you will get to bottom of how to trick the computer using science/nerd method