P0016 Troubleshooting, possible misfires(?), & some Techstream screenshots

Hey! I'm not a car guy, so just looking for some general advice & suggestions based on my situation. Not sure if this was the cause or related, but I recently neglected to check my oil for a few months - when I did it was below the dipstick, but I never got a low oil pressure warning or anything and adding just like 0.2 quarts reached up to the end of the dipstick, so I don't think it was entirely empty - But at that same time I encountered the P0016 error code. I cleared it about 5 days ago and now it has popped back up.

I have Techstream on an old laptop but I have no idea how to really read the data it is showing me, so I screenshotted some of the freeze frame data and included it here if anyone can gather anything from it. I'm sure this error code needs actual physical diagnosis so I am going to be taking it in ASAP, but just thought I would see what people think here. Should I be worried about these "EWMA" misfire counts? No idea if that is a separate issue or related to the error code.

Also, would you guys take this code to a regular mechanic, or a hybrid specialist? I found this shop" Hilltown Hybrids " about an hour drive from me which has good reviews and are willing to look at it (with a $150 diagnostic cost), or alternatively, my regular in-town mechanic usually doesn't charge for diagnosis (or maybe just includes it in service cost) but he is not necessarily a hybrid specialist. He said he has dealt with this error code on other cars before but not yet on a Prius. I'm just a broke college student who wants his car to last, so any advice is welcome. What do you guys think?

Thanks for reading!

 

No sure what you mean by "plugs undone" to be honest, but the car seems to be running normally, and I'm getting my usual 40-43mpg that I've always gotten if that means anything. Also, I did change the oil myself just like a week ago. I think the code may have gone away last night actually unless I accidentally cleared it when messing with the scanner, but I don't think I did. Yeah, it's tricky, I don't want to spend money on diagnostic fees, but I also want this car to last me for a while, so I don't want to drive it too much with this code if it could potentially damage the engine or something.

 

Update: I haven't had it looked at yet, but I noticed the check engine light seems to go on and off. The code persists either way, but the check engine light seems to stay on for a bit, then randomly when I start the car it will be gone. Does this mean that it's like a pending code or something?

 

Thanks for your reply. Dang, that is unfortunate. What should I be looking for when driving it harder like that - just for the code to become permanent, or for unusual driving behavior of some sort? And for next steps, what would you recommend doing with this car at this point, assuming it is likely the timing chain. Is it worth getting the engine rebuilt to replace the timing chain, better to replace the whole engine with a used one, or ditch the car altogether? I cannot afford another car really so repair would be preferable. I talked with my regular mechanic about this for a bit, and when he quickly looked up timing chain parts and labor costs, he said it would probably be a little under $2k to replace it. I may take the car to a hybrid specialist that is about an hour away from me, but not sure if that is even worth it since this code seems to be just a general engine issue. I just figure maybe a hybrid specialist could pinpoint the exact cause more accurately, but I really don't know what to do.