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Acceleration sputter/lag

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by alexzandria, Nov 16, 2023.

  1. alexzandria

    alexzandria New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    TN
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Hi!
    I bought a 2009 touring back in february this year. it's been amazing so far, and i love how much it saves me in gas. im at 149K miles.
    today though, gave me some worry.
    story for context:
    on my way home, i had encountered a bad driver who was attempting to turn blindly across traffic. the stunt where two lanes are stopped and they let a person through to the oncoming lane. well i barely saw her, needless to say i laid on my horn and she still tried to inch her way into my lane with me going about 45 mph. i passed her without incident, but was pretty frustrated with the situation as we approached a red light. i stop for a few seconds and when the light turned green, i floored it due to being frustrated (stupid of me i know) and it felt like the car was lagging almost. like when the traction control comes on when you hit a bump or accelerating on wet roads.. but that light didn't come on. no lights came on the dash whatsoever. it stopped after i released the pedal. any suggestions?
    i am due for an oil change at 150k miles, could this be the issue?
    thanks in advance.
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    at that age and mileage, it might just be that the older battery doesn't have what it takes, and the engine is underpowered.
    it's not the oil, but you should check the level frequently as routine maintenance.
    if it starts happening more often, you might consider a throttle body and maf sensor cleaning, fuel injector in the gas tank, and a look at the spark plugs. do you know the maintenance history?
     
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  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    As above this is pretty normal If you're hybrid battery is the original which at 149,000 mi would not surprise me at all. What you have to think about is that battery in your '09 if original is now what 18 years old 16 something not that quick on the math so it's very old If you read about hybrid batteries and most all hybrid cars 6 to 10 years is your lifespan this is from people since they've started noticing and watching this stuff so you're 6 years past the maximum of that discussion so you've done real good and if you can keep from flooring it and demanding craziness from the car it may last longer I've seen one go 435,000 and still running. But this is a woman driven car on flat land that goes back and forth to a teaching job at a university everyday and the car isn't perfect condition almost not a scratch on it even with that ugly tan velor interior It's not showing any ugliness yet mine look like hell in 2 years It's very difficult to keep up with so your battery if it's original is definitely on its last leg even if the car is running great It's just very old It's been cycled a lot so bear that in mind when you get upset in the Prius it's not really worth flooring the car You're not going to really make a show of superiority or anything it's not like you're whopping down on a V8 with open headers or the proverbial Harley so just don't do it is your best bet. Or if this is a rebuilt battery that's even worse It's bought you some time I guess but it sounds like it's getting close to time for a battery when lights and Christmas trees show up on your dash that's past time It's not worth it to play whack-a-mole replacing modules and all this farting around because people charging you money to do that You could be putting that money toward a $1,600 battery and you and your son can put it in on the weekend.
     
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  4. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    The issue might be partly psychological. The Prius is a pretty gutless car and when your adrenaline level is up and you mash the accelerator you expect the car to go "zoom", but mostly it goes "yeah, I'll get back to you later on that speed you requested". After you have owned it longer your subconscious will stop expecting fast acceleration and you won't perceive the lack of it as a stumble.

    That said, I have never stomped the accelerator on our Prius at a dead stop. Maybe it does stumble a bit under those conditions. What it won't do is spin the tires and take off like a bat out of hell, leaving rubber on the road and smoke in the air.
     
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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    No but my '09 will squall the tires It is shocked me a few times actually I was actually quite surprised and actually I'm quite surprised by the acceleration that my '09 does have It's by no means a stoplight burner but I'm going to tell you what zipping through town and what have you I'm generally out in front of lots of people with way nicer cars and all that it's got nothing to do with it really but the car has very decent acceleration I was expecting a lot worse and the three others that I have here are pretty much on par with the '09 the '07 the '08 even the one right now with the bad brakes goes like stink better not need to stop quickly actually it stops pretty good.
     
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