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Cylinder misfire. Help!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Aaron Vitolins, Mar 5, 2017.

  1. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Hey guys! I know there are other threads about misfires and such but keep reading! here's my back story! This is my sisters 2010 Prius with 175k on the clock. A couple of months ago her car stated doing that really loud knocking and clattering on startup, every first start up (would last 10-15 seconds!) and even sometimes while driving. The whole engine shook and sounded like it was eating it's alive.

    Anyway, flash forward, we got the check engine light, and the code was cylinder 1 misfire. So first she put fuel injector cleaner in with no improvement, next she replaced all the spark plugs, even though the old ones looked new.. still no improvement. than she replaced cylinder one coil pack, still not much of a improvement. Mind you the sound hasn't been as loud as when it first started, it has been getting slightly better over time I believe? But not one thing she has done has actually made a difference after replacement.

    So my question is, should I advise her to replace the fuel injectors? Or just cylinder one fuel injector? Or don't even do that at all?
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Have you checked the EGR pipe condition? There's a lot more to it than just the pipe that can clog, but if you start with the pipe you have an idea from it's condition how the rest of the circuit will be.

     
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  3. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Oh my goodness, Mendel! That totally slipped my mind. I have not! Gosh, I should have gotten that checked out a long time ago. I bet that's it honestly
     
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  4. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Thank you! Would a clogged EGR pipe also explain poor fuel economy? It gets around 39 to 40 mpg
     
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  5. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Yes and probably means more cleaning in her future :(.
     
  6. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    I would erase the code after all of that work and see if the check engine light is on again.
     
  7. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    As in having to get the EGR pipe cleaned multiple times?
     
  8. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    She did! It still came back.
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Is number one cylinder on the right end (as you stand in front of the engine bay)? That's where the EGR pipe comes in on the manifold.
     
  10. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    check fuel injectors on the misfire cylinder, swap it out with the other cylinder and see if it changes or not.

    cylinder 1 is on the passenger side when facing the car. it should be 1,3,4,2
     
  11. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Thanks! I'll still probably do the EGR first, since it should be done anyway. If that doesn't work I'll try switching the fuel injectors around
     
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Cleaning the EGR involves more components. Start with pipe, but if it's bad you need to look at intake manifold and EGR valve/cooler too. The cooler is the worst I think. Best to just swap it.
     
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  13. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Cylinder #1 is farthest from the egr pipe. I know this from a spark plug change which left a coil not connected and it was for cylinder #1 at the far side of the engine bay:whistle:.

    After pulling the pipe and knowing what the car is saying, my guess is the intake manifold has some clogging and potentially the egr valve and cooler.

    At over 170 k miles:
    • Is there oil consumption?
    • Is the engine coolant stable?
    • Has she used fuel injector cleaner prior to the recent events?
    • PCV valve changed?
    • MAF sensor cleaned?
    • Throttle body cleaned?
    • Any history of the car (she has been the only owner, clean title, etc)
    Hope that helps. Keep us posted (y).
     
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  14. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Source a salvage yard replacement and have it cleaned and ready (y).
     
  15. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    There is oil consumption, since she drives it fast and all highway miles. She is the second owner and only had it for about 4 months. She never used fuel injector cleaner before this happened. I believe she has had to add coolant recently. But I don't will have to ask her about that.

    As far as those other things, nobody has done any of that since she bought it. I'm not sure if the original owner did. My sister bought it from a Cadillac dealership about 6 hours away.
     
  16. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Is it really difficult to clean? Is that why you would buy another one to switch it out?
     
  17. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Do you have to top off coolant if so, you have a bad headgasket
     
  18. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    It takes effort to clean it. Better to have a drop on replacement ready and take your time cleaning it rather than rush the cleaning and not eliminate the cooler as a cause;).
     
  19. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    that makes my stomach hurt even thinking that. Praying!
     
  20. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Gotcha. Well hopefully we will see what we can do. Since you're a knowledgeable guy, do you think my sister has hurt the engine but driving it like this for so long?
     
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