Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock!

BTW Mendel - yesterday I noticed that your temperature in Vancouver was almost the same as us here in Cambridge. I think you were 6 degrees C and we were 7 degrees C. Well, today we're up to 18 degrees C and, on a session with my first customer today - who is a novice driver and so pretty slow - I was getting 80 MPG (UK) (66 mpg US) in town traffic!! When the temp is below about 9 or 10 degrees, I usually get 60 to 65 MPG. (55 - 60 MPG US) So a huge change today

(although it sounds more in UK MPG!)

 

Driving instructor? That sounds like an interesting job.

I think ambient temperatures are a factor in two ways, first because they directly effect fuel efficiency, but maybe just as much: I suspect Toyota's programmed the car to behave differently, depending on some ambient temperature thresholds. In winter it seems like I can't catch a break, and then it warms up a bit and fuel economy improves overnight.

 

Thank you for your suggestions, Tbkilb01.

I cleared the codes by disconnecting the battery. I took everything apart again & rechecked my work. That was fun. Didn't find anything. Yes, MAP sensor was removed before cleaning. Nothing was lose, left off, stretched, etc. I had removed the air filter box after disconnecting the MAF. Regarding fresh air ducts, not sure what you mean. This is a 2012 Prius v which is a little different at least from what I can see from the NutzAboutBolts videos. Are you referring to where I circled in the picture?

I restarted the engine and got no codes, but the engine ran very rough for about 30 seconds, smelled of gas, and eventually stalled.

Anyone else have any ideas before I have it towed to a dealer.

 

Did you remove or clean the throttle body? If so, did you spray any cleaner into the throttle body?

Since it is running rough, it has to be the air / fuel / spark.

 

Thank you, Raytheeagle. Yes, I removed and cleaned the throttle body by using a dry rag to clean off the oil. I didn't spray it with anything. What else would be related to the air / fuel / spark?

 

It could be anything as an air imbalance could be caused by a poorly tightened connection allowing for air “leak by”.

You said you smelled fuel, so there could be an issue with fuel delivery. Is anything wet or anything noticeably moist? Can you determine the source of the fuel smell?

Those would be the places I would start if I did not have a dash light to tell me what else to investigate.

Keep us posted .

 

Yes, I noticed wetness and a gas smell in the intake manifold when I pulled it off the second time (to check for the reason for the codes).

 

How much wetness and was it more than when you assembled everything?

How many miles have you logged some then performed maintenance?

 

Did you reinstall egr pipe to egr cooler gasket? Egr valve to intakepipe gasket? Both metal... then there's the 3 rubberish gaskets on intake?
Routed pvc hose back to throttle body?
and then there's your EVAP purge valve hose connection too
Got to be something simple...

 

Yes, it was more wetness than when I assembled it the first time. There is about 36K on it.

Yes, both EGR pipe gaskets are in place (1 silicone/1 metal), along with the EGR Valve to the cooler (metal).

As far as the intake manifold, the both orange gaskets are there (one being the EGR pipe discussed above) as well as the black throttle body gasket.

When you say the pvc hose to the throttle body, are you referring to the two rubber hoses as shown in the picture? If so, yes, they are attached.

What is the EVAP purge valve hose?

 

There is a hose that attaches below the throttle body. Is that attached to the intake manifold?

How many miles since you have done all of this work, if any?

 

Yes. No miles driven since it won't run properly.

 

The hose underneath the throttle body on the intake manifold is connected?

If your Prius was running well prior to this, I’d go through everything again.

Where is “Here”? If we have a general idea of your location, we might know of someone that could help.

 

Thank you for all of your help.

Yes, the hose underneath the throttle body is connected (the one on the intake manifold).

I've gone through everything about 3-4 times.

Maryland.

 

Before I poured the 2nd batch into the bottle, the fluid that was already in there had separated 50/50. Strong smell of gas in both cases. I had to wash my hands multiple times to get the stench out.

Notice that the intake hose to the OCC is darker than the outlet hose. Guess that's a good sign.

 

Did you hear distinct clicks when reconnecting MAP, MAF, TPS, PURGE VALVE... connectors?
It may be time to test MAP/MAF...
Any new codes yet?

 

With P0113 or P0102 the ECM enters fail-safe mode ...and those codes are for MAF.
Did you clean that sensor?
MAP sensor code probably reporting a problem maybe vacuum leak.

 

Yes, the connectors clicked when I reinstalled them and I squeezed them again multiple times just to make sure.


What I did before all of this was, I bought a used cooler, pipe, and intake manifold so I could clean them beforehand and install them for the shortest down time. The used intake manifold came with the pipe attached, along with the MAP. My plan was to clean the parts I took off of my car and put them on a shelf for when I needed to do this again in the future.


So, after I got the codes, upon initial startup (P0102, P0108, P0113), I cleaned the MAP that was originally on my car, let it dry overnight, and swapped it out with the used one I had bought and was attached to the manifold. According to my line of thought, that ruled out a bad MAP.


Before I went back to take everything apart (multiple times to triple, maybe quadruple(!) check), I disconnected the 12V battery. Once I was finished, I reconnected the 12V battery, started it up and it ran very rough and sounded like it wasn't getting enough gas (similar to when running a small engine whose carburetor needs cleaning). It would rev up and rev down repeatedly, smelled of gas, and then it stalled after about 30 seconds. No check engine light came on and the Torque App on my phone reported no codes.

I did not clean the MAF sensor since the car wasn't having any problems and I wanted to get the car back to running as soon as possible due to appointments I needed to make and rain was in the forecast this weekend. I figured I could clean it later, since it is easily accessible and then I could let it dry completely once I knew the car wasn't going to be used for a while. Well, that didn't pan out & I had to drive my 1999 Sienna with almost 300K on it!


What components would play a part in a vacuum leak?


I was thinking this morning, if the rain holds off, I would disconnect the hoses from the catch can and connect them together to eliminate the catch can. I am using an Elite E2-X with a check valve on the exit line, whose arrow is pointing away from the catch can, and toward the intake manifold. The E2-X's internals are not just an empty can so I want to make sure it's not that, nor the check valve.


Thanks so much for helping me!

 

Take the catch can out of the loop. That check valve might be the issue. Or remove the check valve and see. If your setup hasn’t run right since this work, that would be the next step .

Good luck and keep us posted .

 

Just disconnected the catch can and check valve. Connected the two hoses together. Started the car and it's doing the same thing.

Would replacing the EGR valve from my original cooler that I took off of the car be the next choice?