Prius v: 300,000 miles club

That explanation doesn't exactly hold water. A slipperier oil may help, but I can't see it causing a misfire.

 

here is where im at.
went to dealer he heard noise asked about 0w20 oil i said no he said thats the problem.
Pulled codes at p0301 and 302 my mechanic thinks spark plug or coils: coils are $104 a piece
was also thinking about egr and manifold clean
dealer says my car vin shows im good for tsb something about egr valve which is free.
noise or shudder only happens at beginning start up or if im sitting for more than 3 to 4 min then take off hopefully no cars are behind me.
this episode only started happening yesterday afternoon.
can 2 coils go bad at same time dont want to experiment with 250.00 plus spark plugs
sending up smoke signals anybody home.

 

with all the theories about oil how come it doesnt happen all the time the 0w20
the 2 coils cylinder 1 and 2 how come it doesnt happen all the time
shudder noise how come it doesnt happen when i stop at light or when i take my foot off the gas
I guess my rant is i dont like to experiment with money on things that dont make sense.
Sorry for the rant.

 

Right, but the dealer doesn't mind you paying for their hit-and-miss diagnostic technique. An honest mechanic would keep testing different ideas until the actual cause is found, and then only charge you for the solution, (not all the failures).

 

Last rant the possibility of bad gas I filled up with shell 87 drove home and problem began will more gas eliminate water or do I need water remover or cleaner

 

That last bit made me think of something. I had an '86 Toyota that would run very rough every so often. I'd dump a bottle of injector-cleaner into the tank, and it would eventually run smooth again by the time the tank was used up.

 

Hi 2Fas,
The engine codes translate to "misfire in cylinder #1 and #2." That leaves a lot of possibilities.

I would let the dealership perform the EGR TSB, and if the problem persists follow this flow courtesy of Pat Wong who posted in response to similar problems a couple years ago for another member:

 

Ok here we go. My mechanic came over first thing we did was remove egr tube,
It was clogged like in very dirty. washed it out and also checked throttle body which had a puddle of oil in it . Cleaned that out. No when we started it it had a slight shudder hopefully cause of the degreaser cleaner however no shudder on take off. In about 2 or 3 hours I'm going to check start and see hopefully all is well.

 

I wonder if the PCV is gunked up by now too

 

I had a shudder when starting on my gen III. It was diagnosed as a clogged injector. Cleaned the injector out and the shudder has now gone completely. I was fueling up with 91 RON fuel. Manual states that I should be using at least 95 RON. Now using 95 RON. My mechanic now has a number of Camry Hybrids in his taxi fleet, and has told all his drivers to NEVER use any Ethanol based fuel as it has also proved to gunk up the injectors.

 

Update: Car sat all night started it her at 3:00 pm no knocking. Drove her around the block no shuddering.
Wow To those who want to try, remove air box there is a pipe connected to manifold about 5 screws holding just remove and check or clean.
Mechanic said I should see a decrease in oil burning. He says the pipe could cause blow by which could explain oil in throttle body. Anyways i"ll keep u guys posted. Thanks to all.

 

Sad news. Went to start car everything that happened started all over. Put some injector cleaner with some gas will check tomorrow. Did not clean or remove intake manifold maybe maybe not. Here is my final question if something is causing this why an only why does it only happen at start up or when car is ready an sits for more than 3 or 4 minutes. Enquiring minds are on stand by.

 

I suggest you post a separate thread in the Prius 'v' troubleshooting section. You are much more likely to have a forum Guru reply.

 

My guess is that you will not find that path of inquiry very helpful in identifying the specific car problem.

Think of the water that first comes out of a hose when you open the tap. Sputter sputter, then smooth flow. All kinds of things probably explain the first few seconds:

1. A bit of air in the hose or nozzle
2. A kink that has to work itself out
3. A hose that expands
4. Turbulent flow that turns laminar
5. Changes in temperature

Who knows what else.

Your car presumably has an intermittent air/fuel mismatch or inefficient combustion process. Lots of problems would manifest as you describe.

 

Does it completely go away after initial start-up once you've applied some throttle?

When its been sitting for a few minutes, I'm assuming the engine is off, and the sputtering happens once you accelerate and trigger the engine to come on?

This sounds like a fuel pump check valve failure. In a traditional car, a symptom is extended cranking times during start-up. If the check valve fails, fuel normally kept in the lines by the check valve leak back down into the fuel tank. The extended crank times appear because it takes awhile for the fuel to reach the injectors.

In our cars, the lack of fuel in the lines because of check valve failure may cause sputtering during ICE start-up until fuel finally reaches the injectors.

Typically the check valve is not replaceable - a new fuel pump is required.

This would be my guess. See if your mechanic can look into it.

 

Keep us posted, please...

 

Judging by the number of Prius v taxis I'm seeing lately, the fuel economy, maintenance costs and longevity of these cars must provide a compelling reason for the cab companies to be investing so heavily in these cars.

 

Ok been under the weather past couple of days mechanic came by to read codes again cyl 1 2 and 4 show misfire. Started car an nothing happened. With 75000 on the sparks we are going to change an cyl 1 coil. I'll keep u guys posted.

 

Hope for the best, 2fas

 

What is interesting u might be right when u apply throttle as soon as car starts the noise goes away release noise comes back.