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Rough ICE start and low oil

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by BlueIce, Nov 19, 2009.

  1. BlueIce

    BlueIce New Member

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    Location:
    Plymouth, Wi
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I changed oil last night. Broke one of the plastic pop rivets. Put in 4 quarts of oil. Then backed the car out of the shed and into the garage 150 feet away. Went to the auto part store and puchased a bag of pop rivets. Tonight when I backed the car out of the garage to finish the oil change the ICE start rough. Drove the car to the shed. Turned off the car and setup the ramps. The car started rough again. Replaces the broken Pop Rivet and topped off the oil to 4.4 qt. After topping off the oil the ICE starts up smooth. The ICE never started rough before and after topping off the oil the ICE has starts smooth.

    The question.

    Is it possible to effect how smooth the ICE starts by changing the oil level?
     
    #1 BlueIce, Nov 19, 2009
  2. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    seaside, oregon
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    III
    4 quarts of oil should be sufficient. I went 7,500 miles on 4quarts and never had to add. At 7,500 miles the oil level was about in the middle of the dip stick. The car ran smooth with no problems.

    alfon
     
    #2 alfon, Nov 22, 2009
  3. BlueIce

    BlueIce New Member

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    Location:
    Plymouth, Wi
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    2010 Prius
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    II

    The ICE started rough, run smooth at idle and driving.
     
    #3 BlueIce, Nov 22, 2009
  4. Bobsprius

    Bobsprius BobPrius

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    Vehicle:
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    V
    BlueIce,

    I think this "rough start" is somehow due to the short cycle of running the engine initially, as there are other posts about it.

    I had this same occurence once, when starting, moving quickly and turning off.

    It seems that if you let the car run longer, you won't experience it. I don't think it has anything to do with your oil change or the like.

    But from reading the posts I mentioned, it seems to occur more often on a short start/stop cycle of the engine. I have a bet it is related to some warmup that is required.

    The short 150 Feet move was not enough to get past the certain point the engine needed (Phase 1) before turn off.
     
    #4 Bobsprius, Nov 23, 2009
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