Tip of fuel injectors missing. Confused

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Basically I was getting two O2 sensor codes P0032/P0038 - fuel running rich, detected in both O2 sensors.

-I felt the problem may have been due to a bad fuel injector(s). When I reassembled my Prius after replacing the head gasket, 3 of the 4 fuel injectors were missing the black tip on the head (#1,#2,#3).

-Yesterday, I replaced the fuel injectors with OEM direct replacements. It made the problem worse/car undrivable. I took out the new fuel injectors and they are also missing the black head on the tip (#1,#2,#3)

***-Could this be a bad fuel pump?*** The last month or so I have been hearing weird intermittent noise from what I feel is the back of my car.





*There are more details I have yet to include regarding this issue that I am not including at this time for the sake of simplicity.

 

As always Mr. F, thanks for your insight.

-Right after I fixed my head gasket (November 2022), I started getting these codes.

-I live in a cold climate and would warm my car up in the morning. If I let it run too long, I would get the "Check Hybrid System" warning and my car would go into limp mode. If I let it sit for about an hour, I could drive it normally again.

-About January 2023, I would be driving and my check hybrid system light would come on and my car would lose power. I would feel engine misfires and get corresponding codes as well. This happened sparingly at first but then became a weekly/daily occurrence.

-Here's the strangest part in my opinion. If I would put about 1/4 bottle of Gumout cleaner in my fuel tank, this seemed to fix all the issues. All check engine lets would clear, car felt more powerful, no more misfires. But if there was no Gumout cleaner in the tank, the issues would start up all over again.

-Also within the last few weeks, on morning warm ups, I was seeing heavy white smoke coming from exhaust. No significant coolant loss and the smoke would go away once driving.

-I removed the old fuel injectors and replaced them with the new ones. Car is now shaking at low speeds/idle. Getting misfires in Cylinder 2/4. I put the old fuel injectors back in and same thing. I feel I may have blown another head gasket and/or didn't fix it properly the first time.

 

Thanks again.

At this point I am past dumping money into it and hoping and praying. I am still an amateur mechanic and heavily leaning towards buying a different car. It's a sad day but my 2011 treated me well.

I don't think I will get much as a trade in and my parents are cool keeping it at their house for a while. So I may tinker with it here and there.

 

Mr. F you are awesome and very knowledgeable. I get excited when I see you reply lol.. I probably sound like a whiny little b*tch. Need to vent a bit, nothing directed at you.

Based on the heavy white smoke from exhaust the last few weeks and now I am getting shaking/misfires at start, I believe I have another blown head gasket. I have the knowledge and the tools, I will only need to buy a head gasket kit. Also will pay for the head to be machined instead of doing the cheap mans sandpaper method. I feel that there is still life in it but that remains to be seen. I have nephews and nieces that are in college and it would be a nice backup card to have at my disposal. Also have always wanted to sign up a car for Turo rental share and this car is the perfect candidate.

Specifically, what do you make of the black tips of my fuel injectors breaking off? All but injectors #4,on both the old set and the new set.