2005 Prius engine hesitation followed by check engine light

[politically corrupt]

Well I have checked through most related threads and haven't seen any that are quite like my problem.

2005 prius, 50-thousand plus miles, just had new tires put on, and about one-thousand miles past oil change.

Buffalo, ny 19 degrees, engine start fine, warmed up and began to drive.

Engine hesitation occured at low speed and was infrequent.

Hesitation increased with time, check engine light appeared

Gas engine seems to work fine, electric engine seems to work fine. Hesitation occurs when both are working together...at acceleration, and sometimes now at idle.

Taking it in to dealer this morning...anything I should be aware of? anyone have this problem?

[edthefox5]

Hi,
Sounds like the throttle body butterfly is clogged. A common problem. Just take off air cleaner...turn butterfly by hand and look down throat of TB. If its dirty go to autostore and buy a spray can of throttle body cleaner and go at it.
You really really should buy a ScanGauge here at PriusShop. Click on the top button thats orange on this page that says SHOP. You can get better gas mileage with it..it will read out & re-set codes..and it has all the meters on it our cars are missing. If we knew the code it threw we could tell you exactly whats wrong with it. Knowing whats wrong with the car before it hits the dealer will save you alot of time & money.

[richard schumacher]

One simple thing: check the oil level yourself before going to the dealer. If it is above the top ("full") mark it can cause fouling of the throttle as ed noted above. Unfortunately it is common for service departments to overfill the oil.

[politically corrupt]

thanks for your replies....


I will def look into buying a scan tool, and I appreciate the advice from both of you.


My problem turns out to be a broken cowl (spelling?) underneath. Living in buffalo, and having to park on the street sometimes we have to back in and out of perilous snowbanks, I don't know if that caused the initial problem but the broken cowl caused water to get into places and freeze and thaw which shorted out the ignition coil

The code was for misfiring on all pistons, the ignition coil is shorted and needs to be replaced. They also want to charge me for spark plugs. My Warranty will cover the coil, but not the cowl and of course not the plugs...

it looks like out of pocket I will have to pay over $300, I got a free rental car cause they don't have the part and it s covered on the warranty I guess.

It's not as bad as I thought but I need to move to a warmer climate

They also tried to get me for front brakes and rotors, but I can get a discount on those so I told them to hold off.