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Jerky drive

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by sophie999, Jan 7, 2014.

  1. sophie999

    sophie999 Junior Member

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    Was driving today on the highway at about 50mph and suddenly noted jerky motion. Kept the right foot steady, but it seemed like extra power was being delivered and then cut off every few seconds. The MPH monitor was jumping all over the place with the jerking motions, as was the HSI power scale indicator. The jerking was not terrible, but noticeable.

    Got home safe, no issues otherwise. Only noted while cruising on the highway. No issues driving in the city.

    I am in the midwest and the temp yesterday was -11F and today about 0F. Did not a problem yesterday, but then again was not able to drive at 50mph on the highway due to snow until today.

    I did fill up my tank with shell gas before driving home tonight, but my tank still had about 100mi to go. Not sure this even matters...

    Any ideas??

    Thanks
     
    #1 sophie999, Jan 7, 2014
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    On a past car, this happened as I drove over an icy uphill bridge and the drive wheels momentarily broke loose.

    Did any TC or VSC indicators light up?
     
    #2 fuzzy1, Jan 7, 2014
  3. sophie999

    sophie999 Junior Member

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    Nope. The road was quite clean. No ice today. Also, this was going on over several miles until I got to the city.
     
    #3 sophie999, Jan 7, 2014
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you were probably right at the speed where the ice had to keep coming on, but as soon as it does, software says not needed. i think it's caused by the low temps.
     
    #4 bisco, Jan 7, 2014
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  5. sophie999

    sophie999 Junior Member

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    Usually ICE is on all the time at those speeds.

    Could this be something mechanical (fuel line partly frozen or something like that)?
     
    #5 sophie999, Jan 7, 2014
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    actually, unless your going uphill, the ice is not always on at 50 mph. you just don't notice the smooth transition. certainly, anything is possible and if you're worried about it, a trip to the dealer is in order. if not, wait until you have a day with warmer temps and see if it continues.
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 8, 2014
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  7. sophie999

    sophie999 Junior Member

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    Thanks guys. No problems today with warmer temps. Maybe all due to extreme cold.
     
    #7 sophie999, Jan 8, 2014
  8. sophie999

    sophie999 Junior Member

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    Well,

    Same thing happened again 2-3 times during the last several days. Every time it has been very cold and the car was on the open lot for the entire day. I do warm it up for 2-3 min though. No issues driving for a few miles on the local roads, but once I get on the highway, same thing happens. Lasts less than a minute, then goes away, and then recurs a few miles later. Not a problem after the car is parked in a warmer garage at home.

    Car has about 50K on it, and all the scheduled maintenance was done regularly at the dealership.

    I will talk to the dealer next time I go, but any other ideas?

    Thanks
     
    #8 sophie999, Feb 28, 2015
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    With this discussion involving actual ice, intermixing with the acronym ICE is making my head hurt. :whistle:

    Way back when, "engine" seemed to do the trick.
     
    #9 Mendel Leisk, Feb 28, 2015
  10. sophie999

    sophie999 Junior Member

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    Yes, way back when... one could shift gears, enjoy the mechanical simplicity of the vehicle and feel of the road, enjoy driving and not texting or reading emails... way back when the world was much less complicated.
     
    #10 sophie999, Feb 28, 2015
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  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    horse and buggy. but the poop was a hassle.
     
    #11 bisco, Feb 28, 2015
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  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    since it doesn't happen with warmer weather/storage, but continues to happen in cold weather, even after fully warmed up, it has to be something that is not getting the benefit of engine heat (ice heat for mendel) and/or friction heat.
     
    #12 bisco, Feb 28, 2015
  13. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    Yes! "Engine" is a lot more clear, and a lot less pretentious. It's less specific than "internal combustion engine," but that's a false issue, because all engines in vehicles are internal combustion engines, unless we're talking about Stanley Steamers.

    My Internal Combustion Engines professor often referred to his course as "I.C. Engines," but never as ice.
     
    #13 CR94, Mar 1, 2015
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yup, nowadays single, simple words don't cut it. You need to pad them with a couple (or more) adjectives, typically completely superfluous adjectives (as you note), "internal" and "combustion" in this case, and THEN hamstring the whole phrase by converting to an acronym.
     
    #14 Mendel Leisk, Mar 1, 2015
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