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2006, 200k miles. Lost power, loud knocking.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Colin F., Feb 9, 2016.

  1. Colin F.

    Colin F. New Member

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    My '06 Prius lost power on the highway today just as a loud knocking noise started in the engine. It seems like the hybrid battery wouldn't charge either. The engine develops a bit of power, maybe to get it up to 30mph or so, and there are no engine lights on. Oil was very low but had changed it recently. Replaced 12V battery last week.

    Any ideas about best case/worst case based on all that?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Best case scenario....your car still runs after you top it off with oil. Worst case....it doesn't run.

    Keep the car topped off with oil, especially at high mileage.
     
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Worst case: engine permanently damaged due to insufficient lubrication. The knocking noise may be indicative of a failed bearing.
     
  4. Colin F.

    Colin F. New Member

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    The oil light has been a reliable indicator of low oil in this car, and hasn't been on recently. Of course, if the oil is actually that low, then so what if the light hasn't been on?

    The mechanic at the gas station indicated it might be an issue with the timing mechanism which sounded reasonable, but searching online seems to show that's rarely an iss until I searched online then a quick look online, and obviously the Prius has a chain . I had to have it towed to the nearest mechanic, who was at a gas station, so I don't really know this guy. Is that possible? Seems like the Prius timing system is chain driven and needs little maintenance.

    Could it have anything to do with replacing the 12v battery last week? Only other thing I thought is that the car sat around a week with the dead battery, obviously in the winter.

    If there were no lights on the dash, would there be other OBD codes that could help diagnose this?

    I feel like it might just be time to turn her in, but it'd also be nice to wring another year of her.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the gen 4 is looking very good...
     
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Well, that pretty much says it all.

    Most posts about knocking are low oil event which destroys the engine. You seem to mean you've had many. The piston rod has failed due to no lubrication. The upper piston rod connection and the cylinder walls are splash lubricated so low oil no splash. Continue to drive will throw a piston through the block. Cylinder number 3 is mentioned alot. Exciting.
     
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  7. Colin F.

    Colin F. New Member

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    The Prius gods will surely smite me for torturing one of their beloved. Ugh.

    Is this worth fixing on an '06? Any idea of a cost?

    Is this fixing the piston rod, or it needs a new engine block, or screw it, get what I can from a trade-in and move on?
     
  8. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    You seem to think that it is OK to take no action regarding checking or replenishing engine oil, unless an engine oil warning appears. That is incorrect thinking. For the sake of your next car engine's longevity, I hope you will learn from this experience.

    An engine oil warning with the Prius (and most cars for that matter) means that the oil pressure has dropped to an unacceptably low level. This is because the engine oil pickup tube in the crankcase is sucking up air instead of oil. When this happens, the moving parts of the engine are subjected to extreme wear as there is an insufficient oil film between the metal components.

    It is a very poor ownership practice to allow the oil level to decline to the point where a warning light or message appears. Permanent physical damage to the engine is occurring as you receive this warning. It appears you have allowed this warning to occur more than once, hence the damage to the engine has compounded over time.

    There are no DTC logged because your engine's problem is mechanical, not electrical. It does not take a very good mechanic to figure out that the engine is worn - a cylinder compression test or leak down test combined with hearing the unusual engine noise will confirm the engine's problems.

    By "turn her in", I suppose you mean towing to a salvage yard? You won't get much trade-in value for a car with an engine in that condition.

    You may be able to have a used engine installed for $2,500 or $3,000. A new engine will probably cost $8K or more, installed.
     
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  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if you're still on the original hybrid battery, it may not be worth putting a used engine in. you have a 10 year old car with 200,000 miles. a lot of things are gonna need fixin' in the future. get some prices to help making a decision.
     
  10. Colin F.

    Colin F. New Member

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    I would be the first to admit that I'm pretty rough on cars. Even so, in terms of $/mile, I've done well with this car.

    bisco, I am on the original hybrid battery. Definitely work to be done but also gotten a lot of work done the last year.

    Assuming busted engine, what's the best way to extract value in this situation? Craigslist, eBay, dealership trade-in?
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Toughest little car ever.

    You never mentioned miles which usually means 220K +.

    You can trade it in for a new car. They'll tow that pos to the auction and about 3 months later we'll be helping some sap who bought it lol.
     
  12. Colin F.

    Colin F. New Member

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    It's not quite to 220k. I think maybe 212?

    Mechanic I towed it to gave it a thorough going over. Found the knocking, sure enough coming from the engine block. Seems to be... well, who knows for sure without taking it apart, but whatever it is, prognosis is the same: dead engine.

    The mechanic also took a look at the oil that was there. He found shavings, he found it was about 2.5 quarts, and found it was unusually thin & dark. He's suspecting that maybe at the last oil change a month/900 miles ago, something went wrong and they didn't top it off or just didn't do the oil change. The oil change record says they put in standard 3.8 (or 3.9?) quarts.

    The mechanic feels like I ought to go back to the oil change place and complain because of the amount/type of oil. He put the used oil aside and wrote up what he found.

    Also put some new oil in, and confirmed for sure the engine is gone.

    I go to the same oil change place pretty regularly, and they seem legit, so I'm hesitant to go complain. The only reason I'm thinking of it is that I have not noticed anything like 1.5 quarts of oil leaking anywhere. The car is most often parked on my parking pad behind my house or in my office. Wouldn't I notice a leak of 1.5 quarts in <30 days? That's maybe 2 ounces a day, which not a ton, but even an ounce of oil I'd probably notice. And as I mention, I replaced the battery last week, after the car had been sitting for a week. If there was such a large leak, it seems like it would've been obvious at that point.

    Or is that not how an oil leak works, and maybe it's only leaking when the car is running?
     
  13. M in KC

    M in KC Active Member

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    Most likely you are not leaking oil you are burning/consuming it via the combustion process.
     
  14. mike091020

    mike091020 Junior Member

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    I had a similar situation yesterday. LOUD knocking (the Prius has always knocked ... since the first days) and then on the way home my wife noticed that the battery was almost empty and would not charge at freeway speeds. Once on surface streets, the battery started to charge. I took a look late last night but could not see much, except that the oil was where it should be and MAYBE I lost a belt. I could not see for sure. I'm taking it in to my mechanic today to get more info. I have about a quarter of a million miles on mine so if it is an engine replacement issue, I'll probably junk it and take Uber when I need to go somewhere.