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08 Prius Failed Cat?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Noah Orr, Aug 26, 2016.

  1. Noah Orr

    Noah Orr New Member

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    Location:
    Little Rock
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I own a 2008 with just over 200k miles and purchased the vehicle in 2010 with 75,000 miles. Recently I took it upon myself to replace the iridium spark plugs, pcv, and ws-atf, as well as clean the sooty throttle body & mass airflow sensor. I must assume that the maintenance stated above had never been performed prior. A few days ago I brought my prius in to have both coolants flushed and bled at the dealership. I also had them run the CEL which has come off and on for maybe the last 30k. They told me that the catalytic converter is clogged and must be replaced for 2k+. I have not experienced any egg like smell or notable loss of power OR mpg. The only thing I have noticed with the car is occasional rough engine cutoff/startup. My prius also does not leak/consume any noticeable amount of oil between 5k oil changes. Should I replace the O2 sensors first? I have looked around and am seeing direct fits for about 300 online. Hopefully someone who has had similar issues can chime in. With so many high mileage drive components I refuse to replace with toyota oem converter and am not concerned about the aftermarket converter possibly tripping the CEL I'd just like to ensure my engine isn't fighting back flow pressure from a clogged cat. I'd love to keep my prius running for another 100k or so.

    Thanks in advance guys!

    - Noah
     
  2. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    So the code was P0420? Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold? It means that catalyst isn’t working efficiently enough. If fault code is intermittent then catalytic converter can’t really be clogging up yet. You could check the exhaust sensor values with running engine to determine if it could be just a faulty sensor.

    But you should really fixed. If it is the catalytic converter then it will only get worse and it will get clogged at some point. If it is the front sensor it can destroy the catalytic converter. And anyways it’s not good to drive around with the check engine light on because then you don’t know if you have some other problem with your engine.
     
  3. Noah Orr

    Noah Orr New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    N/A

    Yes indeed the code was P0420, along with P3192 (couldn't find anything on this?) What is required to check the sensor values? I am by no means mechanically proficient, however find most general maintenance simple by nature. Should I get a local muffler shop to check the sensor values?
     
  4. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    I couldn’t find P3192 anywhere on the manual. Are you sure you have a correct code number? Other engine related codes should be checked before P0420 since most of engine problems can also cause P0420.
     
  5. Noah Orr

    Noah Orr New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    Yes, those two codes are listed on the receipt. Maybe the dealer meant 3191 or 3190, something along those lines. I suppose I can have it rechecked for free at the local auto parts. I was reading that either 3190 or 3191 is reduced engine power.
     
  6. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    P3190 is poor engine power. P3191 is engine does not start. P3190 could be caused by clogged catalytic converter. But with either one of those codes I would check fuel trim numbers, misfire counters and signals from exhaust sensors to see if there is some other problem before replacing the catalytic converter. But of course this pretty much requires you to have mini-VCI or some other diagnostic tool.