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Misfire on cylinder 1 and 3

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Dodge Aries K, Oct 10, 2015.

  1. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    Three
    Just today I acquired a 2005 Prius (trim level 1... so no options at all) in exchange for a cruddy old Ram truck and a dying Avalon. They had issues, but so does the Prius. The car has around 218K on it, I just replaced the spark plugs with NGK iridium plugs, cleaned the MAF, sort of cleaned the throttle body a little bit, and even swapped the coils around to see if the misfire would change. I also gave the car a new air filter.

    Basically, every time you turn it on it shakes really bad for a bit then smooths out some. Keep getting P0300, P0301, and P0303 randomly. It still drives okay once it's on for a bit but I'd like it to behave itself. It also seems to smooth out a bit more when you actually get on it versus lower rpms for the gas engine. Any ideas?
     
    #1 Dodge Aries K, Oct 10, 2015
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    It might be time to replace the fuel injectors.
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, Oct 10, 2015
  3. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    The injectors? It wouldn't surprise me. I put in some Lucas fuel injector cleaner and filled the tank up with premium since it was advertised to have more "detergents" since I had a feeling the car might have had some bad gas. Any ideas what cars use the same injectors since I'm thinking it's going to be junkyard time haha.

    Edit in: Looks like any 1nz-fe injector from 00-06 will work so the smashed Scion XA and XB at the junkyard will be donating it's injectors to me.
     
    #3 Dodge Aries K, Oct 10, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2015
  4. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    Did even more searching... my car sounds just like this one... absolutely awful. More evidence I guess that points to the injectors being bad. Those will be swapped out in the morning and I'll report back on if that fixes the thing.

     
    #4 Dodge Aries K, Oct 10, 2015
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If you're thinking to swap injectors, you might want to read this post which talks about a little experiment we've got going at PriusChat to see when the injectors turn out to be the problem and when they don't. We also send the injectors that came out to a facility for testing (to see how good or bad they were, in the car that was having trouble), and restoration to as-new specs.

    So far we've done this three times. In astrolink's case the injectors really were the problem, the testing confirmed it, and the car ran much better after changing them. In C Clay's case the injectors turned out not the problem, testing showed they were in great condition, and swapping them didn't fix his problem. (The first set to be tested was mine, and also tested in near-new condition so I put them back in.)

    So the moral (so far) is, some engine roughness problems do turn out to be the injectors, some don't. If you have a scantool you might want to post what you're getting for bank 1 long term fuel trim, before deciding what to pursue next.

    At the end of each round of our experiment, I end up with a set of restored injectors. The ones I have at the moment are the ones with the test certificate here. "Conversation" me if you are interested in those, or about having your own set tested and restored after to continue the study.

    -Chap
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Oct 10, 2015
  6. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    I do have a somewhat fancier scan tool. I try it and see what I can find for the long term fuel trim. Frankly, if the injectors don't fix it then there is probably an issue with the engine itself which I'm praying isn't the case.
     
    #6 Dodge Aries K, Oct 10, 2015
  7. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    Okay, swapped the four injectors from a wrecked xB. Car runs great now. Hurray!
     
    #7 Dodge Aries K, Oct 10, 2015
    valde3 and Patrick Wong like this.
  8. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Photos of the old injectors from cyls 1 and 3?
     
    #8 Patrick Wong, Oct 10, 2015
  9. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    Sure, I tossed them on a shelf so I'll take their picture later tonight or tomorrow.
     
    #9 Dodge Aries K, Oct 10, 2015
  10. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    Might have spoke a little too soon. I've now got lean codes for both o2 sensors and it almost seems that the engine idles higer than the other two Prii I have. Probably should have put new seals on the injectors when I tossed them in haha. I'll look into it more during the day and also try to clean up the tb better than it was. But no more misfire on 1 and 3 at least!
     
    #10 Dodge Aries K, Oct 11, 2015
  11. Dodge Aries K

    Dodge Aries K Junior Member

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    Three
    IMG_1643.JPG IMG_1644.JPG IMG_1645.JPG IMG_1646.JPG IMG_1647.JPG
    Should be in order from 1 to 4. Also, yes, should have put new seals on the used injectors. Used some carb cleaner stuff and sprayed around each injector and cylinder 4's injector seal has a slight leak. Fortunately, the injectors were very easy to access so it shouldn't take much to put the new seals on them.
     
    #11 Dodge Aries K, Oct 11, 2015
    Patrick Wong and valde3 like this.
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