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Flooring it, engine has idle hold? Slugish...

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Higgins909, Feb 15, 2019.

  1. Higgins909

    Higgins909 Member

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    There have been times when I'm driving a bit more "spiritedly" and notice that when I let off the gas, the engine holds the rpm. In a recent situation this didn't happen. There was a ambulance coming and I pulled over into a kind of bull horn thing. I didn't come to a complete stop. I was wanting to get back on the road, as I signaled and got on the gas some and looked back and saw a truck coming... how far are they?... Wait are they slowing down?.... Through that thought process I went to full throttle and had realised I might not make it and backed off and then back on and had to wait for the whole rubber band wind up to happen again.... (was not the best thing to do, but I didn't come close to causing a accident or anything) I also noticed my battery only had 1-3 bars left.

    Does anyone know anything about this engine rpm hold when driving "spiritedly" and avoiding the rubber band wind up?

    Thanks,
    Higgins909
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    maybe a hybrid battery issue, how many miles on her?
     
  3. Higgins909

    Higgins909 Member

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    right about 170.8k (M not KM) 2010.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    could be then. or maybe just an engine tune up required. have you done anything beyond recommend maintenance?
     
  5. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    These engines only have 4K RPM before redline. Best not to push them hard. I. Try to never go over 3k RPM. Not clear on rubber band wind up?
     
  6. Higgins909

    Higgins909 Member

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    From what I can remember, it's had all the maintenance done (Spark plugs) at the dealer up to 120k+. When I was saying the rubber band, I was talking about the CVT transmission taking it's sweet time to produce any power. I have no idea what RPM I ever go. I only got the standard dash. I don't think I've ever talked or seen any chat about this, but I seem to have something like V-tec that kicks in at either 50 or 55mph. (random) It starts to haul and there is almost a supercharger whine. The engine rpm also changes. It's been a while since I've taken it on a 75mph highway, but I remember quite a bit of get up and go for 100hp~. Minimal rubber banding. (I think I'm getting a bit off topic)
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    have you cleaned the throttle body, egr and changed the pcv?
     
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  8. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    You sure were talking about a Prius? V-Tec and supercharger is an oxymoron to Prius.
     
  9. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Not a surprising response from a Prius in that situation. When you floor it, you demand way more power than what the ICE can deliver. So the electric part of the hybrid system also contributes all it can. That sucks electrons out of the battery big time. I would expect it to reduce the level showing on the indicator, especially if you do it twice in quick succession.

    If the state of charge (SOC) was already a little low, it could easily drop to two bars in that situation. If it wasn't already on the low side, then that's an early warning that the battery cells are getting out of balance and that reduces the energy storage capacity of the battery. Given the age of your car, that's possible but most 2010s should still have good traction batteries.

    Remember that in a Prius the floor pedal is connected to a computer, not to the throttle plate. You have no direct control over the engine speed. You're like a ship's captain giving orders to his crew. The crew figures out how to make those orders happen. If the computers get worried about the low battery level, they will crank up the engine rpm to run MG1 faster and bring the battery level back up in case you need it again. It's a quick thinking crew. ;)
     
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  10. Maarten28

    Maarten28 Active Member

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    There is no redline on a Prius since it has no RPM gauge. On the Lexus CT200h where you can select one the red starts at 5500 RPM which is above the maximum the engine will run anyway (5200 RPM). There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't push it, except when the engine is cold.

    What probably did happen is at 1-3 bars the HV battery is really empty and will not supply any power, and during moderate acceleration the HSD will even charge the battery. So next time: just floor it. You'll still lose out on the electric power but you'll at least get the most possible power out of the ICE.
     
  11. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    Gee no RPM gauge means no redline?! I have a scanguage hooked up to my Gen 3. I can assure you there is a redline. Don’t floor it! How about wait for traffic to go by and drive normal.
     
  12. qettyz

    qettyz Active Member

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    Yes there sure is redline on Prius/Hybrid Toyota, but no way to reach it normally. Flooring it will bring engine close it, but not over.
     
  13. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    Flooring it can be done and the red line limiter will come on just before red line, but still not good for the engine.
     
  14. Maarten28

    Maarten28 Active Member

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    A Scanguage is not a Toyota part, so what they show may or may not be related to anything Toyota thinks.

    How does the scangauge display this redline? AFAIK the scangauge only shows 4 items in numeric value.

    And I say again: the engine will not rev more than 5200 rpm and on cars with this engine that have a rpm gauge, the redline starts at 5500.
     
  15. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    So only OEM parts work on a vehicle? There goes the entire aftermarket industry! Of course ScanGauge works, it plugs into the OB2 port and can read a lot more then 4 items. It’s also a code reader for when your check engine light comes on. Redline is 5200 and that’s why I stay below 3000. Most cars have a redline of 7000 or 8000 depending on the make and model. So 5200 is a very low number.
     
  16. Maarten28

    Maarten28 Active Member

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    I have not said anything of the sort.

    Rev LIMITER is 5200. The engine will not rev above 5200 under any circumstance. There is no reason to recommend staying below 3000 rpm only based on the fact the rev limiter (or redline) is at 5200. The same eninge as non-atkinson variant has peak power at 6000 rpm so mechanically the engine would have no problems with that.
     
  17. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    Your car, your problem, do what you want! But when you start burning oil then you will get it.
     
  18. nicoj36

    nicoj36 Active Member

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    It takes a while for ICE to turn off and RPMs to go down if you're driving it really aggressive like your RPMS are sudden highs and lows. I experience it sometimes too when i floor it, and let the gas go when it reaches a certain speed, but the engine and RPMS are delayed to come down when u let go of the gas. This is normal prius stuff.

    One thing i noticed that really helped with this is a tune-up (new spark plugs), transmission fluid drain and refill, oil change.

    My engine became responsive right away after doing those maintenance.