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Help! Loud engine noises

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Samanthaphillips17, Oct 15, 2020.

  1. Samanthaphillips17

    Samanthaphillips17 New Member

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    Last night my 2007 Prius engine started making noises in the engine area. It sounds like it’s having trouble just running the engine. Driving it is very shaky as I gas it at all. I have fresh oil, new battery, and had my car checked about a month ago. The only code they were running was a PO4 code. My car has 240,000 miles but I’m nervous it’s a transmission or engine issue. Would it be a problem with the catalytic converter that would be hurting the engine? I’m completely lost. The check engine light is blinking whenever I hit the gas as well. What are some possible problems I could look into to get a better idea of what’s wrong?
     
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The car is throwing the exact codes you need. PO4 is not a viable code.

    Check the oil level especially if it just got an oil change at the dealer or a jiffy lube they over fill it.

    Probably throwing multiple misfires from blown bottom end of motor damage we see many of those from poor oil maintenance especially if “dealer maintained”.

    What’s the history of the car did you just buy it? Or if you have owned it s long time how many times has it thrown a check engine light because it ran low on oil?
     
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  3. Samanthaphillips17

    Samanthaphillips17 New Member

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    It wasn’t right after the oil change I got it changed probably a month or so ago, I’ve had this car for 4 years and anytime the oil has ever been wrong it’s given me the emergency light with the exclamation point. Never thrown the check engine light for it tho. Right after I had gotten my car back from the oil change from a valvoline it blew at fuse and I had to get that and the battery replaced. That’s when the shop I went to told me nothing else was seriously wrong with it. Only thing I should really look for is problems with the oil? I checked the level and it’s not over full or too empty
     
  4. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    The check engine light blinks only for a serious misfire. You have a problem in the ignition system. Most likely a bad spark plug. Possible a failed "coil on plug" or connector at that coil, or a failing fuel injector. Again, most likely a spark plug.

    Was your code a P0304? That would be cylinder 4 misfiring.

    A P0420 is a catalytic converter efficiency code.
     
  5. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    +1 on the engine misfire. When this happens 1 or more of the 4 cylinders of your engine are not producing power- causing shaking and reduced output. Ignition faults are at the top of the list of probable causes.

    Do not wait to have this repaired- the longer you drive like this the more likely you can do permanent damage to the (very expensive) catalytic converter. A cat is supposed to cause air and fuel (hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide) to react and make H2O and CO2. That reaction also produces lots of heat. A misfire dumps a huge amount of air and fuel (HC) into the cat- it can quickly overheat and degrade or even melt internally.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Its not wrong oil level its no oil level. Your running on a dry engine.

    The red triangle is a fatal alarm its the master caution alarm the red triangle of death that means the engine ran dry and had no oil pressure. Sometimes just one of those events will toast the engine. You have had several.
    Its because your car's engine is eating alot of oil and the oil level was never ever checked between oil changes.

    Engine needs to be replaced.
     
  7. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    I've avoided this for quite a while, but...
    I have to ask....
    With the information provided, your answer is seriously "the engine needs to be replaced"?

    It seems like you have a serious fixation regarding everyone ruining their engines due to oil levels. At what level of oil consumption do you determine an engine needs to be replaced? Why would anyone spend thousands of dollars to replace an engine, even if it uses 1 quart of oil every 500 miles, especially if there is no smoke issues? A quart of oil is $4, and less if bought in a 5 qt container. An engine swap is $3k or so out the door, assuming a used engine, which may have more problems than the original. That's the equivalent of 750 quarts of oil purchased. 750 x 500 miles = 375,000 mile breakeven, minimum, but probably closer to 500k since there's going to be OCIs in there anyway. More likely, breakeven will never even be close to being reached. Engine replacement due to minor oil consumption is one of the most non-senible 'corrective actions' ever to enter a conversation.
     
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  8. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    IF the OP has damage due to running out of oil, it would likely take care of itself- seized cam, spun rod bearing, hole in the block, jumped timing chain, etc. Can't say that in 30 years of fixing cars I've ever seen low oil cause a misfire only under load. If it was a completely dead cylinder (loss of compression) the MIL would flash all the time. Checking the ignition system should be first. Replacing the engine is much further down the list.
     
  9. Samanthaphillips17

    Samanthaphillips17 New Member

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    Thanks for the replies! You were correct, had it repaired and she runs smooth again
     
    #9 Samanthaphillips17, Oct 20, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 21, 2020
  10. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    Thanks for the replies! You were correct, had it repaired and she runs smooth again

    Very glad to hear! Hopefully she's good for another 100k miles (other than weekly oil level checks and normal oil changes!)