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Prius 2011, caramel like syrup in the intake

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Rick4112, Aug 21, 2021.

  1. Rick4112

    Rick4112 New Member

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    Prius 2011, caramel like syrup in the intake, causing cylinder 2 miss fire, rest of cylinders are ok,
    200K miles, any suggestion?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    How does it taste? Sweet like honey? jk/ that's just oil.

    Are you losing any coolant? When was the last time you changed the spark plugs?
     
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  3. Ed Beaty

    Ed Beaty Active Member

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    "causing cylinder 2 miss fire"

    How'd you come to that conclusion? More likely a plug, coil, or dirty injector.
     
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  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    For as long as there have been Prii, there have been posts about the gloop in the intake. Because of the Atkinson-like engine cycle achieved by delaying intake valve closure, there is always some cylinder charge being pushed back into the intake manifold. There's always a puddle of gloop there, whether the car is misfiring or not. Some owners get obsessive about it and clean the gloop out, and then there is gloop there again. Beyond that lies the whole oil-catch-can thing.
     
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  5. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Add an oil catch can
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Having installed an oil catch can (two now, in series), I'd speculate at the least the PCV circuit is responsible for 60~70 percent of the goop. Plus, the spit-back from the intake ports looks like straight oil, while the PCV goop is a real olio, sort of toxic mayonnaise, some of it.

    @Rick4112 how many miles on it? If over 100K it's time for EGR cleaning*. MIght be overdue if you're getting misfire; a leak-down test can diagnose head gasket condition.

    * Info in my signature.
     
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  7. Rick4112

    Rick4112 New Member

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    I didn't have a toasted bread to taste it.
    Looks like oil, but the color I assume comes from the coolant is loosing.
    The Oil chamber oil looks clean (free of coolant).

    I have replaced injectors, spark plugs and swap coil from cylinder 2.
    and symptom remains
     
    #7 Rick4112, Aug 22, 2021
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 22, 2021
  8. Rick4112

    Rick4112 New Member

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    Mendel,
    I haven't installed the oil-catch-can.
    the car is 200K miles
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Ah geez, just realized you noted the miles in your initial post. 200k miles is way past the usual EGR cleaning time, it's very likely near totally blocked, both the EGR components, and the EGR passages in the intake. I would get a leak-down test ASAP.
     
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  10. Rick4112

    Rick4112 New Member

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    Mendel,
    I will look for a good video for EGR cleaning procedure
    thank you for your advise,
     
  11. Rick4112

    Rick4112 New Member

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    look at the pixs please
     

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  12. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You should remove the intake manifold and do a cleaning. You will probably find that clogged with Carbon as well.

    Since you are experiencing a misfire on cylinder #2, there is a chance you may already have a blown head gasket. Which is quite common on these turd generation cars with 200k miles. You may want to do a leak down test of all the cylinders before spending time doing EGR and Intake manifold cleaning (don't really want to waste time if head gasket is blown)
     
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  13. Rick4112

    Rick4112 New Member

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    Id there any good video for doing the leakdown test my self?
     
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    There’s an EGR link in my signature; if you click on that you’ll find info, plus links to @NutzAboutBolts video on Exhaust Gas Recirculation cleaning. Theres also a thread pinned at top of 3rd gen maintenance forum, a lot of his videos linked.
     
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  15. Rick4112

    Rick4112 New Member

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    thank you Mendel
     
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  16. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    Let me add to this:
    Your intake manifold has four large input ports. Of course these aren’t clogged. But beneath each port on the plastic manifold, there is a small, pipe-cleaner sized port. THESE are the buggers that get clogged with goop from the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation).

    You’ve already pulled the intake manifold so take a look at those four small ports and run a pipe cleaner thru them.

    As for your photos: That orangish color doesn’t look good. Have you been losing engine coolant? What’s the engine oil look like? Take off the oil cap and look, and if you can’t tell, drain a little oil and look. (Dipstick won’t tell you).
     
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