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Gen 3 to 4 engine swap failure

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by christian cox, Apr 17, 2022.

  1. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    Ok did the swap and everything seemed so promising but then it just doesn’t stay running. Scan cam back with cam sensor, temp, maf, knock, and water pump with a check hybrid that won’t go away no matter what I do. I checked the timing was right, ground was good-I disconnected it and nothing would work - i reused my old sensors thinking maybe the ecu was more accustomed to them still nothing. I recharged the hybrid battery which took longer than my gen 2 batt and wouldn’t Charge as high but would turn over the engine. It charged to 59.6 SOC According to techstream . I Check every fuse, held the pos and neg terminals together to zero out the man ecu still nothing. Ran techstream on it and it wouldn’t connect with the cars ecu but did come back with two codes for cam sensor and maf sensor. Which it seems my Walmart OBD2 reader was better came back 5 codes. Checked the wiring harness nothing there no rips no Tares. So I’m currently wandering if its the ecu because I read a form here were a guy did a regular gen3 swap And his car wouldn’t start and he had to have the ECU flashed before it would run. So I’m thinking head to the junkyard grab another ECU out of a newer car maybe a 2012 and see if it works. Any ideas please help and thanks
     
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Swapping out the MAF sensor and doing diagnostics on the cam sensor seems like the next step. When you say, "promising" do you mean the engine ran normally for a brief period of time, or just that the hybrid battery spun the engine for 30 seconds and it seemed like it was running and then it never started?
     
  3. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    No I just mean that putting everything together seem to go I like clockwork and the engine did spin up for eight or 10 seconds then stops. Well the cam sensor that came with the engine was like brand new and I never had an issue out of the maf sensor before so I can’t understand why I would have one with it now it makes zero sense. But I can try it at this point I just feel like I’m just throwing money at everything again, tired of doing that already
     
  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yea, if there's a way you can find a gen4 engine to swap those parts with so it doesn't cost you any money. Sooner you can confirm those two parts are ok, sooner you can move on to other diagnosis.

    Do you have any concerns about the cam lining up with the engine? Was that confirmed before you put it in?
     
  5. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    I remove the valve cover and the spark plug so the engine could just turn over with that resistance and I turned it over and it has a special chain links on it that are colored orange and there’s a Nick in the balancer that shows when it gets to top dead center and all that was a line perfectly the engine is in really good condition only had like 60 something thousand miles on it so I don’t understand I’m thinking it’s probably the ECU but I don’t know since I have all those codes that are coming up it could be something in the wire harness now that’s causing more voltage because all those sensors are on the same side of the wire harness so .
     
  6. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yeah... if a plug isn't all the way plugged in you can get a huge amount of error that are easy to make go away once you find it. But if that doesn't work, you really need to find a way to swap out parts without having to buy them and just test them...
     
  7. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    I have noticed that the engine is firing because the exhaust was hot. Also I do smell gas. What I’ve been doing is pulling the white main wire to reset the computer and trying to get it to finally continue running. I guess I’m thinking it will eventually self regulate. I did order a new cam and maf sensor . I’m going to call a dealer to see if I can have the ecu reprogrammed So I can just remove it and take it to them. Also considering ordering another wire harness. Just throwing money at hoping.
     
  8. tak1313

    tak1313 Member

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    Just came across this. Did you put a Gen4 engine in a Gen3 body, or the other way around? Did you change the ECM, BCM, etc. as well, or are you using the original control modules?
     
  9. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    Gen 4 in gen 3 body used the gen 3 intake & exhaust, gen 4 water pump. Kept originals sensors cam , temp, knock etc and ecu,s.
     
  10. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    And you watched all the YouTube videos so you already know the few things that you have to do slightly differently on this install, correct?
     
  11. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    Yes I watched all of fix that Prius‘s videos and many many others before I decided to do it and there was never an issue with the problems that I’m having whatsoever I currently think that it’s probably the computer in the car that needs to be updated somehow but looks like what I’m gonna do is I’m just gonna rebuild my old engine then have the computer updated and try the engine swap again Later.
     
  12. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Don't give up yet... You're so close to the install being a success... It's just one last thing that needs to be done with system to make it work. Maybe @ChapmanF or @Elektroingenieur can help with this problem?
     
  13. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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  14. Sandog53

    Sandog53 Member

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    Mine sputtered, knocked and all kinds of crazy stuff at first. And I was ready to give up. Thought I had blown the motor up. Turns out the EGR was holding open at startup and making it do all kinds of crazy stuff. Knocking, throwing all kinds of codes. Once I figured that out it ran fine. My water pump was bad on the new motor though. I had to replace it. But all is good now.
     
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  15. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    I just don’t have the time to wait I have a head coming back and I have a set of new piston rings I think I’m just gonna rebuild my engine and throw it back in there and then possibly take the car and have the the computer updated and then at some later time try again and see what happens.
     
  16. EH6TunerDaniel

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    If it runs on the gen 3 and not the gen 4 then something is wrong with the gen 4 engine or install. The ECU doesn't know the engine isn't the stock one.
     
  17. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    You know it finally started running. I just kept resetting it and the it started running on its own. It sounded like a war zone at first but little by little it smoothed out. Now it has a misfire in cylinder 4 and the gen 4 water pump needs replaced but cam sensor code and the check hybrid message is gone. Its a pretty smooth and quiet engine. I’m a little freaked though after having this much difficulty I’m wondering how road worthy it will be in the future. Now just glad it’s running .
     
  18. christian cox

    christian cox Member

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    Hey that sounds like what just happened with mine. I kept resetting it and it finally started running. Sounded like garbage but then quieted down. Now it has a misfire in #4 and needs a new water pump. Not sure about the misfire. I used the gen 4 coils and put all new spark plugs in before starting it up.
     
  19. prius16

    prius16 Active Member

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    Congratulations on getting the engine running!
    (y)

    I know all too well, how hard it can be to get a different year/config engine running.
    That's why most service stations will only do a direct fit.

    Imagine if you were paying $100->$200 per hour, for the mechanic to try to figure things out. :eek:
    That never ever results in a good situation.
    So, garages will only do direct swaps, or swaps that they are already experienced doing (unless the owner is willing, and able, to foot a huge bill for learning).

    Congrats again!
     
  20. EH6TunerDaniel

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    Awesome, glad its running. Swap the coil pack with another cylinder and see if the misfire follows.

    What happened to the water pump? Those are kinda pricey.