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2014 Prius - Shudder

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Chris Morgan, Feb 27, 2024.

  1. Chris Morgan

    Chris Morgan New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2024
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    Location:
    North Carolina, USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Recently, my 2014 Prius Three has started shuddering at random if I'm driving under 30 mph or 40 mph. The check engine light came on. I took it to a shop that has helped me often. First, they told me that the check engine light seemed to be due to ignition coils that needed to be changed. But, after they changed the coils, the check engine light was still on. And, the shudder was still occurring just as frequently.

    Any input on what might be causing the shudder; or if you have any thoughts on how to resolve the issue, I'd appreciate the input.
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    It's a 2ZZ engine Atkinson cycle seemingly problem so it's the Prius engine usually the head gasket is quenching the fire in one of the cylinders and then things become unbalanced and the torque plate starts slapping the springs back and forth or something similar to this The fix is if you catch it early enough a head gasket most people never do including mechanics and you wind up with a new reciprocating mass for your engine which is about $1,900 then assembly time to assemble it put it all back in your car so on you wind up with a bill between 5:00 and $9,000 plus dollars It's your 2014 worth that kind of money I don't think any car is unless you're a member of the daily driven exotics crowd or something along those lines. In my eyes that doesn't get fixed but a lot of people here are fixing it I didn't find the generation 3 had that much enjoyment new let alone broken and 5K needing to be spent that 5K goodbye me a generation 2 and very nice condition with money left over. Funny thing is I got a way nicer condition generation two for $800 that makes my Gen 3 actually look of poor quality from a poor neighborhood or something I have pictures they don't post well here It is actually amazing how my generation twos look so much better and are so much more heavier duty if you will than the three the three is paper thin You can't touch it dance will be in it just by leaning against it things like this so we just didn't opt to fix. Now one or two of them sit in my yard as yard ornaments A testament to poor quality and all of that I have 74 model Corolla sitting in my yard that look nine times better than the generation 3 Prius which is 30 years newer car kind of sad actually. My generation twos all four of them sitting next to these two generation 3s. You can just see if you know anything about any kind of quality that the generation 2 is so much more of an automobile It's unbelievable. Here in central North Carolina 2009 Yaris two-door will outsell generation 2 and 3 Prius kind of weird.
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Maybe due to seeing misfire code, P0300 (general misfire alert) and/or P0301 through P0304 (misfire codes for specific cylinders.

    With Gen 3, any time past 100k miles, the head gaskets are prone to failure, allowing coolant to leak into cylinders, typically starting at the exhaust side of the wall between cylinders one and two. It’ll trigger the misfire codes.

    What’s the miles on it?

    Have you ever cleaned the Exhaust Gas Recirculation system and intake manifold?

    Was it a dealership you took it to?

    FWIW, the coil replacement may have been unnecessary. Do you have the old coils?
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Feb 28, 2024
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2024
  4. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    Location:
    MONW, Ks.
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    TL ;Too Hard to Read. Sorry.
    You could spend an extra minute or two when posting these and make them readable.
    Punctuation is free. Paragraphs are free. There are a few periods and capital letters! Getting better! Good on you!
     
  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Shoot it like a broke hoarse he he
     
  6. Eddie25

    Eddie25 Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2018
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    Location:
    IL
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    If it’s shuddering under low to medium loads, (when the engine is running, car is moving, and you are not giving much power) and goes away when you give it some power, then my first inclination would be to check out the intake manifold EGR runners. If one clogs (usually cylinder 1) it causes this issue. It can be cleaned out somewhat easily. Of course you’ll want to clean out the whole EGR system if this turns out to be the case, but doing to intake is less involved and would probably stop the shuddering.
     
  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Did they give you the actual trouble codes they read from the car? If not, you can contact them and ask, and then post those codes here.