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2011 Prius engine shaking, knocking violently

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Jay90, Nov 8, 2018.

  1. Jay90

    Jay90 New Member

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    Hi everyone,
    I have 2011 Prius Base, 137K. It has 2 DTC codes P0302, P0401. It starts fine, gas engine starts fine as well, after about 30 seconds or more since gas engine starts, engine starts to shake, vibrate, knock so violently that it feels like it would blow up. Check engine light is blinking which describes misfire. I pulled out plug on cylinder 2 (2nd cylinder from left) it was black, some oil on the plug when i smelled the tip.So far i have swapped plug and coil between cylinder 2 and 3 without any success. I was thinking that what else could it be, Anybody experienced any of that ? Please help me out here if you have any suggestions. Thank You Guys.
     
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  2. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    if you are low on coolant ,time for znother engine
     
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  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    P0401 equates to the Exhaust Gas Recirculation system. Have you cleaned that yet? It's the Achille's Heel of 3rd gen engines.
    P0302 equates to cylinder #2 misfire, as you're following up on.
     
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  4. Jay90

    Jay90 New Member

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    Thank You guys for your input.My coolant was little low but not significant amount, i was thinking about cleaning EGR but this is what i was thinking, if it was EGR , shouldn't it effect all cylinders or at least cylinder 1 before cylinder 2 plus clogged EGR shouldnt cause such shaking, knocking violently probably little vibration not as what i consider extreme. Any Thoughts ?
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Check at least the EGR pipe: it is relatively quick/easy to access, and from it's condition you have some idea regarding the rest of the system. Watch @NutzAboutBolts video on this, pinned at at top of this forum.

    You've got 137K miles, and have a code that says insufficient EGR flow. To continue to look elsewhere, is to be kidding yourself: they all clog.
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Nov 10, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 10, 2018
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  6. Jay90

    Jay90 New Member

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    Ok, I opened egr connecting elbow pipe, it is black with dirt/oil on it's wall. It isny completely restricted however I opened throttle body plate and saw chocolaty color liquird puddle in it. Is it normal ?
     
  7. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    Obviously not. There shouldn't be oil inside the intake system. That excessive oil could easily cause misfiring and knocking as a result.
    User "danlatu" recommended oil catch can installation to eliminate that oil going into the intake. You could benefit from it. Search the forum for that thread "Eliminate that Knock" by danlatu...

    If I were you, I would also remove and clean the entire intake assembly. I would remove and clean the PCV valve; I'd remove and clean the EGR cooler, check the spark plugs (clean them if necessary) and if these help prevent the knocking, then I would install an oil catch can immediately.

    There is a chance that (and I hope it wouldn't be the case here) your head gasket might have been blown by the prolong knocking. And the cause for the knocking could be the coolant getting into one or more cylinders. If that's the case, none of my recommendations above will help. And that's what the user "tankyuong" was talking about above (Post #2). That's the worst case scenario. Are you losing coolant? Check your coolant reservoir.

    I recommended the above maintenance work because you won't need to spend money for those; just your labor.

    Please let us know how it goes.
     
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  8. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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  9. Jay90

    Jay90 New Member

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    Thanks man, I really appreciate your input. I am in a process of removing egr cooler and Intake, but it's so cold.in Michigan that I am keep putting it off, anyway I will clean them and let you guys know the result of it
    Thanks again
     
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  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Here's also the main EGR cleaning thread:

    EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results | PriusChat

    And for sure watch @NutzAboutBolts videos, pinned at top of this forum.

    I'm gonna say it IS normal. For the typical 3rd gen Prius. Very normal. Until you clean it and install an Oil Catch Can. I put in the Moroso Universal Can a year back, and checked it recently, pulled the throttle body off (you can do this without coolant line disconnect) and there was only a "sheen" of oil, no pool. I know there's a little oil spit-back at each intake port, and maybe a slight amount of oil in the PCV circuit gets through the OCC.

    I would clean the Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor too, while cleaning the intake manifold. MAF sensor cleaner is probably safest thing for it, though it actually looks pretty durable. Be a little careful with it, they're over $200. It's below the intake manifold, bolted on the right side of the intake manifold, directly below, and more-or-less swimming in the pool of oil...
     
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  11. iskoos

    iskoos Active Member

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    Yes, yes absolutely. That's what I meant actually. There shouldn't be any oil but all Gen3 have it not only his. And it is not good.
     
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  12. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Welcome to the knock club, we're always accepting new members.
     
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  13. Jay90

    Jay90 New Member

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    Update: I took off the intake manifold, looked though the intake port on engine , 1,3,4 cylinder has clean dry port, 2nd intake port is black, oily residue . What does that mean ? Do you happen to think it's piston rings causing oil to foul plug, flooding piston and causing misfire/knock ?
     
  14. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    I’d think you have issues with cylinder 2. A compression test would tell you.

    If the coolant is stable, it’s probablt a ring issue and will just consume oil.

    I’d clean the egr circuit stem to stern then monitor the coolant level of not dropping.

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
  15. jbfw

    jbfw New Member

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    Wow, I have a 2014 CT200h and this is the exact same story with mine!
    The 2nd cylinder port is dirty and the others are clean.

    After I finish cleaning the EGR cooler, EGR, and install an oil catch can, I will monitor for coolant loss and post back.

    Let me know if you've finished resolving the issue already!

    Josh
     
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  16. Jay90

    Jay90 New Member

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    Wow, Are you still driving your car ? i dont think that EGR has anything to do with only one cylinder.if it was EGR, it should have been with all cylinders.My guess is that its the piston issue since i can see the oil on spark plug tip, meaning oil is somehow getting to the plug and casuing it to misfire, i tried using compression repair oil additive, it helped some in my opinion, one time i drove about 15 miles on freeway around 70+ speed no issue, no check engine light on, it only hesitated and knocked when taking off around 15 mph speed but once pass that,it ran fine. second time i drove it, same issue check engine light blinking, shuttering, knocking.i dont know what to think of it.let me know what you have done so far and if anything has helped in your case. Thank You
     
  17. jbfw

    jbfw New Member

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    I'm not driving the car currently. I bought the lexus as a project. My car for the past 5 or 6 years has been a 1994 civic vx.

    I will be getting the oil catch can in the mail tomorrow and will put the cleaned EGR cooler, EGR, and intake manifold back on and let you know how it runs afterward.
    The intake manifold had a huge puddle of condensation in it and I'm hoping the white smoke i saw coming out at startup last week was just the condensation burning off and not coolant.

    Oh and if you clean your EGR cooler, I found that 1 gallon of purple power did the trick in dissolving the carbon build up.
    Mine was probably 90% plugged with 180k miles on the car.
     
  18. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think Purple Power is similar to Oxi-Clean, ie: a fairly strong, basic (caustic, like oven cleaner but weaker) cleaner. Strong hot water solution of Oxi is what I used on my cooler, worked good. Oxi's likely cheaper (big tubs of powdered Oxi available at Costco, for example) and maybe more readily available. Or Purple Power, I'm just rambing, lol. Also, I'm off in Canadian hinterland though, who knows.
     
  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I have an entire gallon of purple power on my rack, didn't even think about using it. Well there's always next time.......
     
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  20. jbfw

    jbfw New Member

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    I think I read a post of yours in another thread about using Oxi-clean. I tried that yesterday, but wasn't satisfied...i did get a generic version of it, maybe that was the problem.

    The purple power was $5 USD for a gallon, I figure I can swing that instead of replacing the cooler.

    Thanks for you contributions in the other threads, they definitely helped me decide to jump into the hybrid world. I was kind of intimidated to start working on a prius/ct200h, until I read yours and everyone else's contributions to the OCC and EGR threads.
     
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