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P3190 P0A0F after cleaning injectors! Car won't run! Plz Help!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by FriedCells, Nov 14, 2020.

  1. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Trying to diagnose lost mpg over the last few months, I took out my fuel injectors, bench tested them with a 9V battery and ran carb cleaner through them. They all function perfectly, good spray pattern, open and close perfectly. I also removed my spark plugs and they looked like this.
    IMG_20201112_131931.jpg The one black one seems strange to me. I haven't been able to find out why just 1 would look like that. 25K miles on plugs. The black one looks shiny but it was dry, took a wire brush to clean off a dry, black dust, like carbon. I checked gap and resistance on each plug, all within spec. Did the same with the coils, all within spec. Next thing is, based on a test that I did between 2 Prius's, I could see that my upstream O2 sensor didn't fluctuate Voltage nearly as much as on another Prius with better mpg's than mine. . So I went ahead and got a new one. And now I have a much bigger problem. P3190 code and car won't run! Been testing things for 2 days now, reading like crazy, not working, trying to figure this out....almost in tears. So frustrated. There's also a P0A0F code. So, to summarize, car was running just fine 3 days ago albeit less mpg than it used to. 2 days ago, I changed the upstream O2, checked all plugs, and coils, and injectors. Now car won't start. :cry:(n)
     
  2. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Just for more details, I got a new MAF sensor 7k miles ago. No issues with that. Gas tank is full. Just filled before working on it. When I removed the injectors, gas came out of fuel rail all over the place, mainly on top of manifold, but dried up quickly (could this fuel spilling maybe short some wires?). The O2 sensor was a real pain in the butt to remove. Not the sensor itself, but the electrical connector. Took me 2 hours to remove! I was so pissed. I watched a video online of a guy that did the whole process. I was almost on top of the engine, reaching with both hands behind it, I could see the connector, I could see where I had to push the clip, but it would not come apart. I was tugging on that damn thing, using small screw driver to push on clip, trying everything, cussing like a sailor. Finally after using a flat head tiny screwdriver to create some separation between housing and connector, I was able to get it out. I did try the old O2 sensor after the car wouldn't start. But still wouldn't start. I checked all the wires back there and everything looks fine. Don't think I damaged anything there. Connector is solidly connected. I took everything out from air box, down to throttle body to make sure all electrical connectors were connected, PCV (replaced 10k miles ago) was good and sealed, all hoses good and sealed. Checked everything. Car won't start. HV battery starts the engine ok, sounds like it's running but cuts off after 10 seconds. I did drain the HV battery by trying to start car a few times. Luckily, I have a Prolong system and I'm running a long extension out to the street to charge the battery between my tests, etc. Been keeping it between 200-240V. My 12V battery is measuring 12.7V. Also, I did look at the engine one time during the 10-15 seconds that it runs from the HV battery. Didn't see any leaks around injectors, no strange noises, no hissing vacuum sounds, everything looked ok. But it still shuts off. I did notice a gas smell after the car shuts off but it's not coming from injectors. Don't know if that's from the exhaust....
     
    #2 FriedCells, Nov 14, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2020
  3. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    I did connect Techstream hoping to get more info but there's so much info, that I have no idea what I'm looking at....
    IMG_20201114_130955.jpg IMG_20201114_131047.jpg IMG_20201114_131124.jpg IMG_20201114_131156.jpg IMG_20201114_131218.jpg IMG_20201114_131236.jpg IMG_20201114_131253.jpg IMG_20201114_131320.jpg IMG_20201114_131620.jpg
     
  4. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    Pull the fuel feed line at the quick connect to the rail. Clear the codes. Put line into a gas can or other suitable container. Try and power it up. See if it puts fuel in the container. If not, the fuel pump croaked.
     
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  5. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Thanks, will try that. I was trying to figure out how to test fuel pump. I kept trying in Techstream but getting an error. It's a bootleg copy of Techstream. Several functions seem to not work. But will try your method. (y)
     
  6. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Thanks for the idea. At least now I know that the fuel pump is not the problem. I did the check like you said just now:
    (Warning: TURN VOLUME DOWN)

    I wonder now if while trying to start my car so many times now, could the engine be flooded?
     
  7. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    Now that you know their is fuel to the rail, check for spark. Pull one of the coils and stick a plug in it. Hold it next to the valve cover and have an assistant power the car on. If you don’t get a spark, check the cam sensor and the crank sensor.

    MAKE SURE TO HOLD THE COIL BY THE ELECTRICAL PIGTAIL. Not the spark plug. And don’t touch the valve cover.
     
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  8. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Thank you so much for your help. It's gotten dark now, but I'll try this tomorrow....my 3rd day of trying to get my car running that was running just fine 3 days ago :(
     
  9. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    It’s possible the car is simply flooded.
     
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  10. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    I actually bought new plugs in case I need them. NGK 4912 laser iridium. I was thinking to try to remove the old plugs, let it air out, try the new ones. Wondering if maybe I damaged the plugs when I cleaned them with a wire brush. Resistance levels seem in spec, gap was 1.0-1.05 on each. But don't know. I'll put the new plugs in tomorrow, if still nothing, will check each for spark.
     
  11. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    The bad part is, it’s not as simple to clear the flooded condition as a regular car. You have to pull all the plugs and try and turn it on once or twice. If the plugs are recent, you should be able to just let them air dry.
     
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  12. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    If I pull all the plugs and try to turn it on, won't more fuel still go in there from the injectors, making the flooding worse? Just want to make sure that I understand before doing that.
     
  13. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    The first time I pulled the throttle body off mine to clean the cesspool, I left the connector slightly unplugged, it was on but not locked in. Double check all your connections if all else fails.
     
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  14. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    Unplug the connector at the injector.
     
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  15. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Phew, glad we clarified that. That would have been a mess. I'll remove the airbox and everything again tomorrow, check all connectors, test the spark, try the unflooding technique. I'll try to show a video of each step in case someone can see something that I miss. Again, really appreciate the help. You're giving me hope which is better than how I started today.
     
  16. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Do you have an air compressor? If so, it's handy when drying out a flooded cylinder.
     
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  17. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Unfortunately, I do not. About to get started now on all the suggestions above. Wish me luck...
     
  18. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    Great news!!!! It works again!!! So happy! After 3 days of non-stop work on it!! Definitely seemed flooded. I'll give my theory on to how that might have happened:
    When I originally removed and cleaned the injectors, all the gas in the rail came out. I also left it all open all night long and put the injectors back in, in the morning. Who knows how much gas evaporated from the line also....When I first tried to start it, it sputtered and hesitated like crazy, then shut down giving me those codes. Probably was about the time that enough gas pressure built up, but it shut down before realizing that. In my worrying state, I thought maybe whatever carb cleaner that was left in the injectors that didn't get ejected during my cleaning caused a pooling of cleaned up gunk inside the injectors that then clogged the holes. So, with the injectors still attached to the car, I hooked up the 9V battery to give them another test to check if I could hear them open/close. I did this several times on each injector, obviously now spraying more gas into each cylinder. They sounded fine. But at this point, I probably flooded it. Then I tried to start it 4 or 5 more times, flooding it more. Everything that I did to try to fix it and find a solution was for nothing as it was flooded. And then I tried checking everything several times and trying to start it several more times over the next days, flooding it more :unsure: When I took out the plugs this morning, they were quite wet and strong smell of gas. I did like @cnc97 recommended, disconnected injectors, removed plugs, and tried to start it a couple of times to get the gas out. For good measure, I also left it without plugs for a couple hours and left the hood open to evaporate more out of there. Put in plugs, hooked up battery and injectors, and voila! Started without any problem. Thank you so much for your ideas! I would not have known about trying to start the engine without plugs to help dry it out.
     
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  19. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    I guess the best clue that it was flooded is the smell of gas every time that I tried to start it. I had the driver door open every time that I tried to start it, which gave me a good whiff of what was going on. I would check around the injectors thinking maybe the gas was leaking there/not sealed well. But it was dry. So the gas smell was from the exhaust trying to blow all that fuel out.
     
  20. FriedCells

    FriedCells Member

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    So, I just have 1 more question: What would be recommended post-flooding to protect my car?
    I'm going to change the oil tomorrow. Does anyone recommend putting anything like Marvel Mystery Oil into the spark holes or something like that to clean it up in there, try to restore some of the rings, etc? I also bought Cataclean as I'm worried that my cat probably isn't happy with the influx of fuel that went through there. Any other things that I should do?