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2010 Knocking and Thunking on Idle - with video/audio

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Purrius, Sep 17, 2022.

  1. Purrius

    Purrius Junior Member

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    I'll specifically mention that to them as well. They said the guy working on my car has 11 years experience, so here's hoping.
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    My 2 cents: the EGR clogging is the culprit in head gasket failure. Once the HG has failed, EGR cleaning will not reverse anything, but it should be done immediately afterwards, or you’ll have another failure, in another 20k~.

    meanwhile, in the warranty extension on EGR clogging Toyota makes this statement:

    …while the vast majority of vehicles will not have this problem…

    pure BS, they all clog.
     
    Paladain55, Grit and mikey_t like this.
  4. Purrius

    Purrius Junior Member

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    Evidently they posted a snapchat of my car's stickers online yesterday... I didn't see it myself, but it's good to know they're taking this seriously. :(
     
    #24 Purrius, Oct 10, 2022
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2022
  5. Purrius

    Purrius Junior Member

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    I went in today to soak to them in person. Evidently there was a break down in communication between departments.

    They checked the head gaskets, nothing there. We're all stumped.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    so maybe the egr
     
  7. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Did you take it to a Toyota dealer?
     
  8. Purrius

    Purrius Junior Member

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    Yeah, the second place was a dealership. I just got it back today, we still don't know what's wrong. We agreed not to just start pulling things apart since it's kind of chasing ghosts, and I can't afford the labor time should nothing come of it. They didn't charge me anything for the tests and things, which was unexpected and appreciated.
     
  9. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Mendel nailed it on his post #4 but bill norton is still waiting for actual numeric and scientific. Data. Cleaning egr will delay the head gasket of failure and if it’s never been done then prepare to have an escape plan to replace motor or buy an electric vehicle like a member here always suggest for a low low price of $65,000.
     
  10. Purrius

    Purrius Junior Member

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    I'm going to clean the EGR with a toyota tech friend of mine. Is this a good video tutorial for it?


    Thanks for your continued help, everyone!



    EDIT:
    Should I just replace any of the EGR parts? I have a gift certificate for RockAuto.
     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Yes, if you're ever in a room where nobody knows if they're right, you should disparage the ones who want to find out, and put all your faith in the ones who are above such trifling concerns.
     
    #31 ChapmanF, Oct 19, 2022
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2022
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    @ETC(SS) has @Hidyho , guess you're my dance partner. :)

    Hey, if something, apparently crucial to engine operation, is hopelessly bunged up with carbon, and a day's "fussing" with it will have it sparkling clean, what's not to like?
     
  13. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    There's nothing not to like about sparkling clean, and many people will dedicate amounts of their time they feel they can afford to keep things that way.

    That can be said without asserting any facts not in evidence about what other things are or are not caused by any non-sparkling-clean-ness.
     
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    1. 3rd gen head gaskets almost invariably fail at the wall between cylinder one and two. The clogging of the intake manifold EGR passages also invariably commences and progresses from cylinder one to four.

    2. There was a report here, a guy purchased a Prius from a friend, it'd had two head gasket failure, with about 20k miles in between each, and the EGR and intake never cleaned. He purchased it with a pending third head gasket failure, resolved to clean the EGR/intake. No further reports. I'll try to look it up.

    And then there's @ASRDogman, closing in on 300K with his 3rd gen, regularly cleaning the EGR.

    Scientific method aside, if something looks hopeless amiss, maybe address it, just for giggles, see how it goes? Throw in 5K oil changes and an Oil Catch Can too?

    Addendum: corrected mileage (in red)
     
    #34 Mendel Leisk, Oct 19, 2022
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2022
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  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That would suggest, so far as it suggests anything, that the differential clogging of the manifold passages has better evidence behind it as a possible cause than any of the earlier arguments being made about clogging upstream. Indeed, that's what the person who started pointing that out was probably thinking, who a short history search will reveal to be me. But even on that explanation, though it seems to have better support than the earlier ideas that had been and still are circulating, you won't see me saying it's established. Proving causality is just hard.

    No need, I saw that one thread also, and I'm reminded of it every time you mention it. There is nothing wrong with having one such story to mention. It's still kind of thin gruel, though, for explaining something that's claimed to be a plague among the millions of Gen 3s that were built, supposedly dropping like flies, etc. The fact is there are competing explanations in play for Gen 3 head gasket failures, and the low bar for evidence being used to favor this one has also been met by some of the others.

    I'm totally happy for him, but there were millions of the cars built, and in a forum where people mostly post when they have issues, we don't know how many others are closing in on 400K with maybe, oh, regular coolant changes. Or maybe no such maintenance at all. For that matter, I'm not sure whether ASRDogman replaces the coolant when cleaning the EGR.

    Absolutely! Do everything that sounds like it might be good, within the labor and expense you can afford. And enjoy the car, which will last for some duration or other while you do that, and the duration might have been extended.

    Nothing wrong with that as a way to take care of a car. It's just a different procedure from the kind that answers a question.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  16. Purrius

    Purrius Junior Member

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    #36 Purrius, Oct 20, 2022
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2022
  17. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    The car care nut suggests testing for a sticking open egr valve by blocking the egr. He would replace a bad valve. Pretty much the opposite of a clogged egr cooler. The referenced program requires a P0401 code and the car has to be less than 150k miles for a free replacement.
     
  18. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    That decision depends on comparing the cost of new parts, vs. the value of your (or hired) labor to clean them.
     
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Nothing really needs replacement, unless you’re paying full retail labour for pros to do it. DIY I’d definitely reuse all components. See first link in my signature for info on DIY.
     
  20. Purrius

    Purrius Junior Member

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    Update:

    I reached out to the dealership for copies of my paperwork, and they mentioned they had two Prii come in with the same noise, and it ended up being something about a damper in the transmission/clutch (I didn't understand exactly what it was). They're checking mine for it tomorrow. If it's that they said it's around a $4,000 fix.