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2013 Prius Knock and losing coolant but oil looks fine

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by ClammyMantis, Dec 1, 2023.

  1. ClammyMantis

    ClammyMantis New Member

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    My Prius has been knocking ever since I went on a road trip. I was just working on the oil fearing for the chocolate milk of doom but instead I got the normal vantablack. One interesting thing is that before the knock my oil catch can was black too. Now it's all milky. What does this mean? I'm gonna do a compression test after I finish the oil change and will report back.
     

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  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    What you get in your catch can. Is going to have residual moisture in it The little drips that are coming in cylinder 1 2 3 whatever it is That's causing the rattle as it quenches the fire It's like you got a fire extinguisher built into one of your cylinders Not really ideal when you need the fire to power your engine or make the power your engine needs to make the fire is what it's all about now you're quenching that with drips of coolant coming to your head gasket what you're going to catch in your catch can is that vapor moisture and oil which is what you see I think in the second picture what's in the oil pan will not look like what's in the catch can as you're seeing when you pull your stick It's not like the old days where you have a massive flood coming through the head gasket dropping on top of the piston going past the rings and dropping into the pan and getting stirred up to the coffee light mixture You're used to viewing a long time ago.
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    What’s the miles?

    I’d ask about EGR and intake manifold cleaning too, but that might be considered “leading the witness”.
     
  4. ClammyMantis

    ClammyMantis New Member

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    It has 204,000 now. I just did a compression test and got the numbers back. First number is without oil in cyl and second is with. And I cleaned the egr at 180,000 iirc
    1. 82 / 115
    2. 90 / 110
    3. 95 / 112
    4. 80 / 125
     
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  5. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Just because coolant isn't mixing in your engine oil, does not eliminate the possibility of a blown head gasket.

    If you can borrow a camera (bore-scope) from your local auto parts store, compare the top of cylinders 1&4 to 2&3. The piston tops should all be pitch black with carbon. Any piston top that looks like it's been steam cleaned, has coolant leaking into it. Blown head gasket.

    Good Luck....
     
  6. ClammyMantis

    ClammyMantis New Member

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    2 and 3 did look cleaner than 1 and 4. 1 and 4 were pretty black iirc and on 2 and 3 you could see metal
     
  7. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Those pressures are not good, probably because of procedure needed with Techstream. 157-199 psi or more is the min-max. Regardless a borescope inspection is preferred.

    From Manual:

    Warm up engine.
    (a) Put the engine in inspection (Maintenance) mode.*
    (b) Warm up and stop the engine.
    (c) Remove the 4 spark plugs


    Inspect the cylinder compression pressure.

    (1) Insert a compression gauge into the spark plug hole.
    (2) Connect the Techstream to the DLC3.
    (3) Turn the power switch on (IG).
    (4) Turn the Techstream on.
    (5) Enter the following menus: Powertrain / Hybrid Control / Active Test / Compression Test / ON.
    (6) Fully depress the acceleration pedal.
    (7) Depress and hold the brake pedal, and turn the power switch on (READY).

    NOTICE:
    The measurement must be done as quickly as possible.
     Noise may emit from the transmission. However, this is not a malfunction.
     Always use a fully charged battery to obtain an engine speed of 200 rpm or more.

    Standard compression pressure:
    1373 kPa (14.0 kgf/cm2 , 199 psi) or more
    Minimum pressure:
    1079 kPa (11.0 kgf/cm2 , 157 psi)
    Pressure difference between each cylinder:
    98 kPa (1.0 kgf/cm2 , 14.2 psi) or less


    ————————————————

    * Inspection (Maintenance) Mode Using Techstream:

    Activating maintenance mode (Using the Techstream)

    Connect the Techstream to the DLC3.
    Turn the power switch on (IG).
    Turn the Techstream on.

    Enter following menus: Powertrain / Hybrid Control / Utility / Inspection Mode - 2WD

    Check that "MAINTENANCE MODE" is displayed on the multi-information
    display

    Start the engine by turning the power switch on (READY) while depressing the brake pedal.

    The idle speed in maintenance mode is approximately 1000 rpm with park (P) selected. The engine speed increases to 1500 rpm when the accelerator pedal is depressed midway with park (P) selected. When the accelerator pedal is depressed more than midway, or when the accelerator pedal is fully depressed, the engine


    Do Not Drive in Maintenance Mode!


     
    #7 rjparker, Dec 2, 2023
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2023
    Brian1954 likes this.
  8. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Borescope Video

    Car Care Nut HG Borescope at 10:57, watch at least through 14:00



    Note cheap borescope with one camera are not able to see the head gasket
     
  9. ClammyMantis

    ClammyMantis New Member

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    I'll have to see if I can rent one with 2 cameras, that would be nice. I found this thread https://priuschat.com/threads/real-life-compression-test-results.169495/ that has a different toyota doc that has compression as 89.5 minimum. One thing I found when using techstream to test was the engine didn't crank for more than 2 seconds. I thought you needed a few seconds of crank until the needle stops moving to get an accurate value.
     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Try leak down test?
     
  11. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    The 200 psi readings are at 850 rpm. 150 psi is typical at 250 rpm. Consistent pressures are key at any rpm.

    Compression is not your problem.
     
  12. ClammyMantis

    ClammyMantis New Member

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    Yeah, I ordered a kit and will try monday.
     
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