2011 Prius IV Having Trouble Getting Air In / Breathing Can't Figure It Out

Hello All,

I'm a long time lurker on Priuschat and never had the need to post. Any problems I've had (nothing major) were addressed here previously so all I had to do was refer to past postings.

I own a 2011 Prius IV that I purchased when it had about 165,000 miles on it. It now has about 230,000 miles on it. I'm a maintenance fanatic in general, so I've done quite a bit of work since my ownership started. The car has been really good to me.

Thank you to everyone on here who freely contributes their knowledge. There is a wealth of information in previous postings, which is a good intro to this, in all honesty.

Here is my current problem. I welcome any input, and would appreciate any troubleshooting tips if nothing else, so I can at least narrow down what the problem might be.

My mechanic doesn't even want to think that his shop caused this, so I'm going to a new mechanic on Monday and I hope to give him some sort of starting point at least. Of course, I'm quite curious myself.

Here we go.

I brought the Prius to my long time mechanic to have the following work done:

Replace PCV Valve

Replace EGR Valve

Replace EGR Cooler

Replace EGR Pipe

Clean Intake Manifold

Clean MAP Sensor

Clean MAF Sensor

The good news is the mechanic only touched those things so my problem is somewhere in there.

The bad news is the mechanic touched all those things so the problem could be any of those.

Thanks to this sub, I learned about the EGR issues with this generation of Prius, and decided to just replace everything instead of trusting the mechanic to clean the old parts properly. I do have them and have to get around to cleaning them sooner or later, but the car sure needed the servicing.

So on to the problem.

About 3 days after I got the car back, I noticed the car started to idle quite rough. It definitely sounds like it is struggling to take air in.

My MPG also went down from about 48mpg on average to about 38mpg on average, with no change in driving habits, route, nothing. Certainly nothing that would cause a 10mpg drop. Quite annoying because I was hoping the MPG would go up not down with the EGR service.

Things I noticed while trying to solve this:

If I disconnect the 12v battery to reset the computer, the rough idle will go away for about 2-3 days (not sure if this is a function of simply time or how many times the car is started) but the MPG drop remains.

The rough idle only seems to happen when the engine is charging the traction battery, so when the battery shows about two bars.

I recorded the actual idle sound but can't post it yet because I don't have enough posts and I didn't want to "cheat." If someone can allow me to before I reach the posting amount that would be awesome, or I can just wait until I get there.

It is definitely NOT the head gasket, knock wood. That is obviously a very distinct sound, and I listened to it on youtube from several sources. The sound all sounded the same, and the sound my car is making is absolutely NOT that sound.

My sound definitely seems to be tied to having trouble with air and/or breathing.

So that's my issue. I'd appreciate any thoughts, definitely. If more info is needed or any questions please ask.

Be gentle, lol. I hope I'll be able to give back many times over.

Thank you everyone.

Sincerely,

Frank

 

Oops, I forgot something. It's not throwing any codes.

 

They were aftermarket. I buy almost all my parts from Rock Auto, and I don't buy cheap parts.

The mechanic I'm going to on Monday has a scanner. Not sure what fuel trims are, but I'll look it up on here.

Yes, I forgot that one, sorry. The throttle body was cleaned as part of the other work I posted.

No, no lights. Yes to the air box.

Haven't seen any.

Ok, I'll look up that term. It's over my head.

 

I can post a link to the noise in my next post! Yay! Hopefully will be able to do so in the morning. It isn't "counting" my posts yet. Thanks to everyone that responded so far.

I don't know why, but I was thinking it might be the MAF sensor. I was going to have the mechanic on Monday check the voltage on it to rule it out, if nothing else.

No? Yes?

 

Well, I just did it 2 months ago to be honest. I didn't even know it was a "thing" until this board. So at about 210,000. So far, before and after, all seems good. I just need the car to last me until January. Long story. But at that time I have to get a newer one no matter what.

I'm guessing it was the first time, or rather assuming. I got the car when it had 165,000 miles or so. I don't know if any prior owners did it, but I do know the one before me kept the car really well, which is why I purchased it.

 

I still can't post the link. It says I only have 3 posts, what do I need to do? I want you guys to see the sound. If you go on youtube and search for user "frankm759" it's my only short. What qualifies as a "post" here? Any help is appreciated.

 

Oh, does anyone have any info as to what a "correct" short and long-term fuel term reading should look like? And just for my own sake, how it's adjusted? Sorry, I sincerely never heard those terms before, forgive me.

I have to see what this means I have no idea.

 

Before I went ahead and did it I read all about the process on here and the experience of others. I spent probably too much time doing this, though perhaps most of you wouldn't think so.

I didn't want to take any chances with trusting a mechanic's idea of "clean" or risk it not being done properly, so I actually had all new parts installed instead of cleaning the existing. I have the old parts, I am sure they are fine, they just need a cleaning. Once I'm sure I don't need them any longer, I was actually thinking about offering them on here to whoever wants them. Free, no cost. I would just want the shipping cost covered.

So the above means I put on a brand new EGR Valve, Cooler, and Pipe.

 

Well, here is the moment you've all been waiting for, I'm sure. The actual problem recorded. So here it is. Reminder, this specifically occurs when the traction battery is down to about two bars and the engine kicks on when stopped (at a light, for example) to charge it. I hope this helps to better identify the problem. Hope isn't a strong enough word. And to everyone, my continued appreciation helping me with this, I assure you.

PS - That little black box I found on Amazon. There's fire powder in there. If there is ever an engine fire it's supposed to explode and put the flames out. Here's to hoping I never find out if it works or not.

- YouTube

 

Why do you think it's head gasket failure? It sounds nothing like the death rattle. I have no symptoms of head gasket failure at all that I can detect.