Rattle Sound when starting

Discussion in 'Prius v Main Forum' started by magnetic157, Sep 3, 2025 at 10:20 PM.

  1. magnetic157

    magnetic157 Junior Member

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    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    My wife’s 2014 Prius V has ~181,000 miles.

    Last week she said there was a large rattle / clunky sound followed by an immediate CEL when she was sitting at a light heading to work. She said it went away a few seconds later. She has a long commute so it was around 50 miles before she got it home.

    When she got home I pulled the codes and it came back with Cylinder 1 misfire. Her plugs have around 80k on them with the original coil packs so I changed all 4 spark plugs and coils and cleared the code.

    Cylinder 1’s spark plug was pretty wet with oil but the other 3 were dry. I reset the check engine light but clunky sound didn’t go away during startup, it was hit or miss though. I figured it was leftover oil in the cylinder.

    We waited a week (around 300 miles) and the startup rattling still hasn’t gone away, but the CEL is still off.

    I re-ran the code reader anyway and it’s now reading 3 “pending” codes.

    - Cylinder 1 Misfire
    - Cylinder 2 Misfire
    - Random Cylinder Misfire

    Today I noticed her left hand coolant tank only had about 1-2” of coolant in it (WAY below the low line). The engine was still hot so I waited for it to cool down and I topped it off to the max line and I plan to keep an eye on it.

    I pulled the engine dip stick and fill cap - no sign of milky residue - the oil looks very normal (translucent brown).

    I’m not sure what to check next - I thought about pulling the plugs again to see if they are still wet and if so, maybe look into replacing the valve cover gasket.

    My other thought was a blown head gasket but the oil looked fine. I don’t want to replace this unnecessary but I’m not really sure how to pressure check it from home either. The low coolant is concerning though.


    Here is a video of the sound:
     
  2. magnetic157

    magnetic157 Junior Member

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    Two
    Forgot to mention the EGR valve and intake manifold was replaced at 160k miles.
     
  3. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    Your mileage and symptoms point to classic Gen 3 head gasket failure. You need to use a borescope to check for coolant leakage into cylinder #1 and #2 while the cooling system is pressurized. Search this forum for much more information on doing the borescope inspection.
     
    #3 Brian1954, Sep 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2025 at 3:58 PM
  4. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Exactly. Almost too common to count. Oil is rarely if ever contaminated, combustion gas coolant test will pass as will leakdown or compression tests.

    The real question - is it an oil burner as well. With the right vin you would have revised pistons and rings reducing oil burning. If it's an oil burner a rebuilt engine is the best solution.

    The coils were unnecessary but age might justify the plugs.



    Excellent Borescope Footage at 6:50
    This is not a Prius but gives you the idea. A cheap borescope is not good enough and it requires pressurized coolant. A prius normally has one cylinder with an occasional drop.