P0016 after head gasket replacement

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by robbiebags, Sep 25, 2025 at 10:43 PM.

  1. robbiebags

    robbiebags Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2021
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    Location:
    long island, new york
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Hey guys, I just finished replacing the head gasket for my 2011 prius with 195k miles. Unfortunately, during start up, the engine was still rattling after 10 seconds. Didn't smoothen after a minute so I shut it off. Threw a P0016 code which is timing related. I think I put the timing chain incorrectly(attached is a photo of it). Only 1 mark was correct which was on the intake side cam sprocket. As for the exhaust side cam sprocket, I couldn't reach the mark with my chain's 1 link mark, I'm about 2 teeth off, that's because the intake side cam sprocket turned clockwise by like 15 degrees when the tension was released. I tried to turn the intake cam sprocket counter clockwise so I could reach the mark on the intake but it wouldnt turn. I didn't want to force it either. I was looking into reddit and some stated that it should correct itself after the engine starts. Obviously it didnt after starting the engine after putting everything back together. My heart kinda sunk. I spent 20 hours on this job already.

    Now I have to disassemble the engine again to get to the timing cover and fix the timing. When i was retracing my steps, I realized that the reason why i couldn't turn the intake cam sprocket counter clockwise was because the chain was already installed on the bottom crank sprocket. I now have an idea how to correctly place the marks and hopefully fix the timing issue.

    My question is, did I do any damage to the engine from letting it run for a minute with bad timing? Also, when I go back into the timing chain after disassembly, would all my sprockets be misaligned now due to the improper timing and now have to rotate them? Or do I just have to place the chain in correctly this time?

    This is my biggest DIY on a car ever. Just didnt have the funds to go to the shop. They charged at least $3000 for the job.

    Any input helps. Thanks in advance guys!
     

    Attached Files:

  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2012
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    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I've read a bunch of posts like this over the past dozen years and have never seen serious damage from timing sprocket position being slightly off.