Shudder at initial acceleration

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Nicholle, May 6, 2026 at 3:22 PM.

  1. Nicholle

    Nicholle New Member

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    Hi all!

    I have looked through here and haven't quite found a post that is like my issue so I'm hoping someone has some insight. My prius has developed this shudder when I press on the gas pedal. It was worse when I first started the vehicle after it had sat for about 3 hours. The gas engine had kicked on and I put the car in reverse, when I pressed the gas there was a strong shudder. I waited a second or so and tried reversing again, no shudder. When I came to my first stop and the engine cut off, the car shook again pretty aggressively. After this, it seemed to only have a less intense shudder when I first hit the gas pedal. The best way I can describe the feeling is similar to a torque converter failing on a gas vehicle, but it occurs when I first accelerate vs. at ~ 45mph.

    I of course ran to google and all I can find is spark plug and/or ignition coils potentially being the issue. I have spark plugs on the way already and were going to change them this weekend, but wondering if it could potentially be something else more serious. Thanks!
     
    #1 Nicholle, May 6, 2026 at 3:22 PM
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You can run a live test and see if there is a cylinder that's misfiring. Techstream or similar software can do that. The spark plugs are rated for about 120k miles so if yours are older than that, then you should change them. But I feel your problem would be bad fuel injectors. If the spark plugs or coils would be an issue, it would not improve as the car warms up.
     
    #2 JC91006, May 7, 2026 at 10:22 AM
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  3. saneesh8

    saneesh8 Member

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    How many miles? Also the engine mounts are in good shape ? You can try cleaning the fuel injectors.
     
    #3 saneesh8, May 7, 2026 at 10:58 AM
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    When this is occurring the engine is bucking or making that torque converter noise. Do you see chk engine light or trac light flicker ??
     
    #4 Tombukt2, May 7, 2026 at 11:37 AM
  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Sounds to me like you're going to have misfire codes pretty easy to check orieleys etc . The head gasket issue and all that nonsense is pretty rare on a generation 2 until we'll abused
     
    #5 Tombukt2, May 7, 2026 at 11:38 AM
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