I desperately need help figuring out what's going on.

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by galluccib, Aug 22, 2026 at 10:58 PM.

  1. galluccib

    galluccib New Member

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    Looking for some help with a 2012 Prius Two that I picked up at an auction. The car has 202k miles, and when starting it, it had a noticeable shake. After pulling the codes, I found P0301 and P0302.

    After doing some digging, I found that it was likely the coils, plugs, or a head gasket issue. I pulled each of the spark plugs and used a scope to check each cylinder for coolant, but I didn't find anything. So, I went ahead and ordered new plugs and coils. I cleared all the codes, and it started right up with no shake.

    Then this is where it gets weird. After shutting the car off, I heard a really odd noise and cannot seem to figure out where it's coming from. It's hard to even describe the noise. Then, after that one stopped, another noise started as well.

    Here are both videos in order.



     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    I don't see any videos. you might need 5 posts, idk. I think you can link to a YouTube maybe
     
  3. galluccib

    galluccib New Member

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    Odd on mine it shows them.. Just uploaded both the files.



     
  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Can you describe the sound? Have you been losing coolant? If your misfire codes were from cylinder 3 & 4 you'd 100% be able to fix it with coils and while you're at it plugs. However your error codes are cylider 1 & 2 and thats where 2010-2015 have head gasket failures. And go ahead and try plugs and coils, but brace yourself for potential bad news. On the bright side folks with little to no skills have successfully done the headgasket job thanks to youtube videos and help from people on here. Also you can get away with driving a Prius with a bad headgasket for a suprisingly long time before the fail... The risk of doing that for too long is destroying the drivetrain dampener or worst of all a bent piston rod if you get so much coolant in the cylinder that it hydro locks.
     
  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Did the car have enough coolant in it in the first place?

    Did you do your test with the cooling system pressurized?

    If not, you may not have valid test results.
     
    Brian1954 and CR94 like this.
  6. galluccib

    galluccib New Member

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    The noise is like blowing through a straw and makes that whistle sound.

    I watched the coolant and never lost any plus as I said I pulled the plugs and used a scope to check each of the cylinders to see if there was anything in there and every time it was dry. After replacing all four plugs and coils starts right up with zero issues and no codes have come back. Everything seems to be working okay and AC is blowing pretty cold for being in AZ temps.

    Only other thing I've noticed is when driving at around 45 it should like a lifter or valve is sticking. Hard to test when sitting still because I can't get the RPM up high enough to reproduce.

    I have the Autel MK808Z scanner and going to see if there is something in there I can test the RPM with,plus I picked up the Toyota VXDIAG VCX Nano adapter and Techstream software.
     
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    This is why you picked it up for cheap at the auction come on man you have the standard issue that goes on with this engine you're gonna fix or not . Car is probably Not worthy . Eye of beholder n all that
     
  8. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    The "change owner" light came on when the previous owner experienced the "Prius Death Rattle."

    YOU'RE the lucky new owner.
    The GOOD NEWS is that there are a lot of ex-pat Priuses in Aridzona, so there are probably shops available to you that have done the replacement.
    Verify the HG good or bad with a leak-down test using a borrowed tester from an auto parts store.
    Since you have a bi-directional tester you can also test to see of the EGR is working.

    Good Luck!

    Read Fast!!!!
    PC is swirling in the drain as I type this........
     
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  9. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    It's quite hard to see latent leakage, which is why it is important to pressurize the cooling system with a test kit while you are doing the video inspection.

    A secondary data point is the appearance of the piston crowns: dirty ones with a good bit of carbon generally indicate normal conditions when the odometer is that high. When you see something clean and shiny, that can indicate that steam cleaning has been accidentally occurring, using steam from your coolant.

    In any case, you may be fine- a Prius with 200k miles on it would normally be almost due for its 3rd set of plugs, so hopefully that's all it was.

    Beware of cheap counterfeit plugs and coils found online. A few other priuschatters have found out the hard way. Worst case so far was a plug dropping part of the electrode into the combustion chamber.
     
    ETC(SS) likes this.