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2009 Prius shaking on start

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Rockwellington, May 28, 2020.

  1. Rockwellington

    Rockwellington New Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2020
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    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Today I started my 2009 Prius (base model) and all seemed fine to begin, but once the engine switched on the whole car started to shake violently. I turned it off quickly, waited, and tried again. Turned the AC off immediately. Again, it started to shake when the engine switched on. I left it on a few seconds longer and it started to even out, but it still sounded and felt clunky.

    Any ideas on what it could be? Much appreciated!

    It has about 106,000 miles booked
     
  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2017
    5,286
    4,226
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    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Welcome to PriusChat!!

    Are there warning lights displayed on the dash, or do you have any OBD2 codes (DTCs) that you can share with us?

    Has it been raining recently?
     
  3. Rockwellington

    Rockwellington New Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2020
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Thanks SFO!!

    There were warning lights displayed and unfortunately I don’t have any DTCs. I’m late on my oil change and I take it out for groceries about once a week, but really nothing more than that. (Not sure if any of that is helpful or relevant)

    We’ve had an incredibly rainy Spring where I am. Our last rain was last week. The afternoon this happened (yesterday), it was sunny and about 80 degrees, which is much hotter than it has been in a long time.



     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,705
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    rain can get in the spark plug holes through the cowling iirc. and also, not letting the engine fully warm up on a prior start can cause that.