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2011 Prius IV - Motor Vibrates When Starting Car Or Reversing, But Otherwise Works Fine. How I Fix?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by PriusChatFan2018, Dec 6, 2018.

  1. PriusChatFan2018

    PriusChatFan2018 New Member

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    2011 Prius IV - Motor Vibrates When Starting Car Or Reversing, But Otherwise Works Fine. The car has been doing this for several years, but really started vibrating/rumbling a lot more recently to where it was vibrating also while driving. I went and replaced the coils, spark plugs, and injector. The car is working better and now no longer vibrates while driving, but still rumbles/vibrates a bit when starting the car or going into reverse. What would be the next step towards eliminating this vibration altogether.
     
    #1 PriusChatFan2018, Dec 6, 2018
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!

    how many miles on her?

    have you cleaned the egr circuit?
     
    #2 bisco, Dec 6, 2018
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  3. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

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    +1 on EGR. Also, the ICE is not involved in Reverse--it's completely electric, so the ICE is simply idling while warming up, same as when initially starting from cold. Are you careful not to power down while the ICE is still warming up on initial start? This is believed to contribute to a rumbling engine on cold starts. Do you ever start the car, ICE comes on, you move it a little bit and shut down while ICE is still running in initial warmup mode? That's considered bad for Prius.
     
    #3 FuelMiser, Dec 7, 2018
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  4. PriusChatFan2018

    PriusChatFan2018 New Member

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    Thanks bisco and FuelMiser for your replies. After speaking to a dealer, I'm going to likely find another used Prius. Thanks for your help and suggestions.
     
    #4 PriusChatFan2018, Dec 10, 2018
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  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Where you talking to service or sales? If service: maybe water under the bridge if you're selling but still I'm curious if they had any ideas what was the cause of the vibration.

    To echo @bisco: how many miles on it?
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Dec 10, 2018
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  6. PriusChatFan2018

    PriusChatFan2018 New Member

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    It has about 300k miles on it. I use the car for deliveries. The apartment I spoke to was the Toyota service department at a local dealer. They said the engine had a leak, and might have to be replaced. It is still drivable, though, despite the vibrations, but I'm going to various dealerships to find a new one. As for the cause, a fellow Prius owner who works with me believes it's a valve issue, but I'm not sure which valve could be causing it.
     
    #6 PriusChatFan2018, Dec 10, 2018
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