Big mistake? after cleaning intake valve.....

At most points in the crank's rotation, some valves in some cylinders will be down. Do the two that are down go back up as you turn the crankshaft by hand? They may just be doing what they do.

 

No, the valves are moved up and down by cams while the engine runs. They are sturdy steel on stout springs and you did not move them with your tooth brush. When the engine comes to a stop, it is not always in the same place, so the valves will not always look the same as they did a time before.

You don't have to google for Prius c specifically to learn about turning the crankshaft on an engine. It is widely transferable knowledge.

It does sound as if you got into this job a little ahead of your knowledge of working on engines. But you still can catch up, and things may seem less dire after that.

 

Any error codes when you cleared the dash lights?

 

Pull the rocker cover off [easier job than the intake manifold] and pull the spark plugs out so there is no compression.
Then rotate the engine 2 turns with the crank pully and observe all the valves.

You can access the front pulley nut by removing the R/F wheel and the lower plastic shield and use a socket and ratchet to rotate it.
If the valves got some shit stuck under them the could bend, and it is head off and replace the ones that are bent.
with the engine in this position [photo] and the rocker cover removed, check the position on the cam lobes on that paticular cylinder'


Also while the plugs are out, give it a compression test on all 4 cylinders.
If one cylinder is down on compression, squirt some oil down the plug hole and retest it. [oil will seal the rings]
If it doesn't come up with oil , the valves are leaking

You wont need to mill the head because it hasn't been warped from a blown gasket .
But you will need a new head gasket and head bolts. [plus the valves]

A lesson here is.................Don't disturb anything.



edit: If you want to be ruthless [and try it and see]
With the rocker cover off, sqirt some oil around the valves and use a large screwdriver under the retainer to close the valves.
It could be dry valve stems sticking them open [but be prepared for bent valves on a 13:1 compression engine]

 

The idea of taking a little break from poking at the car for a while, to sit down with a good general book on how 4-stroke gasoline engines are built, might feel like it would be a distraction taking you away from your project. But it wouldn't be, really; you would still be on the project in a constructive way, just working a different angle of it.

 

There's no way valve timing could be messed up by simply removing the intake manifold.

 

My guess is that there was some leftover cleaning fluid or water from the valve cleaning that is getting into the cylinders.

After cleaning my intake manifold, there was a bit of water remaining inside, because I didn't have access to compressed air to blow it out.

The engine ran like [email protected] for a few minutes, shaking and knocking pretty violently. I was pretty worried that something was going to break or a rod was going to get bent, etc.

However, it did smooth out and ran OK after the initial minutes.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

That won't work.....
You need to squirt lubricant around the valve stem, which requires removing the rocker cover.
Be careful squirting too much liquid into the cylinder.

This ^^^ could "hydro-lock" the engine and do more damage.
The standard protocol is to crank the engine over with the plugs removed.

Pull the rocker cover off and have a look

 

I had a ticking noise after cleaning the intake manifold, EGR cooler, and EGR valve.

It turned out to be a bolt I forgot to put back in at the air intake hose, near the passenger headlight. It was vibrating against the frame of the car.

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