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Cylinder 1 and 3 Misfire Troubleshooting for a new owner

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Tolan, Feb 6, 2017.

  1. Tolan

    Tolan New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2017
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Missouri
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    So I just bought a 2010 Prius with almost 200k miles on it. Like, I don't even have plates on it yet (had about 2 weeks now). My mechanic did a pre-sale inspection and said it looked more or less fine, especially considering the miles.

    A couple days ago the check engine light turned on. I finally got around to checking it, and it's saying misfire in 1 and 3. As an insult to injury, my wife's car refused to start today (Likely a starter issue), so this is now our only wheels.

    We were having a bit of a cold wave when the light turned on, and I haven't notice anything obviously wrong, but my experience is so brief I don't know if I can trust myself to have a good baseline. I can here a faint dakadakadaka (I do not know if that's a rattle or a knock) if I leave the radio off while the engine is running, and the only time the engine significantly shakes the car is the first time the gas engine kicks in (Usually about 30 seconds after powering on) after having been parked for a material length of time.

    Can anyone give me some guidance on what the likely issue is, what I'm looking at to resolve it, and how urgently it needs to be done? I skimmed the stickied manifold thread, and that seems like it might fit? But it's been warming recently, and there were many reporting that issue resolving itself when weather warmed back up, so... I do not know if that's worth pursuing in that case.

    Also, as a final note, I'm not super fluent in car jargon, let alone Prius jargon, so if you could make an effort to explain more complicated technical terms you use, I'd appreciate it.
     
  2. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2012
    1,555
    661
    0
    Location:
    Central MO
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    II
    If you have to add coolant than you have a blown headgasket.
     
  3. NavyLCDR

    NavyLCDR Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2016
    188
    121
    4
    Location:
    Lebanon, OR
    Vehicle:
    2024 Prius
    Model:
    XLE AWD-e
    If it's original spark plugs you can try replacing them. Over 200K on plugs is pretty high. There is quite a bit of "stuff" you have to remove to get to them, but it is a medium-level experience at home job to do.
     
  4. mattdhurley12

    mattdhurley12 New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2017
    29
    5
    0
    Location:
    El Dorado Hills CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I was having same issues with cylinder 1, diagnosis was blown head gasket.


    iPhone ?
     
  5. Mark Forhan

    Mark Forhan New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2017
    4
    3
    0
    Location:
    Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Tankyuong - you've got it right! That was my issue with 2010 Prius - unfortunately found out too late - end up with warped engine block.