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Engine oil level, Engine knocking

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by hsnmz, Feb 2, 2013.

  1. hsnmz

    hsnmz Junior Member

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    Hi guys,

    I am new to this forum. I am from Pakistan and just got a 2008 Prius imported from Japan 10 days ago. It's 57k km driven, S10th anniversary edition.

    On last saturday I took it to my local Toyota dealer for a tuneup. Got its engine oil and oil filter changed, They also cleaned the spark plugs, air filter and cabin filter. I also got the transaxle oil checked and they confirmed that it's in perfect condition. they filled the engine oil up to the max point.
    Since the service I hear the engine knocking while accelerating when the car reaches the speed of around 60 - 70 km/h. If I press the gas peddle a bit more the knocking sound goes away. The sound is not loud but is noticeable if heard carefully.
    After reading around on the forum I came to know that the engine oil level should be kept a bit lower than the max point. I thought it to be the reason for the knocking. so this thursday i drained a bit of oil and now the cold oil level looks like this.
    013.JPG

    but the knocking is still there. It does not happen all the times but only ata certain level of acceleration.

    Just wanted your help to determine what could be wrong. Is the oil level in the pic OK?

    The engine oil used is
    010.JPG

    thanks in advance.
     
    #1 hsnmz, Feb 2, 2013
  2. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

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    I hope the oil level isn't indicated by the black stuff near the fill mark toward the left of your photo. If so, the car you bought is in really bad shape. It's possible someone painted the dipstick black but I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that because the oil additives would eventually strip it off anyway.

    It's often difficult to see the oil on the dipstick immediately after an oil change because it's nearly transparent and very light in colour. If the dealer added 4 liters, that's WAAAAAAY too much and the oil level will be at least 5 mm past the full or max marking at the top right. I really can't see the "fresh oil" level too clearly though.

    You should only add a maximum of 3.5 quarts when doing an oil change with a new oil filter.
     
    #2 jadziasman, Feb 2, 2013
  3. hsnmz

    hsnmz Junior Member

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    I took this picture today in the morning while checking the oil level before starting the car. The dip stick is not painted, I just took the pic at an angle to make the oil level visible. Here's another pic that I took, the black line indicates the oil level.
    0111.jpg
     
    #3 hsnmz, Feb 2, 2013
  4. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

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    Yeah, that looks good. Right about where it should be.
     
    #4 jadziasman, Feb 2, 2013
  5. hsnmz

    hsnmz Junior Member

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    the engine sure felt a bit quieter after reducing the oil. But am still not sure about the knocknig
     
    #5 hsnmz, Feb 2, 2013
  6. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    my car makes a knocking like sound too... i have never figured it out. I've heard it start somewhere around 60k miles.. I've now gone 120k additional miles in and have not had any major issues (besides oil overfill that caused its own set of problem in early January of this year.)

    sometimes it sounds better than others. recently i've heard it quite loudly a few times with accompanied slight vibrations (almost as if the harmonic balancer has failed or something... assumptions though). it almost reminds me of when i had an ignition coil failure. maybe it's linked?... idk (more assumptions on my part)
     
    #6 V8Cobrakid, Feb 2, 2013
  7. hsnmz

    hsnmz Junior Member

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    mine started knocking after I got it serviced from the dealer. am thinking of taking it back to them for diagnosis.
     
    #7 hsnmz, Feb 2, 2013
  8. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Hi hsnmz, and welcome to the forums. The oil you used looks fine, and oil on the dipstick looks perfect.

    Does the "knocking" sound at all like the "pinging" associated with pre-ignition. If you've recently filled the petrol it might be a problem of too low octane rating. If no other cause is found you could try giving it some premium petrol and see if that helps.

    BTW, what's the octane rating of your regular petrol in Pakistan?
     
    #8 uart, Feb 3, 2013
    hsnmz likes this.
  9. hsnmz

    hsnmz Junior Member

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    Thanks for the suggestion. regular petrol is 87. Your suggestion reminded me of the similar problem I had in my Honda only that it knocked when I used to release the brake to move the car or when stopping the car. Honda tech suggested to mix some higher octane fuel in every tank fill, which I did and the knocking was gone.
    Will sure try it.
     
    #9 hsnmz, Feb 4, 2013
  10. hsnmz

    hsnmz Junior Member

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    I have filled it twice with high octane fuel but the knocking persists. any other ideas why it knocks. any possibility of spark plugs gone bad ?
     
    #10 hsnmz, Feb 19, 2013
  11. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    That's not normal. High octane fuel should make it go away. Does for me in the summer.

    I don't know what city you're in but I see a forecast (?) of 82 F (28 C) in Karachi via Google.
     
    #11 cwerdna, Feb 19, 2013
  12. Mike Mc

    Mike Mc '16 Prius 4, '13 Prius 3

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    Its possible that when the dealer "cleaned" the Iridium spark plugs they may have damaged 1 or more of them. I would change the 4 plugs out for the correct replacements and go from there. You might also clean the MAF, particularly if there is a lot of sand/dust in the area where you live.
     
    #12 Mike Mc, Feb 19, 2013
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