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Engine Shaking/White Smoke After Cleaning - 2011 Generation 3 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by An2TheTwan, Jul 6, 2022.

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  1. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    Hello, hoping I don't have a blown head gasket

    Hello, I started receiving the shaking during startup about two weeks ago. It would go away at higher speeds. At this time I did not notice any white smoke from exhaust
    - I was getting the P0303 misfire.
    -All at once I decided to change the spark plugs, clean fuel injectors, PCV valve, clean intake manifold and cleaned the EGR pipe, but have not cleaned the EGR system.

    -My car has been sitting for about 4-5 days now, and haven't driven much at all the past two weeks (I am an Uber/Lyft driver).
    - My engine coolant level has been sitting at the low line for a while now, but hasn't fallen below it.
    (This winter, it did seem to rapidly drop over the course of about 1 month, but once I filled the coolant back up, I haven't lost much/any)

    -After cleaning system/replacing spark plugs, upon reassembly, I am now receiving heavy shaking and white smoke from exhaust. Car also doesn't seem to be moving right, but did not want to take it too far.

    ***So I guess my main questions are:
    -When taking apart intake manifold etc... is it possible the heavy shaking/white smoke was caused by reassembly error?
    -Im not losing coolant and my misfire was not in spark plug #1, which I heard is typically the headbasket.

    Any other advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
     
    #1 An2TheTwan, Jul 6, 2022
  2. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    Update. It seems the white smoke/heavy shaking worked itself out after running the car for a while. Car seems to be moving fine.

    I am still getting code P0303 after replacing spark plugs and cleaning fuel injectors. I moved coil 3 to coil 2 when changing spark plugs, and still getting same misfired code P0303. So it shouldn't be the coils. Also, after test driving, the P0303 is a flashing check engine light, not a solid one.

    The only thing I have not cleaned is the EGR assembly/cooler. When I cleaned the EGR pipe, the thing was damn near 100% blocked. I was hoping by cleaning everything else (pipe/manifold/spark plugs/injectors) , I could get enough air or whatever to clear the misfire/shaking.

    So next step is cleaning EGR/cooler. Hope this works, wont have an update for a couple of days.
     
    #2 An2TheTwan, Jul 6, 2022
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  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Sounds like a bad headgasket... If you can ensure the engine is not violently shaking, which can damage the dampener in the transmission then you can get lots more miles, even years out of it until the deterioration gets so bad you can't drive it. And now that you're familiar with doing all this preliminary work, you're a good candidate for doing your own headgasket, which could save you lots of money.
     
    #3 PriusCamper, Jul 6, 2022
  4. Rudd

    Rudd Junior Member

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    I did everything you just mentioned and some! came out to be head gasket for me. I threw some Bars leak and 30 minutes later all went away.
     
    #4 Rudd, Jul 7, 2022
  5. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    The COOLER should have been the FIRST thing to clean. If the pipe is that clogged, the cooler is worse.
    Perhaps I missread, but wasn't #4 where you had the missfire?
    A flashing check engine light is not good.
    Clean the cooler, the 4 egr ports on the intake manifold, and everything else related.
    Then you won't have to do it when you replace your head gasket.
     
    #5 ASRDogman, Jul 7, 2022
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    With all your symptoms, it's likely head gasket failure. Do clean the EGR, it's the cuplrit, but the deed is done.
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, Jul 7, 2022
  7. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    How long ago did yo use the sealer? I hear these things work for a while but then make things worse. I have 215k miles and Im not completely ruling out this route, but am leaning towards replacing headgasket myself.
     
    #7 An2TheTwan, Jul 7, 2022
  8. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    Misfire was in number 3. I may be in denial with the head gasket, but I am not experiencing coolant loss. I will have to check the oi further, but it looked fine. Last time when changing oil it was dark black and not much left, as my Prius is burning oil more rapidly. I also read head gasket failures usually occur as P0301.

    I definitely plan on cleaning EGR/cooler, but am not very optimistic it will fix the issue.
     
    #8 An2TheTwan, Jul 7, 2022
  9. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    You don't want to use any sealer. That's nasty stuff. It doesn't really work, and it cloggs the
    whole coolant system which will be a royal pain to clean out, and possibly replacing parts.
    It could get expensive and time consuming.
    Did you look into the cylinders? Did one look
    cleaner than the other? The coolant leak maybe be very small, at first. Hopefully the gasket
    isn't damaged.
    With the Prius the coolant doesn't tend to leak into the oil, it leaks into the cylinders.

    Are you still getting the code on #3 then? Did you look into the cylinders? Did one look
    cleaner than the other? If it stayed on #3, then suspect the wiring, or injector. If it moved
    to #2, either spark plug or coil.
     
    #9 ASRDogman, Jul 8, 2022
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  10. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    When I changed into the spark plugs, they all looked mostly the same when I looked down into where the spark plugs go (sorry still not confident with terminology) . When I moved the coils, the cylinders misfire stayed in #3.

    Car has been sitting for two days, I am about to start working on it. I will take pictures of the spark plug cylinders. I am going to clear out the EGR/Cooler.

    I will provide more updates soon.
     
    #10 An2TheTwan, Jul 8, 2022
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  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    don't forget the intake manifold and its four small ports
     
    #11 bisco, Jul 8, 2022
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Not a good sign; more likely to be head gasket.
     
    #12 Mendel Leisk, Jul 8, 2022
  13. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    Update:

    After two days of sitting. engine did not blow white smoke from exhaust. Engine still shaking.

    EGR/cooler will be coming off tomorrow.

    Here are pictures of my dipstick. Concerned about the color but not sure if we can go off dipstick.
    IMG_20220708_163705163.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    #13 An2TheTwan, Jul 8, 2022
  14. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    Why is the dipstick dark above the full mark? Mine isn't.
     
    #14 CR94, Jul 8, 2022
  15. ToyXW

    ToyXW Active Member

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    My blown head gasket didn't smoke - some mornings had normal condensation, other mornings did not. The amount of coolant lost is pretty low at first, but it is enough to make it run rough on start up. Do a leakdown test or check your coolant for combustion gases to confirm. If your ICE coolant tank looks dingy and brown while your inverter coolant tank looks nice and pink, there's a very good chance you've got a blown head gasket.

    If you're burning oil too I'd be looking to do an engine replacement (with new head gasket) or a rebuild. The longer you drive your car with a blown head gasket, the more likely you are to warp the aluminum and turn your head and/or block into scrap. If you just replace the head gasket your oil burning will continue to get worse and you'll have issues clogging EGR and plugging catalytic converters.
     
    #15 ToyXW, Jul 8, 2022
  16. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    Exact reason, no clue. Entire dipstick was like that at one point but cleaned below the mark with alcohol swab and it came off easily
     
    #16 An2TheTwan, Jul 8, 2022
  17. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    Thanks for the insight. I'm not looking to go the new engine route. If replacement head gasket doesn't work, I'll get a different car. I plan on resurfacing the aluminum if warped. I haven't been driving the car at all. Less than 500 miles since first knocking and no driving for almost two weeks now.

    As far as oil consumption, I'm hoping new PCV valve will help and if I can fix engine shaking install an oil catch can. Id be happy to get to 300k, but that may seem optimistic to some.
     
    #17 An2TheTwan, Jul 8, 2022
  18. An2TheTwan

    An2TheTwan Junior Member

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    I also forgot to mention in first post that I did unplug the EGR socket and that fixed the problem for about two days and then shaking returned on startup/low speeds
     
    #18 An2TheTwan, Jul 8, 2022
  19. Merv Himself

    Merv Himself Junior Member

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    I recently did a catch can deep dive as it relates to a kia, but general the principles are the same for every vehicle. Might be worth watching, especially the part where the developer dissects the different catch cans on the market. Not all are created equally. Hope this helps:
     
    #19 Merv Himself, Jul 9, 2022
  20. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Yup!! Looks like this:
    IMG_5213 Large.jpeg IMG_5214 Large.jpeg IMG_5215 Large.jpeg
     
    #20 jerrymildred, Jul 9, 2022
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