Fixed: Catastrophic engine failure after air filter change Code 3190

I wanted to share in case it helps others:
Got an oil change on my 2008 Prius at Valvoline and they changed the air filter for me. I get in the car to leave and within 50 yards the red triangle and check engine light are on, and the car seems to have no battery power. I take it back to the shop and while trying to back up to get in, the car refuses to go into Drive, only into Neutral! Complete failure to move! I'm thinking I have to be towed 30 miles to the nearest Toyota dealership. Crazy! But wait...

I did the Auxiliary Battery check process (I keep a card on the instructions in my glove compartment, which include holding down the Display Button while turning the lights on and off 3 times, etc, you can find the instructions here on Prius Chat, but that did not help me because...) it showed the auxiliary battery was down to 11.0 which is too low (I believe its supposed to be about 12.3 to 12.4.) However, I knew we had replaced that battery just 6 months ago. The shop then put on a battery tester and tested the auxiliary battery (in the back of the car) and it was just fine. I tell you this so you do not make the wrong assumption regarding the battery because in this case that on-board method was not accurate regarding the state of the auxiliary battery.

The code that they then pulled using the OBD-II reader was Code 3190: air intake, loss of engine power...

Suddenly, Tommy the Hero of this Story comes back from lunch and remembers that when an air filter is changed, if any little thing falls into the air filter area, anything at all like speck of dirt, the car will go into catastrophic shut-down.

So they push my Prius around into the shop while I steer it, then they:

1. Simply blow compressed air into the air filter compartment for about 30 seconds, all around to clear anything out, and then they

2. Clear the code with the OBD-II reader and

TA-Da!!!! Problem solved! So simple!

The red triangle and check engine light disappear, the car starts charging the battery normally!!!! Hooray!!!

I drive around in circles nearby until the battery is fully charged once again and I'm happily on my way!

Tommy said that the Toyota shop had one time, years ago, charged him $500 to "fix" a car by doing the same and he was glad to put that knowledge to use.

I hope this helps someone else who goes in for a simple oil change and has catastrophic engine failure right afterward.

 

We checked the oil with the dipstick before I pulled out initially and they did discuss later how much was added. But I watched them in the shop with the compressed air and they didn't remove any oil at the time, so I don't believe the oil level was the problem. It was extremely bizarre to go from everything working just fine to not even getting the car into Drive. I was searching Prius Chat desperately at the time to see if anyone else had that 3190 code after an oil change/air filter change.

 

No issue until I pulled out to turn out of their parking lot and the red triangle and check engine lights popped on. After I pulled back up, they checked the code and tried clearing it and it popped back up. He discussed the air intake issue and his experience with Toyota with me before we even got the car pushed back into the garage. I was skeptical too bc that sounds ridiculous. But literally 30 seconds of blowing compressed air, then cleared the code, and everything worked fine, just as it did before I first came into the shop for the oil change. My car has worked perfectly ever since. So I don't get it either, but thought I'd share if it helps someone in the same predicament.