Hydro Lock and Bent Piston Rod

A piston rod bent would make it run bad all the time and eventually break.

 

Two years? It can't be a bent rod? But a compression test would answer that question, but it seems unlikely? AutoZone, or other large chain should be able to pull codes for you and you can from there.

 

you have partial hydro lock now, when you start it for the first time each morning. that's why it shakes.

when you bend a rod, compression goes way down (if it goes through another cycle by some miracle) and it will run very rough and possibly have clanking contact depending on the severity of the bend.

you need to repair the head gasket before it destroys the engine

 

wait for the egr cleaning links to be posted.

 

Remove the spark plugs, put a screw driver or rod in the each cylinder after you put
engine at tdc, mark the heighth of highest pistons. Rotate the engine 180 degrees and mark
the other 2. They should all be the same, if not, bent rod.
Also, check the plugs. They should all be of equal color. And look in the cylinders to see
of any of them seem cleaner than the other which could be coolant leaking from a back head gasket.
Usually # 1 and/or 2.

You may have condensation overnight and that's where you get the shake.

 

I’m posting on phone so much I sorta forgot, but I believe if you look at my sig you’ll see a “bad flywheel” link? On a phone you need to click my avatar I think.

or maybe not? Here it is anyway:

Bad Flywheel | PriusChat

 

same, 99% of the time I post from a phone so I forget that there are quotes in my signature and those need to be updated but need to find time for that.

 

thought hydrolock is when your engine locks up and goes kaput, thus lock at the end of hydrolock.

 

Well, it's that old liquids-don't-compress business, so if there's a volume of liquid in the cylinder that's more than the volume remaining when the piston goes to the top, then the piston isn't going to go to the top.

That can happen in various ways. If the engine isn't being spun with enough force for something else to happen, then it's just going to stop suddenly when the piston hits that point.

If it is being spun with more force than that, then one way or another, the crankshaft will continue turning ... without the piston going to the top.

 

The key point is the OP could have a leaking head gasket without a bent rod caused by hydrolock.... yet. Its unlikely to have codes after a shake event because the plug clears up and the engine then runs fine.

Most people hope it will go away until it rattles every week or so and a blind man could see it. Leaking coolant will be slow to show in the reservoir until its seriously "hope a head gasket will fix it time" and the dealer recommends a rebuilt replacement engine.

 

Is it possible to just replace the bent connecting rod? For pistion #1, it looks like it should be possible to access the piston by removing oil pan and oil pump? I already have head off, so I hope it will be possible to push the piston #1 out from underneath.

 

You'll have to remove the block to get the two part pan off.
The upper part is connected to the transmission, so you have to the engine.
Since you already have the head off, it should be a lot easier to get it out.

It will be easier to install the head and get the timing chain set outside of the car though.