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Knocking and shaking in engine with flashing CEL

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Saiji p, May 31, 2023.

  1. Saiji p

    Saiji p New Member

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    Hello, first time poster here. I have a 2010 with 190k miles on it and the car has been absolutely fantastic until last week. Started up the car and loud knocking and shaking came from the engine and resolved itself. Drove to work and on the way the check engine light started flashing and stayed on. Drove to the dealership and they wanted $400 to diagnose, so stopped at the aitopart store and code for cylinder 2 misfire was read. I replaced all 4 spark plugs and coil for cylinder 2. Took it out for a test drive and everything seemed great until I put it in power mode and the check engine light flashed 10x and stopped. No codes. I figured it was a fluke, but yesterday the car was really struggling when trying to drive it and the check engine light flashed 3 times. I’m not sure what the problem is and I’m afraid my engine is toast. Taking it to the dealership cuts into my budget for the next car of the engine is no good. I’m going to try cleaning the EGR and fuel filter to see if that helps any but I thought I’d post here to see if anyone has had this problem and can give me some advice. I really love this car and was hoping to get another year out of her. Thanks for reading.
     
  2. Saiji p

    Saiji p New Member

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    Edit: another detail is the spark plug on cylinder 1 had oil on it when changing it out. I’m not sure what kind of an issue that presents.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it does sound like the head gasket may have blown. are you losing any coolant?
     
  4. Saiji p

    Saiji p New Member

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    Coolant and oil levels are great. I’m concerned because of the oil in the spark plug of cylinder 1. Would this be indicative of a blown head gasket without coolant level changes?
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    possibly, but not necessarily

    oil-on-spark-plug

    i would definitely try cleaning the egr circuit and checking the pcv
     
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The flashing check-engine light doesn't tell you anything extra about why the engine is misfiring, but it does tell you how badly: when the light flashes, the misfiring is bad enough to melt the insides of the catalytic converter eventually.

    So finding and fixing the misfire should be speedily pursued, if the light flashes, so the cat doesn't become another related expense.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Almost certainly head gasket failure.

    The EGR components and intake manifold have never been cleaned? For sure get on that, but first deal with the head gasket: cleaning EGR now doesn’t undo the damage.
     
    #7 Mendel Leisk, Jun 5, 2023
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2023
  8. Pat006

    Pat006 New Member

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    What did it end up being?