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Loud Rattle After Head Gasket Change

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by roqua01, Jan 21, 2022.

  1. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    The fact that it idles without the rattle has to be a clue. I can't imagine you have four bad coils but each has a circuit (wiring) fault. You may have control and maf issues as well. I wonder if a ground wire is missing or a fuse is blown?
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Just in case anyone else is puzzled, the mentions of "cop" pertain to ignition coil. It's an acronym, stands for "Coil On Plug".
     
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  3. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    I have a feeling you're right. I might just wait until summer (I'm in school right now) to take it apart and do it all over again... or I might have it towed to shop to see if they can find anything out.
     
  4. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    Yeah I took the idle without rattle as a good sign but as a newbie I'm stuck.
    I'll check fuses sometime. I've kinda given up due to being short on free time. Will keep this updated as I figure things out.
     
  5. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    Hopefully there's no issue with me bringing this post back to life but just wanted to get back online to update my situation so far. So I have some time available now to work on my prius. I have a feeling this issue might be the timing being off since I honestly don't know anything about timing. So right now I'm thinking that it's the timing since I'm pretty confident I did everything else right.
    I have tried to figure out how to do the timing right and I can't wrap my head around it so I figured I would open everything up to the timing chain and take pictures and hopefully some kind person can tell me if it is on right or not and if it's not then walk me through on how to put it on right. Anyways I'm going to get started tomorrow so hopefully I can have pics then. Thanks!
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    That’s absolutely the way to do it. Too many start a new thread, maybe thinking it’ll get more attention, which is not the case; all it does is break up the narrative, frustrate responders.
     
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  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If you take the valve cover off, you can see the timing chain over the top of the sprockets, and if you remove the crank "pulley", you can get a squint or a photo through the opening there that will show the painted timing link against the crankshaft sprocket.

    You can turn the engine over by hand until the painted links line up with the marks on both camshaft sprockets and on the crankshaft sprocket.

    Don't panic if they are not properly aligned the first time you see them, or even the first several times. You should only expect correct correspondence about every ninth or tenth time you see those painted links go by. So just be patient and keep turning.

    But if they go by more times than that and were never properly aligned with the marks, then you know something is off.
     
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  8. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    Testing this out right now. I first aligned the marks to start from there and counting how many times I have to turn the engine by hand. One thing I am noticing is that rotating it makes a weird pressure/suction sound and it feels not as stable as videos I've seen where people turn the engine by hand. Sound could be from me taking most of the oil out already so nothing is pumping through.

    Will be back with the count.
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Are the spark plugs installed? If so it's probably normal.
     
  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Like in the old viola-solo story, the trouble starts when the pressure/suction sounds stop.
     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If you were able to get all three of them to their proper alignment even once, it's fine; you don't need the count.

    The count is only to help you know when you can give up trying to get them lined up if you don't.
     
  12. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    Removed the spark plugs to see if pistons 1 and 4 were in the raised position so no the spark plugs are not currently installed.

    Ah gotcha.. well it's 9 engine turns to line them up so I'm assuming timing is fine.

    Posted some images just in case someone sees something off..
     

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  13. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    So right now I'm stuck. Not exactly sure what to do next. Going back to my original post is it possible that I put too much sealant on the chain cover and/or between the head and the camshaft housing? I feel like I might have put too much on so right now the plan is to go back and reseal those areas.
     
  14. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    To be a wee bit pedantic, that's 9 times seeing the painted chain links go by the same place. It's 70 times around for the engine crankshaft (which has a small sprocket) or 35 times around for either camshaft (their sprockets have twice as many teeth as the crank). These aren't necessarily the magic numbers for any other engine; they're right for the Gen 3 engine, based on counting its sprocket teeth and chain links, and a little math.

    So yeah, if it's properly timed, you'll see the painted links on the marks every 9th time the painted links go by. If it isn't, you'll never see them on the right marks (but you can quit trying after seeing them wrong 9 times).
     
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  15. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    Update: Finished putting it all back together and still the exact problem persists. It still rough idles and then shuts off. I tried unplugging the egr sensor to see if anything happened and nothing happened. So I thought that maybe that was the problem so I ordered a new one, replaced it and it ran better for a second but then continued to rough idle and shut off.
    Now I have just given up and called my nearby Toyota shop and have scheduled a diagnosis appointment. Will update on what is going on.
     
  16. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    I liked @rjparker's theory back in post 21. Have you tried clamping a wire (like a literal jumper cable) between an accessible bit of the head and a clean chassis ground?
     
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  17. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    So got a call back from Toyota Service shop and they said the ECU is bad. They somehow connect it to some other source to get it to run and the engine sounds fine. So I'm guessing the headgasket job went fine but somehow the ECU got fried and now needs to be replaced. So on one hand I feel good that the headgasket job went fine but on the other the $1600 for the ECU is a hard pill to swallow.
    I don't know anything about ECU's so I'm just having them do the job. Will update this thread later.
    There is currently no ETA on when the part will arrive so just waiting for now.
     
  18. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    That's weird, it's never the ECU.
     
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  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The first car me and the missus bought, brand new in ‘81, a Civic, was about $6400 CDN, off the lot. Now headlights are going for about $1500 USD. The big 4th gen touch screen is something like $6400 USD IIRC, more than our Civic.
     
  20. roqua01

    roqua01 Junior Member

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    I'll get over it eventually but thanks for that info. Crazy how much some parts cost. I've been checking ebay for a used EGR and they're all priced way high. My local junkyard never has any either.