P3191 after replacing the head gasket

Hi all,

I have a 2008 Prius (US) with 120000 miles. I noticed the misfire P0301, P0302 misfire two month ago and coolant level drops too, and the engine started roughly initially and gradually got better after a while (coolant evaporates in the cylinder), then figured out it could be due to a head gasket leakage.

Then I replaced the head gasket, it did take me one month to finish the project since I only work on it occasionally on the weekends. However, I started the get this error, P3191. The engine will crank roughly for a few seconds, then stops. There is also smoke coming from the air intake when you open the air filter box.

I replaced the MAF, cleaned the throttle body, and check the hoses are correctly connected. Still, the problem keeps. I also checked the engine oil level, and added some gas, and couldn't solve the problem.

After many tests, I am getting a pending error P0A80, which is a faulty Hybrid battery warning. I guess it is because I started the engine too many times and it uses the hybrid battery to crank. Now I am worried that I may damage the battery if I continue to crank the engine without solving the no-start problem.

I see some posts about ECM, but I don't have this problem before replacing the head gasket.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

 

Thanks for your reply. I bought a copy of the service manual and followed it to install the timing chain, there are timing marks on the chain and camshaft, so I was able to put it back. But I will open the cylinder head cover again to confirm if I got the alignment correct. Others causes I can check are fuel pressure and ECM, but they seem fine before I did the gasket work.

The display shows the battery is at the last purple line and a pending P0A80 error, hope I still have 2 or 3 chances to try.

I have 3 more questions and hope you can provide some insights too.

1) I disconnected the fuel line for about one month, will that cause the gas to evaporate and eventually lead to pure gas performance? I added about two gallons of gas but didn't help.

2) Also, after a few cranking and no start, waiting for about a day, I disconnected the fuel line again since I want to reach the hose connection between the engine and the motor. Then, the gas spurts out immediately. Seems like there is a high pressure built up. Does this mean gas is not injected into the cylinder (the fuel pump keeps working, but gas is not injected out of the line)?

3) black/grey smoke comes from the air intake, what is this? smells not like gasoline. If I got the timing chain installed incorrectly, should I expect an error code from the timing chain sensor?

Thanks again.

 

I removed the head and checked the timing chain, now I am not sure if I installed the chain correctly or not. I remember clearly I installed the chain according to the timing marker, but now you can see that the timing marker is not aligned with the chain marker.

Does the Chain marker return to the camshaft timing marker every revolution? I spin the crankshaft for a few rotations, but every time, the chain marker cannot align with the same location of the camshaft. Say, in the attached picture, marker B is aligned with the intake camshaft's timing marker, after one chain rotation, it will not be aligned again.




Besides, I noticed some leaked oil near the new gasket. You can see the shining new gasket in the attached picture, and I am not sure if the leaked oil is after installation or before. Where is the oil from? If it occurred before the replacement, does mean I did have a broken gasket?



Thank you very much. Really appreciate your help.

Yawei

 

I saw a lot of gasket replacement videos online on 3rd generation Prius, but only found one Video on Youtube on 2nd Generation Prius, so maybe 2nd Gen is likely to have this gasket problem.

How to tell if the engine gets overheated? Before I changed the gasket, the car started very rough in idle in the morning, then gradually became smooth, and I get misfire error codes as well. I changed the spark plug, and ignition coil, but no help. Then I noticed the coolant level drops a lot, so I added coolant to the reservoir and radiator cap, still no help, so I decided to change the gasket.

Now, the gasket is replaced, but I cannot start the engine anymore....and I feel I am draining the hybrid battery, and don't have many attempts left anymore. Need to figure out how to charge the hybrid battery..

Thanks.

 

Also, FYI, the camshaft timing gear rotates left and right, and I am not sure if I put it in the "home" location. I removed VVT actuator and intake/exhaust camshaft of course to replace the head gasket, but I didn't remove the chain sprocket from the camshaft. Based on the image I posed in the above thread, can you tell if the chain installed correctly?

Thanks,

 

Yeah, the timing is not correct. I assigned the chain's timing marker with the camshaft's, the intake camshaft is installed correctly, but somehow I messed up the exhaust camshaft. Both cams should point upward to the center, but you can see below that they are not. Now I need to drain the coolant and oil again, and re-install the timing chain. Hope the valves are not damaged and hybrid battery is good for one more spin, otherwise, I am doomed. Will do it over the weekend and post an update here.

Thank everyone for the help.

 

You are absolutely right. I should have taken a lot of pictures before and after the installation. I did take pictures of the electrical wire connections since I was afraid of messing up the wires, but I didn't have a clear picture of the gasket.

Here is what the gasket looks like when I took out the head. Some pink coolant in the piston, not sure if it leaked via the gasket or leaked from the head when I removed it.






I also have a picture of the timing chain before removing it. You can see that if I rotate it counterclockwise, maybe by 20 degrees, the intake cam and exhaust cam will be pointing towards the same location, and the piston is at TDC. The installation picture from my previous thread shows the exhaust cam is mis-aligned.

I bought a repair manual online before the installation since I had never done engine repair before. I have experience replacing brake rotor/pads, shock struts, etc, but not reparing engine. Then I followed the instruction to install the chain, like below. Some procedures must be wrong, otherwise, how can I align the timing mark correctly but got the camshaft wrong....

Changing your battery is impressive to me. I hope I don't need to change mine

 

Hi All,

I want to post an update on the car. The P3191 is due to wrong timing and the car revs up again after correcting it. The P0A80 error goes away too after the battery is charged.

However, I am getting a misfire error again, currently on cylinder 2&3. Engine rattles when idling at around 1000 RPM, but becomes very smooth after pressing the accelerating panel to ramp up the speed. I am going to do a compression test later. Wonder if I am getting a bent con-rod due to previous coolant leakage, or I may have damaged the valves when I cranked the engine with the wrong timing.

When I first started the engine, there is smoke coming from the exhaust manifold's port 1, it smells as burning rubber. It goes away after I adding more coolant and engine oil. Wonder I may not getting enough cooling or lubrication.

Thanks,