Prius Plug In gas engine cuts off after 5 seconds

The engine doesn't work. The 5 seconds before it "dies" are the 5 seconds the car is trying to start it, then giving up. The P3190 is consistent with that.

The big 3 first things on the list to check when a gasoline engine doesn't work: fuel/air mixture, spark, compression.

 

Sorry Bill, that's actually the electric motors in the transmission spinning the motor.

I've bought and sold several Lexus RX4xxh that had a broken timing belt, that did that. Chapman is correct, The engine isn't actually firing.

I even got lucky with one of them, no bent valves....

Check your spark plugs and coolant levels. If you didn't lose power when the dash board lit up; you'll need to hook-up a scan tool to see what other codes are popping up.

 

Can someone with a Tesla chime in please, I got some free time to waste on here with extra curricular reading to do

 

Yup, at first it is just being twirled by the electric motor with no fuel or ignition, then the sputtering starts when the car begins the fuel injection and spark and hopes it will pick up and run, and when it has only succeeded in sputtering by 6 or 7 seconds, the attempt is given up.

 

Repeated engine “starts” like this will eventually run the hybrid battery dangerously low.

 

More important to find out what's wrong and rectify it, then to make the car move.

 

how many miles on her?

could you be out of gas?

 

It sounds like it is running mostly because when a Prius transaxle starts its engine, it does so at around 1100RPM, much more than the 350 or so than a traditional car starter can spin its engine.

Hit it with some starting fluid or an unlit propane torch in the intake, see if it'll run on that fuel source instead of the gasoline that may or may not be going in.

 

how many miles on her?

i'd fill the tank to be sure. aafter that, it's plugs, coils, fuel pump, wiring, ecu, it gets complicated

 

First thing to do is put gas in it. Don't trust the meter.

 

That “firing up” is very, very likely the electric motors turning it, courtesy of the hybrid battery. Keep at it long enough and you’ll add a depleted hybrid battery to the issues.

 

It's a plug-in. So, they can plug it in.

 

firing up might be misleading. trying to start, if you're getting any spark/fuel/compression, you might smell combustion, even though it shuts itself down because it is incomplete and the computers don't like that.
were the plugs changed at 120k?

 

Might just be a clogged fuel system, engine air-filter, and MAF sensor.

Try giving it a bottle of Chevrolet fuel cleaner with a full tank of premium gas. And clean the MAF sensor. Good luck.