Prius suddenly sputtered and died while driving, sulphur smell in cabin

Hi everyone,

Hope you can help me My dear 2008 Prius suddenly died while I was near the end of a 20km trip that lasted about 30 minutes. I was about 2 to 3km from home when it suddenly sputtered, then it just slowly lost power and got more erratic from there until I shut it down. Near the end, there was a fairly strong sulphur smell in the car.

Here's what I've done so far:

1. I inspected the 12v battery after seeing some similar threads and it looked good (nothing burning) so I left it inside and connected.

2. Ignition (Start x2) still works fine, and all lights turn on ok - I replaced most interior bulbs with leds

3. I connected my vci and extracted data using the free Android Car Scanner app. Errors are #2 cylinder misfires, engine failures, etc. Images attached however I know the app is missing codes that Toyota detect when I bring it in. Maybe I need a better app?

4. Dashboard error lights attached

In the light of the above, do you think it is just a case of replacing the 12V battery? The current one seems you work fine still. I charged the 12V battery earlier today just in case, charger said it was full after just 30 minutes which surprised me. Last time I serviced it, Toyota told me the 12V battery was very low so I had been charging it often lately, it is more than 5 years old.

Also I spilled maybe 1 to 2 table spoons of oil while topping up engine oil today and some of it ran to the back of the engine where I couldn't wipe it. It may have caused the misfire by infiltrating through the spark plug top? It was near the one at the oil filling port though, which I think is the spark plug for cylinder #4, or was it 1 (picture attached)

Is it worth it buying a new battery to try out or is the error likely something else?

Thank you! This site has always been my lifeline when learning about my precious prius and I hope I can revive it.

--- maintenance history - - - -
1. We mainly drive short distances every day, and have previously had injector 1 blocked, likely due to fuel getting too old as we can go 6 to 8 weeks without refilling. We had them all removed and cleaned 5 to 7 years ago.

2. Transaxle fluid and spark plugs were replaced at around 100000Km as recommended here

3. This car has never broken down before

4. Oil has always been replaced on time or early with 5w30

 

Thanks Mendel and Fotomoto, I’ll check the voltage tomorrow morning when I get back to the car, it is parked on the street… I may just try buying a new one as reading multiple existing threads here seems to point that it is still worth trying to fix it.

I’m not sure why but I can’t seem to edit my post - I forgot to mention one of the error codes P0A0F which leads to a video from Lucious garage about a broken water pump. The water pump and isn’t extension was replaced under recall back in January 2015.

 

Thank you - I have previously cleaned the MAF several times in the past as well, perhaps the last time was 2 years ago? I’ll give that a go as well.

So you reckon the battery is still fine? I do have a good 5 or 6 stage charger and have been charging the battery every 2 months just to ensure it stopped behaving weirdly. I did charge it about 1 hour before the trip and was very surprised that the battery said it was full when we hadn’t had long trips for a month. I last went to Toyota because of it: the ABS light switched on while driving, but after checking all the codes, they thought it was likely due to a weak 12V battery.

 

Battery read 12.2V at the terminals.

I just bought a new one and will try to fit it soon. I replaced it a long time ago, so it is good to have this guide to follow :

 

I managed to drive the car home after swapping the battery, but something is definitely not right.
1. I drove the car about 200m and it was shuddering and not smooth even when not moving, with the engine on
2. There’s a strong sulphur smell OUTSIDE the car which also goes inside, didn’t realise this last night
3. There are no warnings on the dashboard yet
4. Should I check the water pump (I had error code P0A0F and others - see attachments in original posts), or catalytic converter, or both? How do I diagnose them?

 

Thank you, i was planning to buy a prolong charger to help maintain my hybrid battery.

However, doesn't the current problem appear to be related to the ICE and exhaust as the errors are related to misfiring cylinders and other things, as well as the juddering when the ICE switches on?

 

Could you please help direct me to posts with similar issues? I have been searching for catalytic converter failures on Gen 2s for the last half hour but no one seems to have errors or sputtering errors or misfiring codes like mine?

What DTCs should I expect for that? Here's what I got :


I did fill up with what may have been bottom of the tank fuel a few days before the incident - the fuel station had run out of fuel at all pumps except one. I drove for 4 days without issues on it though, perhaps about 20km total

 

Thank you! I'll check my MAF sensor again, haven't cleaned it in 2 years.

I'm in Australia, obtained the dtc from a Vlink obd reader that was given to me... I'll start looking for techstream

 

Thank you, i don't know much about catalytic converters but I found this great video on the gen 2 catalytic converter as well as the fact that it is often the target of thieves and super expensive!!

Thefts Of Older Toyota Prius Models Surge As Thieves Target Precious Metals In Catalytic Converters

 

Despite all the bad error codes I’ve gotten, I haven’t seen one of these yet, but it may just be because my OBD reader is missing some vital codes.

I looked into getting a Mini VCI reader with TechStream but they will all arrive in July, 2+weeks away. I’m worried about leaving my discharged HV battery alone for so long.

Will this one work?