Prius ticking or spitting/exhaust leak sound while acceling on road, but not revving engine parked

Hi Prius People!

I bought a 2011 Gen 3 prius a little over a year ago.

Used to get the shudders but headgasket sealant seems to have temporarily fixed that.

Have cleaned the egr, intake manifold (the little holes on it) and replaced water pump/thermostat.

Replaced spark plugs and fuel injectors.

Current symptoms:

Ticking noise under medium load and once ticking starts, it becomes sluggish.

If I keep it super light on acceleration it won't tick, but I can only get up to about 50 mph before any minor overpass will cause constant ticking. Seems to come from center middle to center rear of engine bay.

Strangely if I am just sitting parked, I can rev it 2000+ rpms and it sounds great.

The hybrid battery appears to not charge if I have the EGR connected. I've been driving with egr disconnected, it's been cleaned multiple times so I'm not sure why when connected it's causing an issue with battery charging.

12v battery replaced 6 months ago and sits around 13.9 volts.

Used to have temperature problems, but got another water pump and thermostat installed this week. Temp issues appear to have gone away but I'm still stuck with this issue and not sure what to do.

My google fu has failed me on this issue so maybe one of you has an idea.

Thanks for your time.

 

So I was using a Q Nonda Zus obd reader.

Got a Panlong obd reader based on Dr. Prius recommendation and got a few more codes.

Kind of rewrote everything up below. It is what I sent in on my contact form to Hometown Hybrids in Houston.

Will update this thread on what they find as this may help someone else who has this ticking with a clean egr system.

Still open to any input anyone here might have.

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Quick story on my prius I bought a year ago.

Early on it probably needed a new head gasket but I elected to seal it with bottle of steel seal. Fast forwarding to now after a few new water pumps and thermostats...

So currently with EGR unplugged:

I get a ticking/spitting sound under any medium acceleration that sounds like an exhaust leak and sluggish engine performance. Don't get an orange triangle and "check hybrid system" - so I can limp around under 50 mph if I keep acceleration super light and egr unplugged. Noise seems to come from center middle to center rear of engine bay.

The weird thing is that if I am just revving the engine while parked, it sounds great at 2500+ rpm.

Only seems to tick when delivering power to wheels.


Currently when EGR plugged in:

Will only drive about 1/4 or 1/2 mile before I get Orange triangle and Check Hybrid System. Battery appears to drain quickly and not charge.

I have replaced spark plugs, fuel injectors, and cleaned the EGR, intake manifold (4 small ports), maf sensor, and EGR valve.

Dr. Prius app says error code of P0a80 P0a0f although I don't even know if I'm able to give it a proper test because I can't accelerate rapidly because of ticking sluggish engine.

Has a green bean battery pack in it that is holding 225 volts that I believe is around two years old. Battery temp appears fine, and all the cells appeared green and moving on app (haven't used this app much)

Also getting P3190 code - I've triple checked all air intakes for leaks and hoses connected properly. Oil levels appear ok, maybe slightly full.

Maybe ECU problem? Transmission? Engine shot? Clogged cat?

My google fu hasn't really given me any results on ticking - everyone talks about the knocking/shuddering because egr/air intake needs to be clean - which it is.

Thanks for your time.

 

So local Toyota mechanic quoted me $2500 due to clogged catalytic converter.

I dumped a gallon of lacquer thinner in a half full tank of gas per Scotty Kilmer suggestion.

Drove around with pretty minor improvement. Was still ticking pretty bad.

Unscrewed temp sensor behind engine and sprayed 3oz of vinegar mixed with 1oz high efficient laundry detergent into exhaust system. Let it idle in maintenance mode and it actually unclogged it. Got like 200 miles of no ticks.

Ticking came back. Treated it with another 3oz.

Have now driven 2,000 miles with no ticks and I'm at 50 mpg. EGR has been disconnected for this period and will probably stay that way.

Pretty stoked. Hopefully this helps someone else.

 

8,000 miles later with the egr unplugged update...

Get right around 50 mpg for mostly city driving.

So I have been driving with the egr disconnected and that seems to be just fine. Althought the cat/exhaust ticking does come back after every 2500 miles or so but I don't plan on shelling out $2600 for a new cat/exhaust.

Takes me about 90 minutes to treat it with 4 oz vinegar/ 1 oz detergant, so I'll just keep doing that periodically. I don't think the laquer thinner really did much.

 

140,000 miles. Now she's almost at 200,000. 60,000 miles of Houston traffic and potholes.

She was shaking the day I picked her up for $6400. Bought a stupid warranty for $2000 that excludes headgaskets in the fine print. I think I put four water pumps in her as I learned along the way. She really has put up with a lot of overheating and abuse.

Have learned a lot of lessons. With hardness comes ease.

 

Is that possible for me to do without removing it? Need some kind of snake cam?

 

That thing is staying on until it gets stolen or the vinegar treatments stop working.

If I end up replacing it, I'll take some pics for you.