Loud bang, rattling, oil leakage

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by NathanielRH, Jul 18, 2016.

  1. NathanielRH

    NathanielRH New Member

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    Was driving down the highway when I heard a loud explosion.

    A family member hit a large plastic object and didn't let me know it was under the car. She pulled most of it out before I got in it so I never did see that it was under there.

    Long story short, heard a loud bang, and I guess some oil came out from under the car because it lit some of the grass next to the highway on fire (wasn't much, and it was put out rather quickly, don't worry, I didn't cause a California wildfire.)

    So loud bang, oil leakage, and when I turn the car on it's rattling.

    Any ideas as to what this might have been as far as the explosion goes? Jesus. Life is pretty miserable right now :(
     
    #1 NathanielRH, Jul 18, 2016
  2. IMkenNY

    IMkenNY Im just being nosy

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    It sounds like it damaged the oil pan and the engine may be ruined, is there any oil showing on the dip stick?
     
    #2 IMkenNY, Jul 18, 2016
  3. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    First, it's doubtful hot oil ignited dry grass, unless the oil was on fire when it came out. It's more likely there's a problem with the exhaust system. Catalytic converters get hot enough to ignite grass.
     
    #3 andrewclaus, Jul 18, 2016
  4. Kevin_Denver

    Kevin_Denver Active Member

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    When you say "rattling" do you mean a terrible sound coming from the engine like metal striking metal or do you mean that the car is shaking or do you mean the engine sound is just much louder like occurs when there's an exhaust leak? Either of the first two could be really bad, the last one is not a hard fix. If it's either of the first two, do not run the car as it could damage the engine worse than it is.

    If a plastic object came in contact with the exhaust system it could have caught fire. Plastic on fire often throws off bits of molten plastic that are on fire, so perhaps you mistook this to be oil? When the car is parked, do you find oil drops underneath? If not, it's probably not oil that's leaking (check your oil level as well). I think the first order of business is to jack up the car and do an in-depth inspection of the area that came into contact with the plastic. If you're lucky, the plastic thing just caught fire from your exhaust and the "explosion" sound was just the heat of the plastic on fire cracking your exhaust system somewhere.

    Are any warning lights showing on the car? The Prius is good in general about reporting codes when anything is going wrong with the engine. If you have warning lights showing, then your first order of business is to have the codes read.
     
    #4 Kevin_Denver, Jul 18, 2016
  5. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    Ditto, but with a caveat--don't do this yourself unless you have the proper jackstands and safety equipment. If your home garage is not so equipped, best let a pro do this. They can check the diagnostic codes, too--good idea.
     
    #5 andrewclaus, Jul 18, 2016
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  6. NathanielRH

    NathanielRH New Member

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    I'll be looking under the car soon.

    "When you say "rattling" do you mean a terrible sound coming from the engine like metal striking metal or do you mean that the car is shaking or do you mean the engine sound is just much louder like occurs when there's an exhaust leak?"

    It's like a chugging noise, and the car shakes with every chug. It doesn't sound like a "cling" metal type of noise. It sounds like a puff of air is being blown out of a container, two or three times per second. Need a recording of it?

    I'm hesitant to turn the car on as it lacks oil right now because after the explosion it was leaking oil, so wherever that leak is, my first priority should be to plug it up.

    "When the car is parked, do you find oil drops underneath? If not, it's probably not oil that's leaking (check your oil level as well)." Smart man, oil was leaking.

    Please, if ANYONE else has anything constructive to include, I would LOVE to read about it. Even if you simple have old links, I will go through them! Good English is preferred :) I know that with the bright minds here on Priuschat, I can safely and effectively go through the car's innards.
     
    #6 NathanielRH, Jul 24, 2016
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Well, it would really help to understand the extent of the problem if you would take a few sharp photos of the damaged area and post.
     
    #7 Patrick Wong, Jul 25, 2016
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Or you know open the hood and look down....pull the dipstick thingy out and see if its bone dry. If so the oil pan has a huge hole in it and the motor is toast.
     
    #8 edthefox5, Jul 27, 2016
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    a salvage motor can be had reasonably. total with install might be under 2k.
     
    #9 bisco, Jul 27, 2016
  10. NathanielRH

    NathanielRH New Member

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    Yeah I know, the car only cost me 5k so it's not surprising that less than a year later I have to replace the battery and now the engine. May as well just buy another one for 5k and have two of them. Same price. :D

    I had to look up what a "dipstick" is so that's why I took so long! Just kidding. It is bone dry, which, I expected it to be because I saw oil leaking after I heard the explosion on the highway. However, I did drop in some spare oil to see if it'd stay in the engine over a few days, and, it did not. So, oil pan is out.

    Engine being completely toast though, I'm praying not. Thanks, I will try to have pictures up soon and I definitely won't forgo putting up the sound of the engine, in case the same noise is heard by other people and they wonder what it is, this thread will prove useful to them in the future.
     
    #10 NathanielRH, Jul 28, 2016
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