The codes listed above have appeared around the time of an overheat condition, although I don't see head gasket symptoms at this point. The owner wanted me to change the plugs and coils packs. Although I told him this may not be (and probably isn't the issue) I did change these items. I cleared the codes but the P261B and P3190 codes remain. Also, I started it after changing the parts and clearing the codes but did not drive it so I'm thinking they will come back. Also, it has the yellow triangle and says to Park the Vehicle and Check the Hybrid System. The owner also want's me to change the water pump and bought a new one but I haven't done that yet or done any diagnosis on that. The last symptom which perplexes me quite a bit is a clanking or knocking noise near the EGR cooler. I put a stethoscope on the cylinder head and all sounds quiet in the engine. The knocking is concentrated on or near the EGR cooler on the driver/front corner of the ICE. I didn't yet put the scope on the inverter (between the ICE and the transaxle). Does this noise relate to a power train issue or could the EGR assembly make it. Also, the noise seems intermittent and not directly related to ICE operation. Should I try listening to the inverter? What does the clanking noise mean?
What's the mileage on it? Has the entire EGR path been cleared, or at least checked? Could the noise "between the ICE and the transaxle" be the damper coupling between engine and transaxle? They infamously rattle when a cylinder is misfiring.
This is the clanking sound my car was making when number two was going south and taking on coolant enough to make the engine stumble on transition and that clank would happen and then it would smooth out and then it would do it again so be looking at that number two plug or the number one apparently it's usually a number two but whatever you have to do check them all looking for water droplets even microscopic ones you might need a magnifying glass but it sounds like it's a happening.
I doubt EGR has been cleared or checked so that's a good place to start. Mileage is 185K, although ICE is from a junkyard and I think it's around 100K.
I don't have P0401 for reduced EGR flow. I'm wondering whether the misfire could be from overheating (water pump or blockage?) causing misfires and rattle in inverter? Cylinder 4 is the only one that has not set misfire code as far as I've seen.
The P261B does indicate the water pump is turning less than 900 RPM when it should be turning more, so that is something that should be investigated and dealt with. The flow has to be reduced a lot before P0401 is set. If you look over at the EGR flow monitor results thread, we're usually seeing around 20 to 22 kPa from freshly cleaned systems. The "min" test threshold where P0401 is triggered is slightly less than 1 kPa! Under what conditions do the misfires mostly occur? If it's at mid-loads, where EGR is in use, they could indicate clogging of the four EGR passages in the intake manifold. The monitor test only sees overall flow, so if some of those passages are more clogged than others, you can have overall flow that passes the test with flying colors, but really some cylinders get too much exhaust and some too little, therefore misfiring. But that'll have a definite pattern, misfiring at mid-loads where EGR is used, not so much at idle or heavy loads, where it isn't. If the pattern is different, the problem is likely something else. A good misfire diagnosis article starts on page 15 of this issue of Toyota Tech.