need help gen 3 2011 pruis. runs bad sometimes when its hot

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by bobby515, Jun 27, 2025 at 5:35 AM.

  1. bobby515

    bobby515 Member

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    Starting a new thread to get proper help. I can do a lot of my own work.
    I am stumped now.
    My 232k pruis ran great every morning and sometimes all day. When it seems to sit after I do uber in am break..We had heatwave here.it acts up. not always this is new problem.
    After it sit's no engine codes. The car lacks power. No really bad misfire
    . Hard to get it to 60 mpg..just now in am its running good 5am. 2 days ago i did like 40 city rides in 100+ degree heat. No problem's.
    I was thinking a cat was bad.
    Why, for 2 years on heavy highway acc. i would smell rotten eggsThe .
    Cat was testing at a small shop yesterday, and they said it's good. Exhaust shop only.
    My battery on Dr. Pruis is 52%.
    I did a head gasket in September.
    Starting fresh, I am very handy, and steps to take to test this car.
    I am thinking fuel pump..
    .but I would like if you kind members and point me in the proper direction...only starting happening on Mondays, hot heat at my 10am break of 2 hours to go back to work. Tuesdays, it was fine.
    Thursday's am ran great, 3 hours. After it sat. Ran like crap. But not a big misfire. I'm back to normal.
    Please point it in in a step-by-step testing... It's a good car, thank you guys.
    Bob is confused in Philly, but very patient. I really love my Pruis.. all except the driver seat on long days..age (62) on the 4th
     
  2. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Does the car burn oil?

    Sounds like a bad cat. How did the small exhaust shop "test" it?

    Prius Gen3 Aftermarket Cat $450
    Walker 16649 Rock Auto or Amazon

    Amazon.com: Walker Ultra EPA 16649 Direct Fit Catalytic Converter 2.375" Outlet (ID) for Toyota Prius : Automotive

    They say love is blind...
     
    #2 rjparker, Jun 27, 2025 at 7:49 AM
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2025 at 7:56 AM
    bobby515 likes this.
  3. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    :(:confused::eek:o_O(n)
    Starting a "new" thread for the same issue will only create issues because people will see
    double posts and won't know where to post or where to look...
     
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  4. bobby515

    bobby515 Member

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    If we're gonna install an aftermarket cat,
    I bought pretty cheap on eBay, but they said they don't think it's clogged
    . They took the 02 center out and ran it while the car was running bad. Without the 02 sensor and the car still ran the same bad.
    Now this morning, the car's running good. So I really don't know my buddy, who works for Cadillac. its kind of a pain i* t** a**. Sometimes, a friend of 45 years told me to do a pressure test on the converter.
    The guy at the small shop said that the cat was ok. It would put debris in the resonator. Behind it, where you have the heater lines in the resignator,
    I was going to do the bypass on that anyway.
    Have I seen from gasket masters? So now I'm kinda stuck. They were only going to charge me $100 to put my new converter on, but they said that behind my converter, the resonator might be full of debris. So they decided to pull the 02 sensor out and said that the car should have more pickup,
    because air will bypass the cat. What's your thought worst comes to worst ? I can go back and have them. Put the cat on at a $100 labor cost, you have to. Weld it to the resignator caught it with a reciprocating saw.
    But before they pulled the sensor, they got me thinking that the debris, if there is, could go inside the resonator, which would make it still clogged. So I'm kind of confused about that. The good thing is, if it is the converter only, it's not a lot of money. Because the converter was cheap.
    I have no lights on the dashboard. The reason why I suspect the converter. When the car gets hot in the city, driving it for say, Uber, I do my x. Amount of ride, say in the morning when I bring it home. And I leave it sit, it seems to act up. I'm talking like three times. I started it up this morning. It's starting to run a little funny in the morning for just a couple of minutes.
    No rattle, sounds like a misfire, and then it has the fast power in the morning. You jump right on the highway. You go anywhere you want, and when it acts up, it seems like it acts up after it's been shut off for a little bit. Yesterday afternoon, from like 3 PM. When I went to the shop, when I came back, it was steady bad. What's like, uh,
    I don't want to say a misfire, cause it wasn't like a bad plug, and you could smell a little bit of sulfur, a little bit. Sometimes any advice would help, I mean, I could always say, just put the converter in, what happens if the resonator is blocked?
    The reason why I was going change converter myself. is of course it needs to be welded.
    And these little Pruis in the driveway tend not to be stable on Jack stands.
    I have a professional forklift, jack, and jack stands, but it's senseless for the low price of ninety-one hundred dollars installed. For me to climb under, what are your thoughts?
    I appreciate your responding to me. I'm just baffled by this. And I have a lot of general car knowledge. I was a car customizer as a living years ago, and mechanically, I'm pretty sharp. I put my own time in the chain and head gasket on. I put the wheel bearing on I put struts in. Ball joint tie rods.
    i edited this to be cleaner..sorry about the bad grammer
     
    #4 bobby515, Jun 27, 2025 at 8:10 AM
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2025 at 9:46 AM
  5. bobby515

    bobby515 Member

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    Sir, could you please? Delete the first one, because I think this one is more important 2. Let me do it.Step by step has per guessing.Like I did the converter. I'm guessing fuel pump and so on. I hope with the forum board. Somebody could walk me through to try to figure out the problem. But I drove the car in 4 days, 3 and a 1/2 days for business. My job is UberX driver. I'm 63 years old next Friday. The 4th of July. I appreciate any help and I'm sorry. I posted 2 topics. What I realized was I jumped a gun and taking shortcuts, and the reason why I did that was because I thought I knew my car.
     
  6. bobby515

    bobby515 Member

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  7. bobby515

    bobby515 Member

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    Could you tell me how to find my first post? So I could delete it next time. That's my biggest problem finding my posts. I could easily delete it. And not confuse the board, thank you.
     
  8. bobby515

    bobby515 Member

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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    About the 7th similar thread.
     
  10. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    You can not delete a complete thread. Only a moderator can do that.

    I have reported this thread to a moderator and asked him to merge this thread with the other thread that you created three days ago, https://priuschat.com/index.php?posts/3544744

    If he decides to merge the threads, It may take up to 24 hours to happen.
     
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  11. bobby515

    bobby515 Member

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    thank you. i am online trying to clean up my old mess. sorry...
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Click on your avatar, then "Postings":
    upload_2025-6-27_9-3-31.png
    Down at the bottom of the posting page, click on "Find all threads...":
    upload_2025-6-27_9-5-12.png :
    :
     
  13. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Have you checked or monitored your engine operating temperature? Overheats over 245F will trigger your dummy lamp, anything below that won't register and doesn't get caught up in your CEL. If your electronic water pump is intermittent, it may not throw a code - but watching your engine temperature will tell you what's going on.

    Good Luck....