*URGENT ADVICE NEEDED*

The spark plug could be fouled by the oil burn. If there's a blown head gasket, you really can't damage it any more. How does the coolant level look? Hydro-locking the motor can bend or break things; but with all that run-time - your probably due for another motor anyways.
If you have a 10mm socket; try moving the coil from #1 to #3 and place #3 coil in the #1 position. That would eliminate the coil issue. If the problem moves from #1 to #3, you've got a bad coil.
You need to check the oil and coolant level at every fill-up. The oil lamp won't turn-on until you've destroyed your engine; requiring 3+ quarts to refill. If your engine is running in the middle of the night and that oil lamp lights up and you don't notice - your looking at a new or replacement engine.

Good Luck.....

 

Those are problems related to 2010-2015 Prius.... He has a 2008...

 

2 quarts of oil low can lead to an engine misfire code... So if you added a quart of oil and had to add a second quart, that's your problem. Otherwise, swapping postion of Ignition coils as mentioned above can help.

I wouldn't worry about it... Gen2 Prius engines are super reliable!

 

Respectfully; it could be anything since there's a lot of hours and idle time on that engine. I can't look under the hood to see how bad it is.

 

It's our job to reassure this guy with most common Gen2 problems related to a misfire code so he can try to get a decent night's sleep. I can assure you he'll get less sleep tonight because you're scaring him with total engine failure, which is rare for Gen2 Prius compared to Gen3.

 

After you get it filled with oil go for a drive around the block two or three times.... Seem ok now back parked . ?

 

OK, everything is unicorns and rainbows and I'll just stop by the pot shop to take the edge off.....

 

That's great advice for everyone, really!

 

We've had this conversation before... When I car camp in sub-freezing weather I use as many blankets and warm clothes as possible and wait till I wake up because its too cold and then run the heater on high until its way too hot and then turn the car off and see how long I can sleep before I wake up because its too cold. I remember one night it was 17' F out and only had to do that twice and slept really well.

The method of leaving the car on all night with the thermostat at a specific setting will shorten the lifespan of the vehicle.

Also read up on why Atkinson engines run rough sometimes when the engine turns off so you understand why its nothing to worry about.

 

Yes. The ECM blinks the check-engine light when there is misfiring so severe that the ECM's estimate of catalytic converter temperature (based on amount of unburned fuel remaining in the exhaust and reaching the converter) becomes high enough to expect damage to the cat.

 

He reported on youtube it was a bad plug

 

7 month old spark plugs failed?

 

wow...sorry I missed this thread. The answer couldn't have been more obvious, so I'm glad he got it resolved asap.
Any car misfiring badly enough to 'rumble' or cause the CEL to blink needs to be shut down and fixed ASAP. It's almost always a plug failure.

Wow. There was some extremely poor advice provided on this one.

so you understand why its nothing to worry about.

It's not anyone's job to reassure someone about their car so they can get a decent night's sleep at the risk of wrecking their car. Wth.
How about reading a post, putting two and two together and trying to provide an honest, accurate diagnosis instead of blowing smoke up their XXX and risk causing multi-thousand dollars of damage to their car?

This site drives me crazy sometimes. People put their faith in anyone. It's nuts.

Follow this advice, then when the engine is afu from running it, take it to a real mechanic and he tells you your cat is smoked, the rings on cylinder 1 are smoked from fuel wash and you'll need a spark plug.
Then complain to the mechanic that your buddy told you it would be fine and that the he's just trying to screw you. perfect example of what drives a good mechanic crazy.

 

Yep, reassurance doesn't resolve anything.
So was the plug actually bad or just oil fouled?
I believe New Jersey is a CARB state, so he'll need to watch the CAT system too.

Unicorns and rainbows may make you feel better, but it isn't going to make your problems go away.

BTW; I didn't bring up the head gasket issue; the OP did. I was just running him through his options and what he needed to check to start eliminating possible issues.

 

You've been on this site as a participant for barely more than a year and when it comes to paranoid delusions designed to attack your fellow forum members, you're the champ!

As often is the case there's a long history with some of the OP's that you aren't aware of and the seriousness of the misfire got worse over time. It's pretty classless and petty of you to take the worst late stage symptoms as a way to discredit advice given for the early symptoms when it could of been as simple as 2 quarts low on oil. But I get it... You aren't here to make friends or actually help OPs, you're here to attack people and make everyone but yourself feel inferior because you get off on it.

You also probably have no idea what it's like to poor enough that living in a Gen2 Prius is the most affordable option, nor do you understand how difficult that can be in sub-freezing weather when you aren't an auto mechanic and also happen to a be a stroke victim with significant dissabilities. But we get it, you aren't here to be kind or to help.