2013 Prius losing power on hills

Too much drag and resistance to go fast. Engine was revving high but gaining speed slowly. Now, THAT is NOT normal. I inspected my car.

 

It's possible there are more than one issue.

This is a serious symptom, typical of a head gasket leak causing low coolant OR a serious vacuum leak if it was egr work related. However overheating due to egr work is unlikely.

How was this resolved?

Overheating has been known to cause limp mode and may not code because of a lack of coolant at the sensors. This should be obvious with low coolant in the passenger side reservoir. A failing water pump is also possible.

A failing inverter could cause limp mode but will code and throw warning lights. The inverter related software update was intended to reduce the stress on the power electronics in the inverter before it failed.

If the inverter has failed you will get codes and warning lights. With the right codes Toyota will replace it free.

 

You may want to recheck the fill level and was Toyota ATF used? Some transmissions will run weird when you don't use OEM fluids. My brother changed the ATF on my mom's Honda and it started slipping. Changed it again with official Honda OEM ATF and the slip disappeared.

If that was the first time it was changed - Yes those plugs are jammed in there really tight from the factory. I have to use a 3-foot breaker bar; but once it's been broken loose and torqued back down to factory specifications - you should be able to unscrew it easily using a 10mm socket hex.

 

I took off the oil fill cap, looked inside, and found out that my engine is gunked up with oil sludge. I have looked online and found some solutions like sea foam, frequent oil changes, and using oil with additives. Jiffy lube changed my oil less than 5,000 miles ago. I replaced a bad pcv valve. I'm considering installing an oil catch can but I don't know where to get one of those. I'm not yet experienced enough on automotive technology, for me to take the engine apart and clean manually without risking making mistakes that lead to the very catastrophic failures that I'm trying to prevent. I plan to get a college degree to become a mechanic because I love fixing cars.

 

They are 25mm round plugs with a 10mm hex slot in the middle. I don't have car jacks and I don't have experience with jack safety yet.

 

Can you please clarify whether that "revving" without gaining speed happens only on steep hills, or happens everywhere?

 

That's not good. Means previous owner didn't change the oil on a regular basis and/or used cheap non-fully synthetic oil.
I wouldn't go more than 5K miles on a jiffy lube out change, because they use the cheapest bulk oil they can find on the market. That's also the reason they recommend 3K mile oil changes, because they know it's crappy oil. When I inherited my dad's Toyota SR5, it had Jiffy lube oil changes - dad was too old to do it himself and was cheap. When I drove it; I noticed low oil pressure when the engine was hot at a stop. The odometer showed 175K miles, so it was also due for an oil change. I did the oil change with Castrol full synthetic and OEM oil filter - problem went away. I suspect the cheap jiffy lube oil broke-down and lost viscosity when hot.

I wouldn't use Seafoam on a sludge filled engine and your also running the chance that the sludge is scabbing over an oil leak or oil burn issue. That's what that "motor honey" garbage does to an engine to temporary stop oil burn, so a car lot can sell the car. I would use about a quart of transmission fluid about 100 miles before an oil change. Then 0.5 quarts of transmission fluid and run it a thousand miles, then do another oil change. That will slowly strip the sludge out of the engine's interior. Transmission fluid has a lot more detergents in it than motor oil and doesn't strip the critical oil film on machined surfaces that prevents premature wear. Products like Seafoam are oil, sludge, and carbon deposit STRIPPERS. Makes sure you keep an eye on the oil level and keep changing the oil filters; because that sludge is going to clog it up. All oil filters has a built-in bypass valve, that will open when clogged - but then your filter isn't doing it's job..... If your oil lamp comes ON; you need to pull over and shut-OFF the motor immediately or your going to damage it - well damage it more than what has already occurred.

Good Luck.......

 

For me this is a must for going uphills and for you guys it's probably experimental.

Try a full can of Seafoam in the gas tank if you need to go long steep uphills. That is really for extra cylinder lubrication. And better yet, if you can install K&N filter for your engine, try it and see how performance changes. Total investment about $80. Filter good for at least 30k miles.

I go up mountain inclines on a regular basis and have no lack of confidence to reach any speed i want. I beat Ford pickup trucks just for the fun of it on steep mountain inclines. I'm 8 years on K&N filters now and no engine issues. Seafoam goes into my gas tank every fillup because I go up mountains on a regular basis.

For your case you can add the 4 oz of Seafoam to the engine crank just 300-500 miles before the next oil change. For me I now add that 4 oz into every new oil change. I also add 4oz of LiquiMoly MoS2 into a new oil change.

Also I drive purely on PWR mode. I can't say if my v 17 is really any that much different from other gen 3 models.

 

HOW is it going to lubricate the cylinders, in the fuel????
In the crank, maybe.

 

AMSOIL Upper Cylinder Lubricant and why yu should use it.

"An upper cylinder lubricant is a fuel additive that’s primary function is to lubricate the upper parts of the cylinder above the piston rings and to prevent rust and corrosion from causing premature wear on metal parts. They also clean and lubricate the fuel injectors, protect the valve train and prevent carbon buildup on the pistons.

The upper cylinder, or the top end, are the parts above your rings that include: the valves, valve seats, fuel injectors and others. Keeping these areas lubricated and clean prevents performance and power robbing issues. Prevention of these issues also helps to increase the longevity of your engine, by preventing premature wear of the upper cylinder parts.

Why Use an Upper Cylinder Lubricant

An Upper Cylinder Lubricant is used to help to prevent corrosion and rust due to the ethanol in todays fuels. Ethanol attracts water and when you shut your vehicle down, some of the intake valves are left open to the air which allows moist air to enter the cylinders, creating rust and corrosion.

The speeding up of this process is enhanced when the effects of a cooling down engine mixes with the ethanol in the fuel. As your engine cools, it creates condensation in the cylinder and ethanol attracts even more water. Because this area is made of metal and lacks the proper oil to coat it, “flash corrosion” can occur.

Upper Cylinder Lubricants are also used to prevent premature wear on metal parts. Upper Cylinder Lubricants coat metal surfaces and prevent rust and corrosion from starting. Another factor that increases rust an corrosion are vehicles that sit. They don’t have to sit long before micro corrosion occurs, but the longer it sits the worse it gets. Then when you start your engine, the corrosion causes more damage.

Another benefit of Upper Cylinder Lubricants is a thing called “oil cushion”. The “oil cushion” or thin protection film on the valves, helps prevent the slamming together of bare metal as the valves open and close. This film also helps to guide the valves into place helping create a good seal. This prevents excessive wear on the valves and valve seats."

 

ha ha ha ha
I got some waterfront property real cheap in south Florida for ya!

It doesn't need lubrication. And it burns off with the fuel.
Now lubing the fuel injector, I can see that.

Since the Prius is direct injection, the fuel doesn't pass over the valves.

I have NEVER seen any rust above the rings on an engine.
Even my 2 stroke engines.

It's your money....

 

Which Prius is direct injection?

 

It isn't.

 

The gen5 Prius has dual injection, direct and port injectors for each cylinder. Some modes use port or direct exclusively while other modes use both concurrently.

 

The fuel in injected into the cylinder not the intake manifold. That's why it gets so dirty.

 

Jiffy lube recommended 10k oil changes. I also checked oil levels. They were normal. Another abnormality I found was a small amount of copper corrosion in the ignition coil boots. I had to replace the pcv valve a few months back as well because it was dumping excessive amounts of oil into the air intake manifold.

 

My oil pressure sensor switch seal broke and there's sludge around that too. I found a massive buildup of carbon deposits in the egr back in April and I painstakingly disassembled and manually deep-cleaned each part.

 

10K mile oil changes is the OEM recommendations. Seems Jiffy Lube has removed their 3 months 3K mile oil change interval from their websites. Details matter and their cheapest oil change is standard conventional oil - refer to your OEM manual, rather than hear-say. Read it carefully, because I'm pretty sure your car calls for full synthetic oil on 10K mile oil change intervals. Probably why your engine is sludge-up. This will also effect your timing advance - I believe they are oil driven for that car. If the oil passages are blocked, timing won't advance properly at higher revs. Another reason why you don't want to use an aggressive stripper in your engine oil. Where do you think those chunks of sludge are going to go? You'll need to hook it up to an OEM diagnostic computer to verify.
If your PCV was leaking, I'm pretty sure your EGR system is clogged up. That's where the defective PCV was sending the oil.
Copper corrosion is blue-green patina; the brown/copper color on the boot is blow by and/or seeping o-rings on the valve cover, spark plug hole seal. Again, details matter.....

That's interesting 4 oz of seafoam stripper + 4 oz of lube enhancement - Wouldn't they cancel each other out?? Just saying - it's your car; do whatever you like....

 

Which generation Prius engine are you talking about?

The Gen 3 Prius has port injection, NOT direct cylinder injection. Fuel is injected into the intake port upstream of the intake valves in the cylinder head of each cylinder. Didn't you do a head gasket replacement on the engine in your Gen 3 Prius? It is very obvious when you remove the fuel injectors from the cylinder head.

From Goole AI: Because the 3rd Gen Prius features port injection, the injector sits in the intake manifold runner, spraying fuel directly into the intake port and onto the back of the intake valves rather than straight into the cylinder.