Prius died while driving. Spark plug full of oil mechanic said.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by drewbabich, Jun 7, 2017.

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  1. drewbabich

    drewbabich Junior Member

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    2005 Prius with 210,000 miles died while driving. Spark plug full oil my toyota master tech mechanic said. He gonna replace the plugs and valve cover gasket for $350. That includes his diagnostic time already.

    How it happened:

    Was driving down the road and all of a sudden I get the red triangle with the exclamation point in it and it says problem on the MFD display.

    Car appear to go into some kind of limp mode where I didn't have much power then it's removed the numbers from the speedo and I lost all power.

    So then I would shut the car down restart it and be able to drive for maybe a half mile and then the car would shut down again.

    Then after three restarts the car died completely and would not allow me to put it into anything but park or neutral.

    I checked and saw that I did have oil but could not get it out of neutral or Park so I had to have it towed to my master techs house.

    Any one seen this type of issue.

    I have seen lots of gen2 Priuses for sale that need new engines I wonder if it's a more common problem on the gen 2s.
     
    #1 drewbabich, Jun 7, 2017
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Gen2 cars are getting quite old, some are from 2004 and with tons of miles. I wouldn't be surprised they would have engine failures.
     
    #2 JC91006, Jun 7, 2017
  3. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    If you have a loose plug, then oil can come out. We had prior reports of loose spark plugs, causing issues. Usually DIY plug replacements. The cost you are getting sounds pretty simple fix if that fixes it, replace spark plugs alone could be a couple hundred guessing I did DIY.
     
    #3 wjtracy, Jun 7, 2017
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how will replacing the spark plugs and valve cover gasket stop oil from getting on top of the piston?
     
    #4 bisco, Jun 7, 2017
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Since he mentions pan gasket I assume it's the spark plug well that filled up with oil. If there was oil on the spark plug tip well then the engine is toast.
     
    #5 edthefox5, Jun 8, 2017
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    ya, confusing story.
     
    #6 bisco, Jun 8, 2017
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    I recall a Virginia owner once had his car stall out after filling with gaso, and he thought maybe he got bad gaso, But in the end he had a loose spark plug, wrong type too, DIY job gone bad.
     
    #7 wjtracy, Jun 8, 2017
  8. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    Yes, not a very detailed post.
    "Spark plug full of oil."
    In other words, the electrode and ceramic of the plug, inside the engine, were oil soaked?
    Or the area above the spark plug, outside the engine, is full of oil.
    Too many variables to comment.

    Hopefully Master Toyota Tech resolved.
     
    #8 Kenny94945, Jun 8, 2017
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i suppose someone could have dumped oil while refilling, but why would you change the plugs, pretty sure they are liquid tight.
     
    #9 bisco, Jun 8, 2017
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