Toyota Prius - weird engine sound after week of inactivity

[06sterling]

I'm not sure about the normality of this one. I have heard many other cars do that and of course after a week its not your normal startup. Any resolution? BTW it is really sad to see all the anti Prius and anti hybrid comments. Really? Likely these people have never been in one much less owned. I have a long history of vehicles, including most luxury class and a few that quadrupled the Prius power/ handling, think 24psi track ready. With all that behind me, I am very happy with our Prius.

[nyfiero]

you need to put Stabil, or drygas in it. mine did the same thing until I started putting the blue Staybil in the gas about once a month or so

[mageac]

its normal for the valves to clatter like that when cold?

i sure hope toyota doesnt expect its engines to last long...

[GoMetricToday]

Mine did that as well.  I found out that it was because I had turned the car off shortly after the ICE started and then restarted it a minute or 2 later. I was told it was because of gas vapour that was trapped and it cleared up within seconds of running.

[jaggass]

how does this hybrid work? didnt think the engine was on when stationary.

[PlymouthVT]

@jaggass The engine comes on when cold no matter what to heat the cats to meet its Zero emissions mission.

[mikhailSRT4]

its a toyota its normal for engine to knock

[ChuffChuffWoo]

The car has a hydraulic valve control system that uses the engine oil to operate - once this is up tp pressure, all is ok - engine if fine - no worries!

[fullerjames12901]

i went to the dealer with a video (mine did the same thing last winter) and they said it is normal for that to happen when it is extremely cold (it was about 5 degrees out). idk how cold it was when this happened to you

[AthenasConquest]

I had a prius go wide open throttle on me.Now I drive Ford

[PlymouthVT]

@AthenasConquest Bullshit.

[AthenasConquest]

@PlymouthVT The run away wide open throttle automatic cruise control is a prius exclusive. Part of Tokyo revenge

[rimeanthony]

eather that or toyota makes the pruis now with the timeing way off or u have somthing wrong with your rod but check the fuel injectors frist hope it helps you

i am a owner of a 2004 pruis and i use royal purple and and k&n air filter and oil filter

[rimeanthony]

check fuel injetors and the wires to them they could be lose or the fuel injectors could be bad i had this problume before and it was just that there waas no fuel going into the engine. But thats how my motor sounded when the wire was losse and one of the orings on the injector broke not a hard fix.

[3312cdfp5674]

LOL thats sounds like rod knock at first. enjoy paying the bill

[tharrington11]

"The mobile vagina"

[FalloutZombie2010]

@tharrington11 No way, i would not fuck that ugly thing

[tharrington11]

@FalloutZombie2010 LMAO true but I wouldn't fuck any sort of car

[FalloutZombie2010]

@tharrington11 I'd fuck a mustang or a charger or a camaro or a challenger

[tharrington11]

@FalloutZombie2010 okay okay you got me there lol

[lakers24suns]

thats what happens when you buy a cheap plastic toy car like a prius.

[LOLDISNEYLAND]

hhahahaha. I own a Prius myself, a 2004 model. Never had any problems mechanically or electronically.

But I must say, I did laugh hard when your engine made that noise and you panicked. XD

[GottfriedvonCramm]

Thats because all the engine oil was drained to the oil pan and the valve lifters were not charged, it is normal if you leave it for a long time without starting.

Prius or any other car.

[LOLDISNEYLAND]

@GottfriedvonCramm JESUS TAP DANCING CHRIST! An intelligent person has entered the room! We are all saved from the ignorance of people who commented on this video.

I myself never get this problem with my Prius but my wifes Mazda gets it when she doesn't use her car for months on end. Most of the morons who commented on this video are reporting this problem like its an everyday occurrence. I believe that those people don't own a Prius and are talking out of their ass.

[socratesthecabdriver]

why the hell does it do that it drives me nut when it hapens

[TAPmaintenance]

Have you found out the cause of this ?

Mine has done the same thing to me :(

[the1marat]

@TAPmaintenance They have not found a root-cause, but the good news is that this has not happed to me in over 18 months. The dealers/service shops will deny any issues since its impossible to replicate it during a service visit.

[TAPmaintenance]

@the1marat Thank you for the fast reply. Well, i took my prius to the dealer where it stayed for a hole week! they didnt found anything. i will continue to e-mail them until they find the cause.

[gwalia4]

@the1marat could it be electric motor breaking in or bleeding air out of system. i have 05 and had to waterpump recall because it would not bleed itself with time. Engine coolant it lot easier to bleed. Keep every thing in writing just in case you have a issue later. Watch out for your dealer. I took my car in for recall and they wanted to replace my engine water pump for 450, water pump belt for 170, ac filter for 60, tranny fluid for 200. Worst part is that i had no leaks.

[DAFTEK]

Add my 2010 Prius V to the list, has 12,500 miles and does the same thing for 3 to 6 seconds! I will try and video this also and post it. the more people post it the better chance Toyota looks into it.

This is my first Toyota but i have to say I'm disappointed, I'm a huge Ford guy and i absolutely wanted to love this Prius but i might just trade it in for a Focus EV now. It not only has an engine knock it also rattles inside like a cheap econobox, this is a $32,000 Prius V! WTF was i thinking!

[the1marat]

UPDATE: I had a 7-day trip last week and left the car at the airport, when I started the Prius early morning (28 deg cold), it started as expected! No issues!!! This was a very good test and the Prius passed.

[MrBviper]

now it sounds much better

[mrhigh5tower]

I have had this exact problem with my 2010 prius. The dealer even heard it, but couldn't replicate it repeatedly, so they did nothing. It has taken me about a year to figure it out, as it only happens after 7-10 days of inactivity and seems to be in colder weather. It just happened to me this week, so I'm going back to toyota. I hope they will take this seriously, because it is.

[Northwichita]

read at priuschat, knocking is due to variable cam ,which is oil controlled, not working correctly on startup. Dealer has a fix for it for 2010 and up. Google above terms for more info.

[mageac]

fuel does not go bad after a week...

[imacbing]

Wow, I thought 'hybrid' is a good system. Is your car brand new?

[Ciferblat]

This is an abnormal sound. It has a lot of reasons - starting from the bad fuel and ending with valves.

My Prius doesn`t knock even after 2 weeks of inactivity, even at -20C.

Contact your dealer immediately.

[mathyu0179]

That sounds like a spun bearing more than a broken valve. But it could be timing chain or valves being dry of oil. The vq35 is notorious for a rattle sound at start.

[yaris4fun]

hmm it looks like a cold start. Did you asked your car dealer about that?

[amIdisturbingyou]

Exactly what happened to mine after not using it for a few days.