Prius (2010-12) :: Stutters Slightly - Is It Normal
Oct 21, 2012
Just bought a 2010 Prius... Anyways... I have noticed that at steady speed (mainly higher speed) I feel a very slight power stutter (though that may not be the best word here). Not enough to change the speedometer reading, but I can feel it a little... of course I'm very sensitive to these sorts of things since it's a used car and I have only a 30 day window to identify any problems. It feels like maybe it's working out the gas:elec ratio it wants to use, which would seem normal. It's all drive-by-wire right?
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About 6 months ago, I bought a 2010 Prius III. Has about 108,000 miles. I had my 100k mile service done a couple weeks ago, and since then, he's been running a little off. When I am around 30-35mph, right before the gas engine kicks in, he starts to stutter. It's faint, but I can feel the slight vibration, almost pull, like it needs more power to keep going. Yesterday, while I was waiting in line to leave a parking lot, the engine turned off as usual, but when it started back up to charge the battery, it sounded like the RPMS were up and down, and he was struggling to keep himself on. The cabin seems louder than normal, too. To add to that, the heat doesn't seem to be working properly. When I put my hands to the vent, even at 75 degrees, the air feels room temp and is chilly by the time it reaches me. I checked the coolant level and it was fine. He also has a lot of ticking - particularly around startup and after I shut him off. Is that normal?
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I had made a trip down to Branson Missouri for Christmas, which is about 1000+ miles round trip, and the milage seemed to be slightly lower than normal on the computer, about 23 mpg. I went to Iowa after that for Christmas and filled up my tank once when I was there, I was sure to get 91 octane gas. Then after doing a lot of in town driving it went all the way down to about 11 mpg. It jumped back up to 17.9 as I was driving back up to the Twin Cities and hasn't moved after doing some in town driving since then.
The tank seemed to match the computer as far as how fast it dropped, but I'm curious if there's anything I should be looking for. I have a K and N filter in there, and it's only been used 10,000 miles or so, but I cleaned it anyways, since there were some bugs and small leaves in it (there was also a large black spot on it that didn't look like dust or dirt, more like something oily, if that means anything). I'm planning on filling it up a couple more times and seeing what happens before I start going to my mechanic, but I'm switching jobs and will be driving it for work, so I'd like my vehicle to be running well.
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My lights, headlamps and interior lights, are going from normal to slightly dim in a rapid sequence. They pulse from normal to slightly dim. What could be causing this?
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I have a new 2 week old Prius 4. So far I love it. I've put about 600 miles on it. This past weekend I spent a decent amount of time on the freeway and noticed an issue with my steering. I'm pretty sure it is an alignment issue.
The car tracks straight. When I let go of the wheel the car goes dead straight but...the steering wheel is a bit off center turn slightly to the left. If I hold the wheel and turn the steering wheel right to exactly straight the car will go right. It's like they they aligned the car with the steering wheel slightly off center.
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When driving, I notice when the ICE kicks on. I assume this is normal but just want to hear from others.
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I have been noticing a squeaking sound lately, what it might be. I notice it most when parked in the garage and I am getting out of the car (obviously with the car in Park). It seems to happen when the car rolls slightly, forward and back against. I tried to take a video to capture the sound. The car was parked and shut off, and I was pushing the car forward and back to recreate the sound. The sound SEEMS to come from the front (maybe the right front), but it is not easy to tell.
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Slightly shaking engine and rattling noise on acceleration,it happens when the car is hot and especially when the battery level is very low ,I guess is when as more load . If I accelerate and keep it steady at 20mph I can feel a constant vibration but goes away once accelerating more....like if you're driving on a rippled surface ....that is only when engine is on , doesn't happen on electric only.
The noise it sound like a tapping coming from the engine when slowly accelerating from 0 that goes away as soon I give more gas ,is annoying wile in the traffic.? Can the sparks plugs be the problem?they been changed 120k ago.....,I cleaned the egv pipe but problem still there. Like I said is only when the engine is up to running temperature.
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1994 f150 with 4.9L I6; 180k mi.
Parked vehicle last night after using it uneventfully for work the day before. Upon leaving the house at 11:30 AM, I noticed that I'd picked up a new mechanical noise. Nothing major; actually wasn't sure I heard anything at all.
As I drove to the store, I noticed it was idling slightly unsteady...much less so than a missing cylinder. I resolved to check the high-tension connectors when I got home for security. I glanced down at the gauges to check and see if my oil pressure was good; I then noticed coolant temp reading "high normal."
When I got out, I noticed a small pool of coolant forming. I looked at where the puddle was forming...the radiator hose had come off! (Actually separate from the radiator connector, as one might do if draining fluid without using the petcock.) I popped the hood: no unusual smells. Nothing seemed abnormally hot. Placing a finger against the head was uncomfortable, but not painful. Spit expectorated upon the head did not sizzle.
I then called my wife, explaining the situation, and walked back home 2 miles. We then took the spare car, bought antifreeze, and added it about an hour post-shutdown. Where the car was parked seemed wetter than the light drizzle allowed; daubing a finger in it and tasting gave a slight sweet taste.
I tend to check my fluid every so often (not every day, though) and coolant was verified as "full" as recently as 100 miles ago. (I don't make a habit of crawling underneath, though, so I couldn't tell you if hose had been slowly backing off or not.)
As to cause: is it plausible that this could happen without foul play? There have been a few vandalism incidents in the neighborhood; it's also possible that I [peeved] off a neighbor recently. I'm not about to go any further than fixing, though, unless there's really no other plausible explanation.
As to the mechanical questions: How much damage was done? Did I "catch it" in time? What is suggested as far as repairs/maintenance? (I was planning on doing a compression test, and keeping a close eye on fluid levels over the next 1,000 miles or so.) Engine sounds completely normal.
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The steering wheel mysteriously clocked itself slightly to the right after changing out the standard tires to same sized studded tires for winter. This has never happened before and I was unaware of any alignment/wheel clocking problems up to driving into the shop to swap out the tires on the wheels.
Air pressures were all good and even all around--but I don't know if they were even before the change-out. Also, the wheels were balanced and the drive afterwards revealed no pulling either way or vibrations. On top of that neither the tire store nor my Toyota dealer had any explanation(s).
I'm only guessing at this point that prior to studded tires there might have been a clocking error so slight it was not perceptible in over 5K miles and with the studded tires now it is perceptible.
Q: Is it possible under my circumstances for a different set of tires on the same wheels to make this sort of difference?
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I'm coming up on 20K miles and I started to notice a few months ago that when I park the car it rolls a little bit more than when it was new one year ago and rolls more than my 2004 Sienna in park with 89K miles. Is this normal wear for this type of trans? It has mostly highway miles.
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Long time since I have posted anything here, but I noticed the fan running far more than normal here. Now the outside temp was fairly warm, but the most recent day I noticed it, the temps were only around 80-85 degrees out.
I usually don't run the AC in my car unless it is terribly hot out - so when I hear a fan running it stands out to me. It is very obvious that it is coming from the rear seat vent area.
The temps here have taken a dip (highs tomorrow are only about 70-75F), so I will keep an ear out for it to continue. Is this something to be concerned about? It is a 2010 Prius IV with about 32k miles...
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Car makes louder than normal regenerative braking (Hybrid Sound). Seems normal when braking at high speeds... then when the speed drops below 30mph the sound is noticeable louder. See Video for example sounds while braking (17, 35 and 50 seconds into the video are most notable).
[URL] ....
Car drives normal other than the regenerative braking sound... Car was involved in a front end accident. Damages were repaired and seem minor. Front Bumper cover, hood, Radiator, Fans, RF Fender. Front cross member and other frame areas look untouched.
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I have a 2010 Prius that I bought in January. No problems until this morning. Here is the situation...
I get in my car, step on the brake, mash the start button and nothing. The green ready light does not come on, no key detected does not come on, nothing. However, if I take my FOB, and place it by the start button, the ready light will come on and it will start.
I thought it could be a battery issue but, this happens with both FOBs...
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A large auto magazine has reviewed the Auris Hybrid (Gen III Prius drive train) while remarking that driving in 'B' gives better regen. This auto magazine also does a fuel economy evaluation and noted engine noise as a negative point for the car.
Now, how much fuel economy is affected during normal city/highway driving when you drive in 'B' rather than 'D'? And as a bonus. How much more will the engine run due to the missing regen?
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I am new to the Prius experience as I just bought by 2013 Prius 3 last week. I have a question on the EV mode and how it works when I am in normal drive.
This is something I observed when I am driving and I wanted to check whether it's normal.
When I am accelerating, vehicle is in EV mode and the progress bar is green. As soon as it pass the separator in the hybrid indicator (it turns white), the EV mode light turns off. When I hit the brakes, speed goes down with the acceleration and the progress bar goes back towards the green side. However my EV mode light does not turn on until I go way too close to the charging section of the bar. Once it's enabled, it stays in EV mode (green) until I pass the separator again.
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This thing drives me nuts.
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We have 2 trips coming up this summer (600 miles and 1400 miles), these will be my first long distance with the Prius.
Did anyone tested fuel economy using the cruise control in ECO vs NORMAL vs PWR ?
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Yesterday my 2010 Prius 4 (98k miles) was normal until I switched the lights from normal to hi beam and then back again. The hi bean works but the regular headlights do not. All other lights work and there are no warning lights lit. Turn signals are normal. Could this be a circuit breaker?
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My check engine light came on around 2 weeks ago, had the code checked, it read P0302. Noticed it started to hesitate a little bit and would jump slightly when idle. About a week after that I had a friend, (who used to be a mechanic at Lexus and for the Army) switch the coil on cylinder 2 to 3, then the code moved to the 3 cylinders. The next day the CEL started flashing this time, checked the code again and it was back to P0302, switched all the sparks plugs.
CEL was cleared and hasn't come back but I know something is wrong..but the car still loses powers when driving and jerks/misfires when the car is first started up but after it runs for about 5 mins or so, it doesn't do it anymore while sitting idle. I have a rental car right now and will take it soon, just really swamped with work. I'm just fearing the worst until I get time to get it into a mechanic.. and just hoping to hear something less dreadful than a repair... that's why I did the minor things first, my friend thinks it may be a more serious issue. The report from AutoZone (the second time I got the code scanned) said this. But this is not 100% accurate correct?
Vacuum Leak on Engine, Probable Cause, Ignition system fault, Fuel Injector Fault, Engine Mechanical condition
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I've never owned a car with TC AWD yes but not front wheel w/traction control! At times when slightly spinning on ice or in snow I'll hear a 'click,click,click until I let up or it gets traction, is this a normal sound?.
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