Hey Scotty! Thankyou for all of your videos! My wifes 2012 Prius one day when I was driving started chugging and bucking and running rough while in drive. It continued running rough in park, but when I turned it off and restarted it, it ran beautiful again. It took turning it off and then back on to run normally again. Do you think this could be a sensor somewhere? It is a 2012 Prius with 202,000 miles. Very regular maintanence. I am meticulous with oil changes and such.
EDIT: no check engine lights or warning lights when this happens.
I don’t know your exact issue, but I will list 3 things to consider assuming basic maintainence has been done.
1) Hybrid battery. If the hybrid battery is going out, there is a sudden jolt when the engine engages. That’s because the battery doesn’t have enough power to supply the electric motor. The electric motor is used to start the engine up, and if it is weak, you will feel and hear a jolt. It doesn’t sound exactly like your issue, but it’s hard to tell without seeing it myself.
2) Condensation in the intake manifold. I’ve seen this problem myself on a friends Prius. The engine sound horrible upon startup, and like it is struggling. Turn it off, and restart, and it sound normal. It usually happens when the car sits for a bit. Again, it doesn’t sound exactly your problem, but some that may be worth exploring. TMK, there isn’t a solution for this, it is just something that people live with. But yours sounds more frequent than this occruance.
3) Clean the EGR. That generation Prius is known to get the EGR super dirty. Try cleaning it out.
