So ive been experiencing light pinging lately and the only cure has been to use high octane fuel. This has been really annoying me because the dam thing should be ok to use a lower grade. So i decided to throw in a bottle of injector cleaner to a half tank to see if it would help. It reduced it a little but didn't completely fix it. So i filled up a tank of premium and decided to give a foaming intake spray a try to clear some gunk on the throttlebody and carbon off the Pistons.

So i took off the intake air reservoir just after the maf and shoved the skinny tube beside it essentially keeping the system sealed and still able to spray the contents of the can. I then went on to put the car into maintenance mode to keep the ICE runnings while i spray. I started by pulsing the spray as the engine would want to die. I managed to get it down really low to the point where a huge knocking sound began to happen (sounded like the transmission) however cleared up when i let the engine get back up to speed. Finally i turned off the engine and finished the rest of the spray in the intake piping assuming the throttle is shut.

anyway to the problem. So after letting it sit for 30 mins i fired up the engine and took it for a nice hard drive to clear up all the **** that got cleaned. The car was driving normal however at traffic lights it was revving a little to high. So i took it on the highway thinking the ecu would accommoate for the changes. The throttle was very unresponsive on the highway but it reved fine if i pushed more than normal. So i got home and decided to reset the ecu and clean the maf with a maf contact cleaner. Still no improvement.

The car has not produced any codes but it feels sluggish at lower rpm, the engine revs a little higher than normal when not under much load and does not switch off as much as it used to during low speeds.

It just doesn't feel the same. I feel like it has something to do with the engine revving more than it should. Could the throttle plate be sticking or something?

 

Do yo have to reset any adaptation kind of thing?

I had similar issue in the VW. Had to reset the adaptation to make it proper.

 

Disconnect the 12V for 2 minutes. Reconnect and see if the behavior changes.

 

I did but no change. Does it take a few days to adjust maybe?

 

No. The 12V reset should reset the issue if it can.

You need to inspect the throat of the throttle body. I suspect that you partially dislodged some carbon build up, but some remains. It's creating a gap that behaves like a vacuum leak.

You need to MANUALLY clean the throttle body by opening the valve and scrubbing the throat with a TB cleaner soaked rag to remove any deposits. DO NOT hose it down. A few light, short bursts to clean any final smudges is fine, but you need to avoid the cleaner pooling.

 

alright i pulled the intake tube off and gave the TB a manual clean and it all seems very clean. I also inspected all hoses and tubes to make sure i haven't caused a vaccum leak of somesort. However the problem still persists. I have driven the car for a few hours today with no change. I will try reset the ecu once more. I am not sure what ive done!

 

Phantom, for starters:
what year and how many miles?
what exactly is that you describe as 'ping"? Video maybe?
Also, do yourself a favor. Do not disconnect 12V. Remove ECM fuse is you want to. I have no doubt there will be different opinion expressed but, 8 years of watching several hybrid forums, I know of at least several owners that ended with pile of crap by doing just that - disconnecting 12V. You can go to toyotanation forum, I even have their posts posted there for general warning. Your car, of course, do as you wish.
Start wth year and mileage. What maintenance items were done so far. It's basic info.

 

I have personally disconnected the 12V battery in 112 Toyota hybrids. It has never caused an issue.

Rather than paint some mythical doom and gloom scenario, please post relevant links.

 

its a 2010 with 180,000kms. The car had no issues prior to this intake clean. Pinging; a light rattle sound under light load. Disappears with premium fuel.

The car has had all maintenance items done less than 3 months ago. A major service we call it.

right now its just lacking low end power and needs a bit more gas to go. So far im testing mileage changes and will report back if it got worse.

I will also note that since i have done about 500kms on the cheapest fuel we have (e10) and it has not pinged once when it used to before on this same fuel. I regret doing the intake clean, i think an ecu reset would have sorted the pinging out.

 

Of course, reset ECU. None wrong with that. ECUs have basic learning capacity. They adjust vehicle operation based on new parameters. It simply takes time.
To facilitate, you can do Toyota driving cycle or pull ECU fuse out - I know it's #35 on my HiHy and sorry, I forgot which one is it on TCH. That said, ECU simply learns faster. I suggest to reset ECU after any component replacement. ANy. Air filter included. Btw, Spektr air filter. Highly recommend.
I really do not want to start a riot, as it is always a very sensitive and opinionated topic. But. Since 2001 I seafoam every car we had and have in the family. They all run like a Swiss watch. I seafom through fuel system once or twice a year and through oil before oil change.
I have been through countless arguments about it being snake oil. I really do not care. It works great on by now about dozen of cars and helped many owners via automotive forums. This is where I stop discussing this.
Also, what oil are you using? "ping" is easily confused with rocker noise. Rocker noise is pretty much related to oil. Viscosity and quality. TCH does not have oil lifters, it has tappets. Yet, from experience, I know that oil does influence rocker noise on them.
But it looks like you found your particular solution - specific fuel. I'd do last suggestion. Try to do your best to stick to same gas station or, at least, same fuel brand. Remember that thing about ECU learning feature? It does learn a specific fuel brand. I try as hard as I can to stay with Costco gas here. I have 2 gas stations I use. Nothing else.
Be well and all the best