Potential Head Gasket Issue

I have a 2015 Prius with 76k miles. I bought it from the original owner at 72k miles. All required maintenace was done at the Toyota Dealership. Last winter I had a loud rattle for 5 seconds. Never happened again and no codes were set. Is that the dampener between the gas engine and electric motor making the loud noise?
Is that a definitive a sign of a head gasket leak or are there other possible causes?
The recommened method of checking the head gasket is to pressurize the cooling system and put a camera in the cylinders and look for a very slow drip from the head gaket.
I can't do it myself and can't find anyone in my area that will use the recommened method. I feel that it would be thowing money away and not getting an accurate diagnosis.

 

My other posts for some reason would never show correctly on my computer. I contacted the moderator and had the posts removed.

 

My apologies I thought the other posts were deleted.

 

I can't see the other two posts on my compter. Iv'e been posting on Prius Chat for years and never had a posting problem untill my death rattle posts.

 

Thank you for your reply. My rattle happened at start up, in the garage in the morning. I didn't shut the engin off and the rattle went away in about 5 seconds. I really appeciate your help.

 

Thats great infomation. Thank you for your insight. Ive heard alot of Gen 3 Prius owners say they have only experienced the rattle during low weather temps. Any input from people who have experienced that symptom would be appreciated.

 

Hi bisco. I bought my 2015 Prius based on The Car Care Nut YouTube channel. He said the 2015 Prius had the piston ring and head gasket problems resolved. But when I called the Toyota dealer parts dept. they said the 2015 Prius had the same head gasket as the 2010 Prius. The 2015 Prius head gasket did have a different part number than the 2010 Prius head gasket. But to him it looked like the same head gasket.

 

Thank you rjparker. Thats some great information. I know I've seen an image of the head gasket you mentioned. I thought the Toyota parts department guy would have pulled that newer head gasket up in his system. But he didn't. He said said it was the same head gasket through 2015, although the 2015 head gasket did have a different part number. That's very confusing to me. My Prius did get the engine ecu software update done at the dealer. It's in the service records. I've seen a Youtube video of the leaking exhaust heat recirculating system. When the coolant system was pressurized, coolant started flowing into the the catalytic converter. My main source of YouTube videos are posted on The Car Care Nut Channel.

 

Hi Mendel. My previous thread got corrupted on my desktop computer.The replys displayed all jumbled on my screen. I contacted the admin and he deleted that thread. Fortunately this thread is working correctly.

I have not done the egr cleaning, because I'm currently not physically able to do it.
Thanks for sharing your personal experience with the rattle. That makes me feel alot better.
I do alot of short trips to the store that are less than a mile. Maybe one of those trips I had water drawn into my intake.

For some unknown reason, the rattle seems to only be happening to Gen3 Prius owners during cold weather. My rattle happened last January.

The reason that I got so shook up by the rattle, is because I had never experienced it before. I owned a 2009 or 2010 Prius (I can't remembr which year) before my 2015. Had it for 5 years from 60k miles to 100k miles. I had never heard the death rattle on that one.

I bought the 2015 Prius base on a review on the Car Care Nut YouTube channel. He said the 2015 Prius had the oil burnig a head gasket issues resoved. When I checked with the Toyoat dealer parts dept, they thought the 2010 through 2015 head gaskets were all the same. The 2014 and 2015 head gasket did have a different part number. I then contacted The Car Care Nut's shop in Chicago to get a paid phone conultation. Unfortuntely he dosn't do that. With over a million subscribers to his channel, I can see why he doesn't have time to do it. If I lived in Chicago I would definetly bring in in for a head gasket check. He has another video on how to check for head gasket leaks, specifically on a Prius. I haven't found any one in my area, that I feel would run the test correctly.

 

Thank you for your post. I am headed to the Toyota dealership were the car was originally purchased. I have a YouTube video of the "death rattle". I'm goig to see what the service advisor thinks the noise is.