How to prevent the 3rd Gen Prius Headgaskets failure!

Some of that noise was probably from the intake manifold too.

 

Did it also blow out a nasty black cloud under the hood? You may have stumbled onto a short-cut clean-out method. imagine plugging the tailpipe at the same time ...

 

I like this idea

If it would blow a carbon cloud into the motor compartment, it would not be nice thou - some filter or dustbag would help then

Mat

 

A pipe dream?

 

i find it interesting i see no mention of this, and at my shop we have seen numerous times. Car commands water pump on, shaft is spinning so prius pea brain thinks everything is AOK. We replace these as preventative maintenance all the time based on our experience

 

You mean the water pump failing? On this photo I see the impeller dis-attached itself from the shaft, so actually no engine cooling should happen in this case.
Would the ICE not overheat almost immediately?

OK - Prius has no water temperature gauge, but most of us are driving with some sort of additional gauges like HybridAssistant or ScanGauge.

If not, even if the "shaft is spinning so prius pea brain thinks everything is AOK", the "pea brain" has measures to discover the overheating of the engine.

Can it lead to a blown head gasket?

Mat

 

is this solved in gen3?

 

Put something sticky on the socket so the nut doesnt fall or use a magnetic socket. As for getting at it youll have to use your intuition and shoo for tools that can reach at it. Its not impossible but it is difficult.

 

Once it's off, leave it off. Extra points for getting the associated stud out too: once that's out you can leave the pair of back studs on the cooler in place, which saves hassle, keeps the (clipless) gasket from dropping down, and aligns the gasket during reinstall.

 

I am working on a bargain for a brand new Toyota OEM water pump, as much as I am capable of replacing a head gasket...im not taking the risk of failure by just replacing the rotor, even the rotors can be found OEM but i found a deal on ebay for an OEM @$125. Im trying to haggle them a little bit. Although its not actively leaking nor are there are signs that it has or will be leaking. Im replacing out of an abundance of caution based on the pink looking corrosion im seeing near the gasket seal edge. Ill send a photo when I get home later today.

 

"ebay"? You "say" you don't want to take a risk, but you'll take a risk on ebay????
It's one of the best places to get cheap chinese copies......

I completely understand about not wanting to spend a lot of money if you don't have too.....
But if you were serious, you'd get it from Toyota.

 

Ev

Everybody has their acceptable level of risk, it says its OEM Toyota, so ill have to wait and see. I wont knock anyone for saying the sure fire way would be to go to the dealer, thats always an option and the best way to get the correct and most original part.

 

Ebay and amazon is FULL of places that say it's OEM.... but it's not....
When a part from a dealer sells for $300, and on e an a it's $100, It's should be a warning.

It's your money, and time.....

 

I do see the warning you are referring to, I should be able to tell a counterfeit apart. Some that had a listing for saying OEM but no stamp saying Toyota Aisin, or saying OEM but then say "remanufactured" in the description I just simply passed them by because that for sure would not have been "OEM".

 

I got some "OEM" centre caps on EBay. With copious Dremel work I made them fit. Found no way to leave feedback on the website, maybe by design.

If It's not clear yet, I'd say replacing the intake manifold is a fools-mission. If it's not expensive (it's a cleaned out, salvage item ostensibly?), no matter, but definitely retain the original. What would be worthwhile would to replace all it's gaskets. My 2022 Amayama order:



(Note, their UAE warehouse might be "sketchy" at present.)

 

Im going to do some measurements on the OE and this one in the mail today. Ill post results if I remember. Im going to scope into the inside to see what I can see. Ill clean my original and keep it as an inbetween cleanings item to switch to during this laborious maintenance.

Ill measure the flatness of the mating surfaces, take note of where there are rough edges in the manufacting process ( the inside of it would be the most worrysome). might even weigh it for comparison to material density, which could elude to plastic composition (unlikely, but worth mentioning). Ill also have to measure how well the inlet ports line up to the engine port dimensions, that will affect volumetric efficiency.