Replace Engine or Junk Car?

That's so odd, i've never heard of the Prii to have headgasket problems!

I am @ 301k on my Gen 2, and it doesn't burn or leak any coolant, nor do any fluids mix.

 

I've heard a few reports of Gen 3s doing it here and there, on these forums. (The Prius v basically being a Gen 3, after all.)

Interestingly, looks like the head gasket was revised in October 2011 (which would be partway through MY2012)... wonder if they had a design flaw in the head gasket.

 

Any update? Hopefully there was a cheaper fix from a second opinion

 

Well, there's your issue: Mitsubishi. Crapcans. Every last one. Hook a Mitsubishi engine to a Dodge transmission for a total disaster: the Caravan. That's if you can get the starter to turn the car over. Another famous component failure by Dodge.

 

How the mighty have fallen. Anybody remember the Dodge & Plymouth 225 slant six engines that lasted forever?

 

Unless you drive through snow it melted and then the things missed terrible

 

Yes. But they still had starter motor problems, if I remember correctly.

 

Steve has Prius v engines.

Prius hybrids sales and service Scottsburg Indiana

Bill the Engineer

 

Is that where you got the Firebrid chassis?

 

Yes, plus some extra parts that I needed.

Bill the Engineer

 

we had a 75? dodge with a slant six. can't even remember how many miles. i did a valve job and she was good as new. brakes were another story.

 

I had a 75 Duster. I also had a 72 Dart that has a front torsion bar rust out of the frame during a long trip. It is not easy driving with no suspension on one front wheel.

 

Don't do at the dealer. The dealer doesn't care about your car. They're part changers after all. Most of the time they don't even diagnose the problem right. Let alone working on the engine. I would only do it at the dealer if Toyota would cover the cost or at least some of it.

After that being said, you need to find a decent repair shop who can diagnose the issue correctly and move it from there.

 

I just had my check engine light come on last week. Was starting a little rough. Blown (warped) head gasket. Coolant leaking into 1st and 2nd cylinders. 168k miles.

A friend of mine had the same thing happen to him about a month ago with his 2013 Prius. 155k on that one.

This is appearing to be a defect that's becoming more apparent as the vehicles age.

Got a quote yesterday for engine replacement at close to $4k. Not sure if it's worth it. Thoughts?

 

If the rest of the car is in great shape (no rust in SoCal?), 4K for a good engine sounds like a good deal. Is that engine lightly used or have a lot of miles? Will they rebuild/replace the HG or just drop it in? Good luck!

 

Is this a Prius v? It is posted in the Prius v forum, not the Generation 3 one.

 

These blown heads at 140-180,000 have CLOGGED EGR cooler written all over it. Take heed in this project/advice. At
127,000 mine was completely clogged. The EGR tube itself wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately if you don’t clean them out you are riding in a time bomb waiting to blow the gasket. It’s a pain to do but less of a pain dealing with scrapping the car or new engine. Save the cash for the new traction battery and keep on rollin.

 

My V has 130,000 miles on it. I did the full EGR cleaning,manifold, throttle body, replaced the PVC and installed an oil catch can. My estimation, it was about 10% clogged. I intend to keep my car until "the wheels fall off" or until its at least paid and I can get a newer model within my budget. All I can say is that I'm glad I got the cleaning done and installed the oil catch can.

 

Just repeating what I've read/heard here, but my understanding is: as the EGR clogs, the combustion chamber temperatures climb, dramatically. The engineers designed this car to depend on functional EGR. Too bad they didn't do a better job designing the EGR.

So far, Toyota doesn't want to know about it. The've paid lip service up here in Canada (and I assume the same is happening in the States) with a Warranty Enhancement Program*, that's too-little-too-late, laced with expressions like:

"While the majority of vehicles will not experience this condition"

Italicized and underline, just like the above.

* Toyota Canada reference: SOSH-W11-1A, May 2017

I see if you search for that reference number, my scans of the notice show up, like a rash, lol.