2013 1.8l Prius cylinder head gasket replacement

Not to be intrusive but what symptoms did the car have that concerned you?

 

Does the white smoke happen mostly on the first start of the day? If there's a coolant leak in the engine somewhere, coolant can go into a cylinder and might cause smoke until it burns off. This might also change depending on engine temperature. There's a test kit you can borrow at some auto parts stores that will show combistion gas in coolant which is a possibility if there's a coolant leak. Also, if you already have plugs out, a leakdown and/or compression test will likely show something. Not sure whether you mentioned that yet.

 

Also, use a coolant pressure tester to pressurized the coolant reservoir at least up to the rated pressure printed on the cap. You can also borrow this tester and the needed adapter at many auto parts stores. If fluid is lost, check cylinders, intake and exhaust manifolds, crankcase, etc to see where it went. Of course, the leak seemsvlike a small one and may only happen when the engine is in a certain temperature range. Also, the k seal or other coolant leak fixes may help temporarily. The leakdown test may give you the best information as you can listen to the tailpipe, oil cap opening, throttle body, to hear where the leak is. You can also generate much higher pressures during that test but make sure not to leave a wrench or ratchet on the crankshaft bolt when there's pressure in a cylinder!

 

Just to clarify my original post, I never suggested or at least I hope I never suggested that loctite be put on any threads that are screwed directly to the cylinder head, whether short term or long term. Often, a compression tester has adapters that screw onto threads screw onto the tester hose so that the adapter may come off and stay in the head when the tester hose is removed. Either RTV or loctite only on those intermediate threads may prevent that. Or, the adapter can be screwed on with a little more torque than the tool is when attached. Very little torque is needed to seal the o-ring anyway.

 

Next time i do a head gasket on the Prius, or any other car, I'm doing a cylinder leakdown test and a cooling system pressure test before I even put the camshafts back in.

 

UPDATE:
I'm hoping the head gasket can be seen in this post. It's pretty much the same on both sides with fluid (oil and coolant) distributed throughout the head gasket surface. I talked with Felpro again today. Even though the bolts I used were within the specification for usability in terms of length, he said neither the gasket nor the bolts should ever be used again, even if the previously used ones are within specification of minimum length. He also said something negative about my beloved Haynes manual collection, which in some cases specifies acceptable dimensions for head bolts. Since I had gotten conflicting advice from a Felpro tech person previously, he agreed to send me a free set of bolts and a new gasket. I'm not sure whether he applies this principle to all head bolts or only TTY bolts. He did emphasize the importance of a light coat of oil on the threads before installation.

No foreign material or defects were found on the gasket or on the head/block surfaces. Threads were chased before installation as they will be next time. It seemed like about half the coolant had migrated to the crankcase. Oil and coolant were drained before head removal
so I'm pretty confident that the fluids on the gasket were deposited there during engine operation or after that as the engine block was cooling. I will say that getting things apart for the second time was much faster and easier given my previous experience. However, it remains clear that the designers really didn't care how difficult this process would be after the car left the factory. For example, There's a coolant line exiting the cylinder head toward the left front wheel which is about 4 inches long with spring clamps on both ends and which has rigid connections on both ends. It's impossible to disconnect this hose without first partially removing the cylinder head. As the head is lifted and rotated forward, while pulling the 5 studs out of the exhaust manifold. Alternatively, one can dismount the rigid pipe connection near the left front wheel or extract the studs from the manifold. I have exactly one socket that can extract those and I misplaced it.
I+

 

I have on occasion used a tap but I also hear that can damage threads sometimes. This time, I used a head bolt with grease on it and a small slit ground near the bottom threads to catch any debris in the block threads. Then, I used compressed air to blow the holes out.

 

It looked to me that there were 2 bolts holding the rigid pipe on. I probably have enough small extensions that it will work. Now tjat the head is off, probably easier to remove the exhaust studs that cause the conflict with the hose. I also don't like messing arou d near the big orange cables. I did pull the 12v neg battery cable but did not remove the hybrid battery safety plug.

 

I think when I get the bolts back in I'm going to test cylinder leakdown with pustons at the bottom of cylinder. This will eliminate the occasional crankshaft spinning when air pressure is added.

I will do that. But I dont have HV insulated gloves which is what the video showed were needed to remove the safety plug.

 

Those of you who have been recommending Toyota parts might want to start patting yourselves on the back. I have received my 3rd set of Felpro bolts. After installing the first set, I experienced compression loss in 3 cylinders although I don't know for sure that the bolts caused it. The second set was in an open bag contained within a box and some of the bolts were slightly bent...maybe 1mm out along the length. The 3rd set included one with a slightly flattened thread section that I noticed when cleaning threads before installation. I didn't measure the diameter range yet but it's noticeable when the bolt is squeezed during rotation in the hand. How hard is it to make a straight bolt with consistent threads? I've always used Felpro gaskets but I'm starting to think Felpro bolts are a bad idea.