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Gen #3 engine head gasket blew at 254,000 miles and engine hydro-locked

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by GustoGuy, Nov 5, 2020.

  1. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

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    Last week Saturday I was driving about 60 mph and my car all of a sudden started to blow cool air from the heater vents then it started to run rough and low oil pressure showed on the display panel and the engine made a noise and smoke came out from under the hood. I pulled over and shut off the car and I popped the hood and it smelled like burning oil and coolant. I just got my car back from the garage and I bought a 45,000 mile JDM engine for $1149.00 and had it put in for $1783 dollars along with an oil catch can. The mechanic said that the number 3 cylinder piston rod broke and blew a hole right threw both sides of the engine block. Ironically he said that the engine still started and ran albeit poorly on the other 3 cylinders. He could see that coolant was in the oil and he said that the head gasket most likely had a catastrophic failure and the loss of coolant pressure is why the heater core went cold. It runs great now and hopefully I will get another 250,000 miles out of the car. Here is a picture of the replacement engine with the catch can installed. My Prius has the level five trim with the adaptive cruise control and LKA along and parking assist with the 17 inch alloys with Navigation and the JBL sound system which sounds great so I felt it was worth $2,932 to fix it rather than scrapping it. Hopefully I can get another 200,000 miles out of the replacement engine. priusengine.jpg
     
    #1 GustoGuy, Nov 5, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2020
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    well done, you've taken care of the 2010 weak point, should be good for another 100k.

    all the best!(y)
     
  3. FrankB

    FrankB Member

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    I hope the EGR was cleaned out.
     
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  4. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

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    JDM engine with 45,000 miles. I had a catch can installed so hopefully that will prevent the EGR from getting plugged up. I heard that a catch can will keep the oil out of the intake which will help to prevent carbon build up on the rings and the introduction of oil vaper into the intake will reduce the amount of carbon being formed. What happens as a the engine gets more worn it causes blow to increase and eve more blown pushes more oil into the intake further gumming up the oil control rings..
     
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  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    And the intake manifold.
     
  6. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    And changed ATF
     
  7. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

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    I am going to change the planetary transaxle fluid too. I heard it it pretty easy to do and it should add some more life to the Transmission
     
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  8. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

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    I watched "Nuts about Bolts" YouTube video on how to clean the EGR system. The EGR cooler with the internal fins appears to be the weak point of the Gen 3 and if the EGR cooler gets plugged up it causes excessive cylinder head temperature which will eventually lead to failure of the head gasket. The metal EGR pipe to the manifold can also get plugged but since it has a bigger passage way than the cooler it is must less likely to plug up.
     
    #8 GustoGuy, Nov 9, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2020
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  9. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

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    I put on 1700 miles on my JDM replacement engine and the oil level on the dip stick is still on the full mark. The bottom of the oil catch can has also captured a small amount of oil in it since the can's dip stick is wetted about 1/8th of an inch when I clean it and insert it in the can. I will dump the can at every oil fill and check the level every 1000 miles or so.
     
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  10. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    I drain my catch can at oil change interval. It only accumulates 5-6 ounces of gunk in 5k miles.
     
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  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That gets repeated ad nauseam here and I don't believe I've ever seen anyone yet connect the dots to show it. It could be true? It has that truthiness quality, where it seems to make a pretty good story, as long as nobody asks the obvious questions, like (1) how much cylinder temperature difference does the EGR make, and (2) how much temperature difference can the gasket handle?

    The answer to (1) is "well, clearly enough difference to affect NOx emissions, since that's what the EGR's there for", but whether that's anywhere near a temperature that would explain gasket failure, that's a question that's been ducked a lot of times in these forums.

    Even if there is an established correlation between EGR clogging and gasket failure (and even there I've never seen anyone offer numbers and a p value yet), overall increased temperature is only one of the possible mechanisms that could link one to the other. Until somebody does the work to find out (which might very well have happened already and be in a library somewhere no PriusChatter has looked yet), we're just kind of spitballing.

    If you've actually got new information to contribute to showing that, it would be great to have that brought to the forum. But sometimes it's pretty easy to catch yourself repeating things you've seen repeated elsewhere, and they just stay in circulation without ever getting any better established.
     
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    If someone cares fervently enough about some truth, perhaps it's best they search it out. ;)
     
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  13. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Does searching w/Siri or Alexa count as a caring fervently also?
     
  14. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

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    If it helps to reduce NOx then it is worth it. Photochemical smog burns your lungs. Hey I will post some pictures of my EGR cooler before I clean it.
     
  15. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    No doubt you made the right move to save your car. Somehow I doubt a headgasket would have worked with two holes in the side of the engine.

    As far as the egr goes, I think frequent oil changes while the engine is clean will keep it that way longer, even with known piston ring issues. Reduced oil consumption will keep the oil out of the exhaust, which in turn will reduce the gunk in the egr.

    I know my egr cooler first clogged up at seven years 200,000 miles. Recently it was inspected and it is 90% clogged again. This time in two years 44,000 miles. Of course there is more oil burning now.

    I find myself agreeing with Chapman on the science behind clogged egrs causing head gasket fails. We do know the gunk flows freely through the egr into the heads. Clearly before the egr is clogged. Once the cylinders are gunked up I am sure there are consequences like knocking and preignition which absolutely causes stresses. It takes an event for the knock sensor to react. I also know that a low hv battery on a high mile engine can sometimes cause a knock on low speed acceleration, probably because the cylinders are caked up. And it is definite that small coolant leaks into the cylinder can go on for months with little impact but its certainly a game of engine russian roulette that sometimes blows a hole through the block(head).

    Then there is the fact that Toyota rerouted the egr intake to downstream of the catalytic converter by the fourth generation. Let the cat clean up unburned oil and fuel before dumping it back into the cylinders via the egr. Of course the rings and pistons were upgraded late in the gen3 run. Reduce oil burning and fuel blow-by. Makes sense. Almost like science at work.

    I wonder why some clever machinist has not come up with an egr retrofit kit that pipes the system from behind the cat? Sell it with a protection cage and a cheap aftermarket cat that fits in the space.
     
    #15 rjparker, Nov 26, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
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  16. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Wait a minute, Mendel was accused of being insane for saying the same thing yesterday. Or was it insanity for him to conclude with that. Either way, you catch my drift.
     
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  17. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Usual way this works is a person claiming to know something is responsible for supporting the claim.

    If your Uncle Fred tells you the world is being run by satanic cannibals and you're unconvinced, he will probably also say it's your job to go down the whole rabbit hole and tell him what you find. And sure, if your time is limitless and free, and you can't think of anything else to do with it....
     
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  18. GustoGuy

    GustoGuy Member

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    I use Amsoil 0W/20 synthetic and I was changing it at 10,000 miles before my engine blew. Ironically I did a piston soak with BG EPR about 3000 miles before the engine blew so I wonder if the solvent damaged the head gasket? The engine ran fine until the piston soak and the oil burning originally started at about 1 quart per 1500 miles then over 2 or 3 months got much worse to about 1 quart every 600 miles right before the engine blew. I had just changed the oil and I used a cheaper Resolute synthetic 10W/30 just 2 days before the engine blew The mechanic said that the connecting rod went through both sides of the engine block. With my replacement engine I will change my oil every 5000 miles with Amsoil 0W/20 and hopefully the can will stop the piston rings from getting gunked up. I own a 2003 Hyundai Elantra GT with 440,000 miles on the original engine and transmission it is my son's daily driver and I bought the car in 2007 with 91,000 miles on it. I use Amsoil 10w/30 in the Hyundai and it still runs great and barely burns any oil about 1 quart every 3000 miles or so. This is my First Toyota and so far I am not too impressed since I have never had an engine blow up on me before and I have driven many cars well north of 250,000 miles.
     
  19. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    o_Oo_Oo_Oo_Oo_Oo_Oo_O
     
  20. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Cmon, Toyota calls that normal.

    Seriously though, with 440k miles on the odo, not bad.