First Gen 1 Prius Plug-In w/ Blown Head Gasket?

I've been searching, but havent found many 2012s, much less Plug-Ins with head gasket issues. So that may make me the first?

About a month ago, I hit the EV/HV switch at a stop light to get the engine going. A few seconds later, the engine started to shake violently, making all kinds of knocking noises under the hood. Under full throttle, it wasnt noticeable and the car felt fine. At part throttle, it would misfire a bit but giving it a bit more throttle would make it go away. Also, the check engine light came on and stayed on. I pulled the code and it was a P0304, Cylinder 4 Misfire.

After searching through old threads, I thought for sure it was the EGR valve and/or pipe, especially since there was a TSB for it too. I also put in a bottle of Techron for good measure. The next couple of days I drove it without charging it at all and I drove it like a rental car, hoping to clean up some of the gunk (my high school auto shop teacher referred to these sessions as a "performance tune-ups"). After a couple days, it seemed to get a little better, but never entirely went away.

Since my car was 1 week shy of its 5 year anniversary, I decided to take it into the dealer. The dealer checked the code and confirmed the P0304 but said they were unable to produce the issue (I drove it to the dealer in EV, with left over charge, specifically so they could fire up the engine when it was cold, but maybe that didnt happen). However, they acknowledged the TSB for the EGR valve and replaced it and the tube.

When I got the car back, it was pretty much back to normal. It didnt shake violently on start up, but had the occasional misfire. I figured that was normal though since I rarely sit in the car and pay attention to how smooth (or not smooth) the engine start up is. But it definitely wasnt like it was before I took it into the dealer.

Now, about 4 weeks later (3/22/2017), I got in my car for my morning commute to work. I set my charge timer wrong and the car didnt get a full charge the night before (yeah, it happens still). So I start up the car and the ICE kicks on.. a few seconds later, it starts to shake violently again. It seemed to be worse than before I got the EGR replaced. I drove it for about 10 minutes before I decided this is way worse than before and drove straight to the Toyota dealer.

I explained to the service rep that I was in about 4 weeks ago for the same issue. They replaced the EGR, and now the problem is back. He said he'd call me when they had a diagnosis.

He called me about 5 hours later and began the conversation by telling me since I didnt have an extended warranty, he would need to consult with the dealer's GM and possibly Toyota to see if they would cover the repair. I questioned why this was necessary and he said they needed to pull the cylinder head. I was a little shocked to hear that. I told him of the 33,000 miles I have on my 5 year old car, about 80% of those miles are electric. So that would only be about 6,500 miles on the engine. How could the issue be engine related? He then kind of interrupted me and said "well, we found coolant in cylinder 4". Ouch.

So, he said they need to pull the head to determine if it's the head gasket, cracked block, cracked head, or something else. And since I'm just a few weeks outside of the 5 year/60k power train warranty, they needed to ask if Toyota would cover it.

He called me back a couple hours later and told me that they had sent in all the paperwork and were waiting to hear back from Toyota. He wanted to set my expectations so he said we probably wouldnt hear from them for a day or so, maybe not even 2 days. So, that was all yesterday. I've been reading about Gen3 head gasket failures and the symptoms are essentially the same as a bad or clogged EGR valve or pipe.. with one exception.. the loss of coolant, which I never thought to check (to be honest, I would never in a million years think that my 33,000 mile PiP would have a head gasket issue anyway).

So, anyway, thats that. I'll update as soon as I hear back from the dealership.

 

Yeah, I'm counting on Toyota to "do the right thing", since, as Pluggo pointed out, I had this issue before my warranty expired.

But at the same time, I'm a little concerned about what Toyota would consider "the right thing". They could just slap a head gasket on there and put it back together and send me on my way. But would that include re-surfacing the cylinder head? I doubt they'd re-surface the block. Would the new head gasket last a 100,000 miles? I dont know.. not sure what would normally be involved with a head gasket replacement if I was paying for it versus what Toyota is willing to cover.

I havent heard from the dealer yet. I'll give him a couple more hours and call just to ask if there's anything I can do, like calling corporate, to speed things up.

 

That dealer is actually selling a certified 2012 PiP Base with something like 40k miles for $19,995.. If they made me a good offer on mine, I'd consider it

 

That has also been on my mind too. From the beginning, we kind of knew that the way we (us 'EV mode enthusiasts') use the PiP wasnt how they really envisioned. My impression was the Toyota engineers were more of the "john1701a" style of "just drive it". So that got me thinking maybe my 1 daily ICE cycle (on the way home, up hill) is some how detrimental to the longevity of the engine. Hard to imagine.. but who knows.

Back when the new BMW E36 M3 came out.. my friend's sister bought one and the engine failed at around 3,000 miles or so (rod through the side of the block type of failure). The dealer said when they contacted BMW, they said it was the first engine failure for that generation and they would be sending engineers out to examine the engine. I hope this gets similar treatment simply because I really want to know why it failed.

 

Sorry, I wasnt accurate in my description.. in my defense, I had been on Autotrader for a good part of the day looking at 2012 PiP values ..

But the one at the dealer is a 2012 PiP Advanced with 56k miles for $19,997

Used 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-IN Hybrid Advanced For Sale - P9795 | Tustin CA | Serving Santa Ana, Anaheim, Garden Grove

And yes, it does have carpool stickers. But they're not limiting the quantity of green stickers anymore. But they are still set to expire 1/1/2019.

 

I actually was reading your thread today. $1000 for a used 2012 PiP engine sounds pretty good.

Head gasket issues in the 200k range.. thats more understandable.. with low mileage.. all I can think of is my car was built on Friday at 5PM and the robot that was bolting down the cylinder head thought it was quittin' time.

I just called the dealer and the service rep is off today. Maybe thats why he said we wouldnt hear back from Toyota today either . I asked another service rep if there was anything I could do, someone to call, or if she could get an update, but she said that the reply from Toyota would go directly to the SR I was working with so my best bet would be to call him tomorrow.