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Hi - New here - looking for some help please

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Heinke, Nov 29, 2024 at 10:32 AM.

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  1. Heinke

    Heinke New Member

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    2011 Prius I think has a bad head gasket - How can I be sure? It has 231XXX miles on it. I have put over 130K of those on myself. It had the "death rattle" I removed the intake and cleaned everything very well, including the EGR tube, replaced plugs, coil packs, PCV valve, put it all back together and it seemed to be running great, until the temp warning light came on and the coolant was low. refilled and drove it a few days, then same thing again! I then removed the O ring to depressurize the cooling system, and it quickly pushes coolant out of the tank. I see no evidence of oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil. There does seem to be some white smoke (steam) coming from the tail pipe. Suggestions Please!
     
    #1 Heinke, Nov 29, 2024 at 10:32 AM
  2. avoice217

    avoice217 Member

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    Hey there, so you got me really curious and so I'll post a few videos for you to do some personal inspection on your end. I would also recommend putting in the Youtube search bar 'white smoke coming from toyota prius'


     
    #2 avoice217, Nov 29, 2024 at 11:09 AM
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yep all this has been hashed out here for years
     
    #3 Tombukt2, Nov 29, 2024 at 3:38 PM
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  4. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Remove the spark plugs

    pressurize the cooling system with a test kit & pump

    put a video borescope into the plug holes and look for coolant trickling into the cylinders

    The borescope can also reveal evidence of steam-cleaned piston crowns in affected cylinders.

    There are 7 different ways a head gasket can fail.

    A 3rd generation Prius does type #7 most often. You will not see any oil in coolant or coolant in oil with this type.
     
    #4 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Nov 29, 2024 at 5:08 PM
  5. Heinke

    Heinke New Member

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    Thank you all so much! I've watched a TON of YouTube videos - so many I loose track of what I need to actually DO
     
    #5 Heinke, Nov 29, 2024 at 9:36 PM
  6. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Well, to take a high-level view?

    First you decide how much more transportation you want to get out of that car. Then you start figuring out what it might cost.

    Then you have to evaluate the current head gasket failure- has it been knocking and bucking for a long time? It may not be worth putting a new head gasket in- there may already be deeper damage. If that's the case, you need to think about a used or rebuilt engine.

    Then do the real math: What lines up best with your future expectations for the car? Is it worth a rebuilt engine installation? Is it worth all the labor of a new gasket? Or is it better to call it quits and move on to another car? It isn't a one-size-fits all.
     
    #6 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Nov 30, 2024 at 4:39 AM
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Book Cover Judge

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    How's the oil consumption, say miles per quart?
     
    #7 Mendel Leisk, Nov 30, 2024 at 11:27 AM
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