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List of Maintenance/Service Items for a 2017 Prius 2 w/100k on the Odometer that blew a head gasket?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Khantroll, Oct 17, 2021.

  1. Khantroll

    Khantroll New Member

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    Hi all,
    This is my first post here, and I apologize in advance if this is a dumb question and/or I missed an obvious threat.

    I just recently purchased a 2017 Prius Two with just under 100k miles on the odometer from a non-Toyota dealership. I did my due diligence (or so I thought). I did a CarFax; it was single owner car, purchased and serviced at Lancaster Toyota in LA, then traded in and sold to wholesaler who sold it to my dealership. Nothing major listed in its service records, and it seemed like regular intervals of service.

    When I picked up the car, I checked all of the fluids, did a test drive, etc, and all seemed good. When I went to take it home, I made it exactly 16.7 miles from the dealership before the overheating indicator came on white smoke started billowing out of the tailpipe. The indicator came on less then two minutes before the smoke.

    The dealership is fixing the car, but I'm worried now that there might be something else I missed or some other issue with the car. I need this car to be dependable because I bought it for work.

    What are some things that I need to do? Here is what I have so far:

    Oil/filter change
    Transmission flush
    Coolant/radiator/inverter flush (and potentially go ahead and replace related hoses).

    Thanks in advance!

    P.S. I thought I found a link to a spreadsheet on here, but I seem to have lost it.

    EDIT: I just realized I have posted this in the wrong sub forum. I am so, so sorry. I can't seem to delete it.
     
  2. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Without DTC's (Diagnotic Trouble Codes) it's hard to give advice. If the dealer has the car you might want to ask them what codes they got. Of course as you found out what's in a cars records doesn't always show the cars condition or what work was actually done to it.
    There have not been any teports here about a gen 4 head gasket issue that's I've seen.
    Again, the DTC's are the best way to determine what's actually happening with the car.
     
  3. robsnyder20

    robsnyder20 Active Member

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    Thats pretty odd it blew a head gasket so early in its life unless it ran out of coolant or somehow got overheated.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yes, near zero head gasket issues on 4th gen. The vehicle had some serious neglect?
     
  5. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    It happens. Wonder why dealer sold the trade-in instead of selling it on their own lot?

    That would have been a "red flag" that something was wrong.

    I check if there is any head gasket sealant in the cooling system.
     
  6. Khantroll

    Khantroll New Member

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    Two
    Hi! Sadly I missed the replies on this thread.



    It's a high mileage vehicle, but there didn't seem to be anything in its service record seem to indicate anything crazy. I figured it was the same thing I intended: a lot of highway miles.

    I didn't think too much about a dealer selling it off. It's not terribly uncommon in my area for the high end dealers to sell of less profitable trade ins to either wholesalers or smaller car lots they have an affiliation with. For instance, my brother does IT work for one lot that deals almost exclusively in new cars, and only keeps nice, low mileage used cars less then 5 years old (with few exceptions) on the lot. Most of their tradins go to wholesalers in another state.

    It's been a month, and I still do not have the car back. As of right now, it will be the 19th before I get it back. My plan is to show up, pull the vehicle onto a trailer, take it the the highest review toyota dealership in the area, and have them do the most detailed inspection they can along with a coolant flush, coolant pump replacements, and trans-axle flush because of its mileage.

    I'll definitely as them to look for head sealant/motor honey/etc when they do.

    Thanks guys, and again I'm so sorry I missed the replies
     
    Mambo Dave likes this.
  7. Khantroll

    Khantroll New Member

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    I just thought I'd update this post. According to the mechanic, the problem was traced to some kind of hose that runs near the catalytic converter. It caused a fast loss of coolant, which lead to the blown head.
     
  8. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    I wonder if all the chassis shields are in place? One thing this points out is you can't safely drive two minutes after a overheat warning comes up. Even on a gen4. Or else the head warps and the head gasket blows.

    I have seen a Prius head bolt loosen up resulting in a warped head and gasket failure. One of the biggest specialty head gasket shops in California posted a video blaming gen3 head gaskets on thermal cycling which can be excessive on those cars.

    Gen4 engines have significantly revised cylinder thermal management.
     
    Khantroll likes this.
  9. Khantroll

    Khantroll New Member

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    Absolutely not. I made it 5 at most. The mechanic suggested mounting a tablet on the dash and running Torq or Dr. Prius in order to get gauges. I'm not sure I'm happy with such an arrangement, or the need for such.
     
  10. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    I think your case was a fluke that is unlikely to be repeated, certainly not on your car. Most likely alternate scenario is a water pump but the cylinder head temperatures may remain stable for longer since the coolant is still there.

    I use a $30 monitor that has adjustable alarm points for normal data like coolant temperature and mph:
    Prius temp 3 ***.jpg
     
    #10 rjparker, Nov 16, 2021
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2021
  11. Khantroll

    Khantroll New Member

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    Two
    I think I could make that a cleaner looking solution then a six inch tablet on the dash. Where did you get it, and where did you put the probe if I may ask?
     
  12. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Three
    Ebay search p10 obd2 smart digital

    It connects to the obd2 connector and uses the CAN bus to monitor ecu data. You can see the black cable to the left. I added an obd2 16 pin switch cable ($8) as well although their auto powerdown settings are fine since I drive the car every day or two.

    In reality I would not bother on a lower mile gen4. I have 250k miles on a gen3 with lesser engineering.
     
    #12 rjparker, Nov 16, 2021
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2021
  13. Khantroll

    Khantroll New Member

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    I'm just kind of worried. I'm not terribly confident in this dealer, their mechanics, or the Toyota dealership I'm going to be taking it to, and I'm going to be putting a lot of miles on it and depending on it. It may be perfectly fine. As you've said, it's still a newer car with a lot of quality engineering in it.
     
  14. Colorado Boo

    Colorado Boo Active Member

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    Wow, I'm like others and surprised to see a Gen 4 with a blown head gasket. But, lesson learned, is to always have a good mechanic take a took over any used car we are buying (with the possible exception of if you know the owner good and they can show you maintenance records.) Those 1.8L 4-cylinders can easily get over 200,000 IF they are taken care of and fixing any little issues before they become big issues. The only "issue" with my wife's 2017 Prius 2 was when she accidentally backed up from the garage too far to the left and messed up her mirror hitting it on the garage door slide. (I didn't have to replace the entire thing, just a couple of parts on the outside cover..SO glad Toyota sells them pre-painted so you can't even tell it was broke.)
    Hopefully you can get her fixed up and then take care of her for many years.
     
    Khantroll likes this.