Possible Blown Head Gasket? Help

Has intake manifold and Exhaust Gas Recirculation circuit been cleaned?

at this point, leak down test is best course.

 

@Deidre Hammond I noticed your other post asking why you can't post a question. The reason it appears that way is that new members have there posts monitored by the forum moderator until their / your post count reaches at least 4 posts. To reduce the amount of spam bots, etc. from automatically making new accounts.
You have a few more posts to make before your posts are not moderated any longer.

Concerning the question, a blown head gasket is a possibility, But, if an EGR cleaning as Lendel mentioned above is done (very soon), the head gasket could still possibly be unaffected.
My recommendation is to search for a prius mechanic in your area and ask to have the EGR cooler cleaned, if it's not possible to do the work yourself and at 19 degrees I wouldn't wan t to have to do it either.

The through EGR system cleaning includes the the EGR passages in the intake manifold, the EGR valve, the EGR cooler, as the main components, and can be an expensive repair, so be careful whoi you ask for this service. goes without sayin.

Keep in mind, although gen 3 EGR issues have been being reported a lot these last few years, it's also possible (unlikely from your description above) the problem could be something other than the suspected EGR getting clogged up leading to an almost guarantied head gasket fail sometime in the future.

 

Seeing a low coolant level and smelling it in the exhaust leads me to believe the head gasket is out to lunch. Fix your head gasket in time and you can save your engine. Are you also burning oil?

moto g power ?

 

Any more info? Did you ask them to clean the EGR system? How much did they charge for that visit? I ask because I'm a little sceptical: dealerships have been loath to do EGR cleaning, and when they do, they're doubly loath to clean parts (labour intensive), and instead will only replace parts. When that involves the intake manifold and the EGR valve and cooler, you're looking at almost a $1000 USD, for parts alone.

There is a relatively easy check that can be done, gives some idea of the EGR system condition. There's a pipe between the EGR valve and intake manifold, relatively easy to access/remove. If it's gummed up with carbon, the rest of the system more'n likely is as well:

 

this was in the More videos box after watching the Nuts about Bolts posted above. Posting this might be Video Overkill - yeah but someone might like it. I personally thought they are both too long at around 30 minutes each. But, I don't have to do the work since I don 't have the problem and I've seen similar videos if not both of these before.
Here is the problem and repair from a dealer mechanics point of view. blah blah he takes 4 minuites to explain why he has to replace OEM parts instead of cleaning the parts! Make sense?

Than it is probably a different problem. It's hard to imagine 55K miles clogging the EGR system again. Unless !

 

Thought I'd fact-check. I wasn't far off; this is delivered to my west coast of Canada address, through Amayama, in Canadian dollars:



Interesting: the EGR cooler is close to reasonable. That's brand new (clean!), around $150 USD, including shipping. In my experience, they charge nothing extra, ie: no sales tax or import duties.

 

IMHO It is criminal to replace parts that are just dirty. IM is huge chunk of plastic and throwing that away is completely opposite to what Prius represents. They even planted something to compensate factory emissions etc

 

Wow !!!! I'd like to say "get it out of there" asap.
But the truth of the matter is, once a shop like that has had your car in there hands all bets are off.
I don't have an alternative to offer either, sadly.
But I'd still get it out of there shop asap!
Pay what ever they're going to charge you , thank them or not, your choice,
and look around for a better alternative for the repair.
I'd offer my inexperienced (with a gen 3) repair assistance if it would help, but if you have a friend close by that is experienced and you trust and can ask for help, that would be ideal.
From what i read so far I wouldn't wish your current situation on anyone.

edit: this place is in cali. , has a good reputation from members here at Priischat.
use it as educational and possible contact for more info about your car.

and there full channel
Gasket Masters - YouTube

 

I agree get it out of that shop! 12,000 is way high for a motor. 2000 to diagnose is Outrageous! A leak down test can be done in an hour of time. Two at most. So if their labor rate is 120 an hour maybe 240 to diagnose the head gasket. Anyways, sorry it really irritates me when shops rip people off!

 

A brand-new, complete engine’s something 7~8K USD?

 

$7223 CDN for me, plus shipping (TBD, maybe $300~500?):

Partial engine assembly for Toyota Prius XW30, 3 generation 01.2009 - 11.2011 - Toyota Car and Auto Spare Parts - Genuine Online Car Parts Catalogue - Amayama

 

2010-2014 Prius engines are flawed and your issue is often seen.

The egr cleaning mantras "might" be useful maintenance when all is running well but won't solve this problem. Coolant low and frequent rattling points straight at a head gasket. These cars leak coolant into the cylinder where it is burned and sent out the exhaust. Not in the oil and not on the floor. The rest is a waste of money now.

In your advanced case a leakdown test might show the issue but a borescope inspection is more definitive for a head gasket. Any good independent hybrid mechanic can diagnose as can a dealer for a hour's labor. You need steel will at the dealer because they will scare you into trading it for a new to you replacement with no real value given for your car. But they are expert and quick if you are not easily swayed. An independent is far better as a head gasket alone might be $1500-$3500 for the same job or a replacement engine could be had for $3500-$7500 depending on shop.

 

@Mendel Leisk

Sorry Mr. Leisk for replying to an old post out of the blue but I can't figure out for the life of me how to private message or create a new post,

I've seen that you're pretty knowledgeable on Gen 3s, and I've been having an issue since a couple of months ago. In the morning when I started my prius for the first time the engine would rattle and almost knock for 10 seconds then stop, it drives completely fine and will only do that on start up, and typically only once or twice a day on a new start up. I've also noticed it has a slow coolant leak, and I can see the dribble under my car (very small puddle). It has only thrown two codes at me, and it only happened once and not again and it was a cylinder 1 and 2 misfire. I took my 2010 prius into two different shops to get a diagnosis and they cannot figure out the problem. They say my oil looks clean, and my coolant is not bubbling and does not show signs of a headgasket problem. They said my sparked plugs looked fine and even did a pressure test and it came back good. Do you know what I could be looking at here?

(P.S Car has 220,000 miles and regular oil changes. Also I have cleaned the EGR valve pipe by hand myself)

 

Try leak-down test and boroscope inspection of those cylinders for evidence of coolant "tears" on the cylinder walls. Also try swapping coils/plugs of cylinders one and two, with three and four. If the codes continue to be misfire on cylinders one and two, it builds an every stronger case for head gasket failure in that zone, which is where it often seems to fail.

Have you cleaned the EGR valve/cooler, and the intake manifold, and how recently? Neglecting the cleaning for that amount of miles it's almost a certainty to be head gasket failure.

The aforementioned tests, performed by a competent shop, should determine what's going on. If it's a failing head gasket, what happens as the car sits for a protracted period is pressurized coolant seeps through the head gasket, into the cylinders. Then at subsequent start up, the coolant in the cylinders causes a struggle: pistons trying to come up, encountering something that can't compress.

The whole EGR system has reduced efficacy due to progressive clogging in the cooler/valve, and the EGR passages in the intake manifold clog as well, usually becoming completely carbon-blocked at cylinder 1 first. And surprise, surprise: the misfire codes start with cylinders one and two. Removed head gaskets (pictures posted here) often show failure at the wall between cylinders one and two.

 

The coolant causes the plugs to foul causing the cold start misfire. This causes a loss of sync with the electric motors in the transaxle and the damper provides the metal to metal rattle. Once you have heard it and the pattern repeats it is unmistakable. Plugs, egrs, injectors and coils don't fail on coldstarts only to run fine the rest of the drive.

Typical mechanics do not see this type of hybrid head gasket failure, especially one that seals up quickly after a coldstart. And only on 2010-15 Prius engines, primarily on 2010- mid 2014, after which they changed pistons and rings in the design. A borescope inspection with a high quality unit (see recent "Toyota Maintenance" video) will see a steam cleaned piston. A head gasket and head machining operation is needed. Wait too long and you do get hydrolock and a completely ruined engine.

White smoke is your coolant being burned in the cylinder. Major repairs repairs are essential at this point.

 

The Car Care Nut guy (youtuber) is very down on machining, saying it''s reducing the distance from the cams to crankshaft, enough to mess up timing. No clue myself how critical it is.

 

The ideal way is to buy a new head. Which is what a dealer would do if the head is warped after a hg leak and has been allowed to remain for some time. They also replace egr coolers, valves and intakes if they are dirty. AMD recommends that as well. But head machining works even if it increases the compression ratio a bit. Much better than doing nothing.