Replace Engine or Junk Car?

Maybe a compression test?

 

Ask for a full written report of what was done and what the diagnosis is. And then report here.

 

Will the car run at all? Will the engine turnover at all?

 

chuck a bottle of "chemical seal up" in it and drive to the stealership you bought it from and trade it in

 

not overheating yet? you absolutely need to know exactly which diagnostic code they extracted from the car before you go any further

 

Do not put in any additives like a head gasket sealer unless you're ditching the car immediately, and even then, it's dishonest to use those.

(It's a good way to clog coolant passages.)

 

Agreed. Engine oil with a milky look is another clue that coolant is getting into the engine where it shouldn't be; however, water vapor is also a byproduct of the combustion process and can be found in any oil that doesn't get hot enough to boil off. It's the amount that's important.

 

We've had the latter (years back, other car), no coolant leak, just insufficient warm up, condensation in the oil. An extended drive would clear it up, if it was condensation.

 

Yes. Toyota has a great reputation for building reliable vehicles.
NO. I wouldn't recommend NOT changing your oil, or changing it in 30,000-40,000 mile increments.- I wouldn't even bring it up. Maybe some people are that neglectful....but it's NOT a good idea, synthetic oil or otherwise. Why risk your vehicle to stretch out beyond all recommendation, a maintenance routine that costs less than $50?

Toyota does have a well earned reputation for quality vehicles. BUT...machines are unaware of that reputation.
My advice....AT LEAST....change your oil as recommended.
If you want to gamble?
Change more often. Not less often.

To the OP?
Reading your original post?
Well first you have to get full definition of the problem.
BUT...if you really are stuck needing a new engine?
On a vehicle you bought new, that is barely 5 years old, that has been well maintained in all other regards?
I might seriously consider making the investment.
Still a lot cheaper than buying a new vehicle. And expectation would be that you could get a whole lot more life out of the vehicle.

Good Luck.

 

I come from a world of another make where a used 70k mile engine would cost more installed than the car was worth running fine. And a completely remanufactured engine with improved parts could cost 4 to 6 times the worth of the car even without an engine failure! So all disasters are relative. Not that that make it any easier if you are one of the few who have a failure.

And even remanufactured engines can be trouble. The only time I ever bought one I only got 1,200 miles out of it before it was back in the shop for another replacement. Fortunately a good warranty and no hassle. That was a Mitsubishi engine in a Dodge mini-van.

I'd start out with the assumption that dealers seldom go inside engines. They replace them. I'd go looking for a repair shop that specializes in Prius cars and wagons and let them quote you a replacement engine that they source and guarantee. Not like a new car warranty nor even like a remanufactured engine. But some 30-90 day guarantee. Engines from wrecks become available every day and even a car as uncommon as a v will have lots at the wrecked cars being sold for salvage at any given time. (There are 61 available today at this site. Some will be sold to a shop that parts them out and thus engines are available. Reputation of the seller and installer is everything.)

 

At this point there's no reason the think the OP needs anything more than a head gasket, if that.

 

Yes but will any mechanic do that for reasonable price? Not a rhetorical question, just wondering. Luscious Garage style business?

I've attached the relevant Repair Manual pages. Step 1, removal of camshaft housing sub-assembly, is a whole story unto itself. Here's an exploded view too:

 

absolutely its not a quad cam 400 valve twin turbo race engine! just change the gasket how hard could it be for any competent mechanic.

Never use the words "honest" and "car dealer" in the same line lol.. Seal-up Is nice to use for a test, wont "clog" anything more than its supposed to (the crack) if your radiator has restricted flow and was on the way out anyway then it might clog otherwise its not a problem (if used properly) ..wont work very well on blown head gasket but very useful if testing for slight cracks in alloy heads and can patch head cracks over for years the problem with this stuff is people don't use it properly (drain coolant ad fresh water, install sealer drive for a full day or 100miles, re-flush water TWICE then re-ad coolant) I have used it more times than I care to remember and never had a problem other than what i started with when used properly! other than maybe a weak radiator crapping out, it either fixes the problem or doesn't! but never made anything "worse" well not for me anyway. Ohh and turn the heater off you don't want it going in there!

Not "sure" but don't think you have to totally strip the valve assembly as above to remove the full assembly. If the mechanic couldn't remove the cam housing in an hour or two I wouldn't want them changing my whole engine that's for sure.

 

I had a head gasket replaced on my Subaru Forester, but then again they have a lot of experience doing those . . .

I'm not even going to start with the dealer horror stories . . .

 

One thing with a Forester is that there's two head gaskets, and the engine positioning is such that... can you even get the heads off without removing the powertrain entirely?

You could almost certainly do a Prius head gasket in the car, I suspect.

 

I was able to get the shop to do one side without pulling the Forester's engine. Had they done both, they said the time savings on the job would justify taking it out for better access.