What is the going rate for a GEN 4 engine looking for one San Jose area.

Not another failure? What happened to the gen4 in the gen3 prius?

 

There's lots of sources for these engines and they're surprisingly affordable. First step would be to shop around for a mechanic who has done these swaps before. Even if you plan on doing the work yourself, these mechanics will have a wrecker they partner with to buy these engines from and that will get your foot in the door on price points and then you can start calling wreckers directly to get prices. One time my friend who rebuilds Prius let me use his business name and the wreckers sold me an engine part at their business partner price of 50% their retail price with no sales tax. That was nice!

 

Are you seeing any white slimy stuff around the oil fill cap yet? Seems like measuring the amount of coolant loss into the oil every 1000 miles might be a wise way to schedule addressing it. As in once it goes from a little bit of coolant in a 1K miles to a lot of coolant, that tell you when it's worth working on again?

 

Sounds like he wants to change the engine and then repair the existing gen4 motor. It is possible that the gen4 head gasket fails in a different way. I wonder if it could be something else like the intake manifold?

 

A revised gen3 engine has a vin higher than those listed in the first picture above. All Toyota engines originally sold in the US should have a Vin plate on the back of the engine near the timing chain cover.

However, the used JDM engines exported from Japan never had a vin. Most salvage yards here usually take off the vin plate. So no vin plate means no way of knowing what year the engine was made. Even if the engine has a Vin plate and its a production number higher than listed above you still don't know if the engine was abused.

Lkq is about the only salvage yard I would trust. I always suggest getting a rebuilt engine from a known good rebuilder. A good rebuilt will include revised pistons and rings. In your case, Hybrid pit in Southern California would be a good choice.

 

Thanks, I didn't see that pic before... Have you measured the coolant loss rate yet? Normally Gen3 headgaskets leak into the combustion chamber not the oil passages so I'm skeptical, especially because you already did the head gasket.

Also I had an old Subaru once that had an oil fill cap that looked like this. And it wasn't the coolant that caused it and never figured out how water got into the crankcase but I do live in a part of the world where it rains constantly all winter and had a cold air intake style air filter and got rid of the OEM baffles that help limit moisture in the intake system.

Is it possible that this moisture isn't coming from the coolant system? Have you driven on any flooded roads lately? How quickly does the problem return after an oil change?

Also keep in mind it takes very little water vapor to rise up and collect on the cap as white sludge as its at the highest point of the engine.

 

He has a gen4 engine in his gen3. Somehow his gen4 engine is leaking coolant onto the oil.

 

Wait, you're changing engines because of some emulsion under the cap??

I can't tell you if your car has any head gasket problems, but I can tell you that nearly every car on the road will show some "mayo" under the oil cap when used for short trips in cold weather. It's atmospheric condensation getting thrashed into the oil.

If your coolant level is dropping at the same rate as you're finding garbage in the oil, then I'd say you're on to something. But I wouldn't be taking any significant action based on that one photo.

If I did anything, I'd start with a long drive to get the oil up above the boiling point of water to clarify it.

 

And buy JDM engine and possibly trans that ain't been messed with by US engineering outfits all around our country . Be surprised how long things can last with minimal hands on them . Guys really into JDM stuff can get you setup . Lot of us know some of this stuff. Especially out west this is where all the JDM nonesense got started. Remember ATK etc . I've had skyline engines in MA Supras . 85 .

 

I'm sure they'll be some plumbing issues like the Gen 4 into the Gen 3 etc they're always is in an engine swap

 

Looks like engine families correct

 

The 2017 prius prime is a gen4 engine. You have to pay for a carfax but a reduced price $11 option is at [email protected]. He will send you instructions. Works, just pulled one six weeks ago.