2011 Prius Head Gasket Failure at 185k - Summary

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted by The Critic
Thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by rekit
Good work. How do you check for bent rods without getting to them?
It seems the takeaway would be to re-torque the head bolts at some interval. The older Supras and others (late 80's) had HG failures, supposedly due to the removal of asbestos from the gaskets. Happened to my 89. 94 was ok tho.

AFAIK, the easiest way to tell is to set the cyl #1 to TDC and inspect the position of cyl #4. If they're drastically off then there are probably issues. Unfortunately, this means you cannot find out until after the cylinder head is removed. If anyone has better ideas, let me know.

Originally Posted by dogememe
Disappointing that's a common issue. No brand of car is without faults. Do you like the car?

The car suits my needs just fine, so I would prefer to keep it until it is no longer economically feasible to do so. This repair could have been the breaking point if I had to pay someone for the repair.



Could you tell by inspecting through the spark plug holes ?

 

[flanso]

Another enjoyable thread from The Critic. His posts are interesting, informative, logical and very well written. Please keep them coming.

 

[Brons2]

Any update on this? Repair still good?

 

[geeman789]

Originally Posted by 01rangerxl


... I imagine this job at the usually quoted prices means it's trade in time for many owners.



Or the scrap yard ... it is such a waste that so many repairable cars are scrapped because shop rates are ridiculously high. 18 hours at $ 160 per is $ 2880, plus parts, an amount that often exceeds the value of the car.

But, how long should a car last ? Car makers need sales to stay alive, and super reliable cars last too long. But 185 k miles is still solid.

 

[KE7JFF]

I had a call the other day for a ‘12 Prius where the HG went bad, lady drove it one block to the shop next to her house who told her they don't do HG work, they swap the entire engine out and the cost was 5000. Shop convinced her it needs to be towed back home, so I told her let's make it worth her while and get a second opinion.

Had it taken to a shop that does all hybrids, once they confirm it's the HG (other shop didn't do a leak down test at all...) they would see if it's worth either replacing the HG or an engine swap. Their HG cost was 3400 apparently, which was a better deal for the lady.

Shop Manager was telling me that there was a taxi company in town that had a weird HG issue on one of their 2010 Prius taxis; their mechanic put Thermagasket in, it actually held for the rest of the taxi's life somehow.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by flanso
Another enjoyable thread from The Critic. His posts are interesting, informative, logical and very well written. Please keep them coming.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Brons2
Any update on this? Repair still good?

Yes - the engine is still running fine. It has been 13k+ since the repair; I am currently at 198k.