2011 Prius, typical problems, thinking of replacing engine

Dealerships should be on the up and up, hopefully yours is. But did you check the links I posted. For the most part, everyone is saying discontinued. And one at $8700~.

Best scenario for your case: maybe they had an engine in stock, maybe purchased a while back for a job that fell through. Hopefully something like that.

Worst scenario: they are in fact putting in a salvage engine, lying. Not sure how to approach it. They will present you with a work order, or have already? Does it say "new"?

The one alternative that's gaining momentum here, is to install a salvage 4th gen engine, from a low mileage wreck, with some modifications. If you've got a spare 2~3 hours:

Swapping in a Gen 4 Prius' 2ZR Engine into the Prius v | PriusChat

Don't be put off by the car being a Prius v, the principals are the same.

 

$5800 sounds like a new short block and reusing the cylinder head (and all top-end components) from your existing engine. Not a long block. I think long blocks may have been discontinued.

$5800 is still an excellent price for the work.

 

i would be very cautiously optimistic at that price. I know we paid and inflated price because we had a Lexus dealer do ours, but we got a salvaged 90k engine, salvaged parts on the engine (including egr) for $6200. The engine cost was $2100, labor $3000 and change, oil change, spark plugs, and misc. shop expenses. I have a mechanic friend, though a bit far to tow a vehicle with our time constraints, that said he checked around and Jasper doesn't even make that engine new or remanufactured. Maybe he was feeding me a line, but in my research i never came up with the possibility of a new engine, and lexus sure didn't offer one (which, honestly i would have expected that to be our only option from them). We did go with the dealer install because they gave us a 1 year warranty on that salvage and they also gave us the first oil change for free (twirls finger in air). I hope Mendel is right and this truly is a new engine, and at that stage, why are you even pondering it...JUMP ALL OVER THAT!!! HAHAHA.

You are right to be cautious of any salvaged engine and unfortunately there isn't a way to test them without putting them in the car
At that point, you do just have to put your faith in whomever is getting the engine for you. It really doesn't benefit your mechanic to screw you over, tbh. They might make some quick cash, but they can't last long screwing people over...especially something as big as an engine.

I have thought about the price difference between the engine swap and HG only replacement. After tearing down my old engine, the amount of disassembly to do a head is about as extensive as just pulling the whole thing, so I can see from a labour standpoint that engine swap isn't that much more, and is actually less fuss.

 

further thinking about what Critic said...if they do use the original heads, I hope they take the time to check it for cracks, the valves for leaks and even just do a valve job at the same time. Would seem silly to have it pulled off and not make the head perfect. I tested my valves and sure as shit cylinder 1 intake was leaking and cylinder 2 exhaust was leaking.

 

Ok, that makes sense. Basically they are installing a new bottom end (short block) and reusing the rest of the engine. This is a perfectly fine repair. I would have done the exact same repair on my engine if it had oil consumption issues.

When the cylinder head is removed from the old engine, ideally, it should be sent to a machine shop for inspection (check for proper valve sealing and cracks), cleaning, installation of new valve stem seals and resurfacing (debateable). Please note, Toyota does not officially endorse resurfacing these cylinder heads but mine was resurfaced without any issues. If the inspection is the cylinder head reveals valve sealing issues, then a “valve job” will be necessary. Otherwise, new valve stem seals should be all that is needed.

 

There's a horizontal seam in the engine, the head is above with the camshafts, intake and exhaust valves, the cylinder "roof" and spark plugs, and below is the block, with the main portion of the cylinders, pistons, crankshafts. Sandwiched in the seam is the head gasket, which is proving failure prone in third gen's. Here's a pic, the head (roughly) colored yellow:



The un-colored portion is a "short block". Here's a link; they're going for $1724 at McGeorge Toyota Parts:

Short Block - Toyota (11400-37140) | Toyota Parts

Just out of curiosity: they machine heads, do they also machine blocks, the other side of the interface? Would seem likely, but I never hear it mentioned.

 

This is rare, especially nowadays. Usually it is the cylinder head that gets warped, not the engine block.

Resurfacing is dicey because removing too material can cause cam/crank correlation issues to develop. Most modern engine designs do not leave enough material on either surface to allow for removal of deep imperfections.

 

Used to be you could bore out worn cylinders to slight oversizes, and obtain replacement pistons in matching slight oversizes.

Not for our engines, because the aluminum blocks have only the thinnest of cast-iron liners for the cylinder walls, not enough material to allow oversizing.

Also a risk to be aware of if cleaning a block at excessive temperatures ... can make the liner stick up above the deck ... scrapping the block.

 

Ugh. This kinda makes me upset. So we could have had a 0 mile block for less $$ than a 90k salvage???



-Spiral

 

That’s pretty cheap for a short block. Then get a reman-ed head and a timing set for a 0 mile motor.

 

And here’s the other big piece of the puzzle. That’s about 2400 for a new engine. Not counting gaskets and other parts required for assembly.

 

I think if you get items 1, 2 and 31, you've got the 3 main castings, but then you're about 30 parts (and multiple itterations of many) away from a new engine. Still, that's an interesting page, food for thought, depending on what's failing on your current engine.

 

Then there’s also this current eBay listing.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F302537132072

 

And the above ad stipulates it's complete, with crank and piston. McGeorge site is not very clear, but I guess this is the same thing??

Short Block - Toyota (11400-37140) | Toyota Parts

From the pictures on the Ebay link, looks like it does not include the casting between "block" and oil pan (McGeorge item #31).

 

I saw these posts this morning but didn't get a chance to delve deeper into them. My initial quick thought after seeing the ebay one was exactly what you mentioned Mendel, Where's the oil pump section? Then it made me question if it came with a new crank, rods, pistons, etc... but now i do see that both ads say Block ASSEMBLY, Short. The ebay says that on the box tag, the mcgeorge has that in the product description. Both also show the same part number. Still, less than $2k, that seems like a darn good price. All new piston kits are gonna run $600-800.

 

Yeah I think if you have knackered pistons, cylinder walls or crankshaft, that's a pretty good package deal.

 

@maurakl ,not sure if it's been mentioned, if not: look into EGR cleaning, intake manifold cleaning and Oil Catch Can install.

A clogging EGR circuit will raise engine temperatures, hasten head gasket demise. The intake manifold is part of that circuit. Also, there's a good chance an Oil Catch Can (splice into the hose between PCV valve and intake manifold, will reduce EGR clogging.

EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results | PriusChat

EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results | PriusChat

@NutzAboutBolts video links:

Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat