same issues as gen 3 engines? (egr, headgasket)

Same engine, same problems.

If anything worse because the higher weight of the vehicle demands more engine-on time.

 

Identical. 2015-17 have the updated pistons and rings and are obviously newer than 2012-14 but sales of the later years were limited as the Rav4 hybrid took off and the 2016-up standard Prius benefited from a major redesign of the engine. If I had to have a gen3 I would try to find a 2016 or 17 v.

 

Same EGR system too, and ensuing head gasket failures, if the EGR’s not periodically cleaned.

 

EGR's will remain much cleaner and longer than Pre-2015 models in the 16 and 17 Prius V's with the better pistons and rings in them. Yes they still need to be cleaned but the interval can be longer, say 100k..(along with the mandatory water pump change).

 

I don't totally disagree, but am skeptical.

 

Have Faith Mendel...

 

I have plenty of faith, as long as I don’t own one.
If I did, I’d be checking more frequently

 

In what? That the EGR system only carbons up if it's an oil burner, has the older pistons/rings?

 

Yes give me a 2016 or 17 gen3 v over any other gen3.

I believe Mendel’s low mile 2010 with frequent oil changes can and has survived 13 years without a clogged egr or a head gasket problem. American drivers putting 25k-30k miles on their gen3s with 10k-15k oil changes may or have been disappointed with excessive oil consumption, massive carbon buildup and head gasket/engine fails. Along with clogged egrs eventually. Clogged egrs do code and many hg fails occur with no prior codes.

Some of our most revered (or is it reviled) members such as Bisco and Dogman did not escape the problem.

We have businesses who specialize in mobile head gasket and engine replacements for these cars. Master Toyota techs in dealerships and on YouTube have seen the light. Frankengines have become a thing.

Even Toyota significantly revised the engine for gen4. Early in the gen3 production run they acknowledged oil consumption issues which resulted in free repairs for those under 60k miles.

An oil burner will clog the egr and cause massive carbon on the head’s intake ports, the manifold’s egr ports and the cylinders. Stop start technology combined with city, short distance or long idles also causes large thermal cycling of the engine and contributes to fuel dilution in the oil. Of course low tension oil control rings are sensitive to these things and to extended but still recommended 10k mile oil changes.

The right oil replaced often and from the beginning can help. But not after the damage has begun. And not after a simple hg swap leaves the root causes untouched.

 

Yes, take someone who runs into this more than your average PriusChatter does' advice on it being true. Do they still get dirty, yes..but not well after 100k on the 16+ models...there are more factors than the newer style rings as well that help.

 

Can someone please give me the 2 sentence short version of this oil burning issue and what causes it? I have not heard of this before. We just crossed 100k miles on our 2012, so far it runs great and consumes zero oil between changes.

 

The earlier years have piston rings with less outward spring, don’t seal as well. Revision happened somewhere in model year 2014.

 

Was it only some of the earlier years, such as one bad batch of rings? I ask only because this doesn't appear to affect all of them. Maybe it's only an issue in colder climates? I'm in S FL and don't recall ever seeing a Prius visibly burning oil. Or maybe only an issue if oil changes were neglected?

 

Was it only some of the earlier years, such as one bad batch of rings? I ask only because this doesn't appear to affect all of them. Maybe it's only an issue in colder climates? I'm in S FL and don't recall ever seeing a Prius visibly burning oil. Or maybe only an issue if oil changes were neglected?

 

Was it only some of the earlier years, such as one bad batch of rings? I ask only because this doesn't appear to affect all of them. Maybe it's only an issue in colder climates? I'm in S FL and don't recall ever seeing a Prius visibly burning oil.

 

The rings were spec’d and presumably met those specs, by Toyota. Gained them maybe 1/2 a mpg in brownie points, and we’re left with the “legacy”.

the piston ring transition occurred at the VINs in attached.

 

Not all burn oil and generally not until 150,000 miles. No doubt the cause is low tension rings which were in all gen3 Prii through a certain set of vins in 2014. There was a Toyota campaign back in the day that replaced pistons and rings free if you lost a quart in 1200 miles. No longer available free.

This chart includes the multiple factories used to produce the hatchbacks and v’s.


Low tension rings were in many other Toyotas as well including Camry, Corolla, Rav4 starting around 2007. They also burned oil.

The high dollar Prius catalytic converter burns up the oil before you see it at the tailpipe.

Our gen3 Prius egrs pickup the exhaust before the egr. Gen4 revisions included picking up after the egr, with far less hydrocarbons left to clog up everything from the egr cooler, intake manifold, heads and cylinders.

Oil catch cans are sometimes added to catch excessive hydrocarbon blowby caused by the low tension rings. As is, gen3 intake manifolds end up with a pool of liquids sloshing around inside of the manifold. This gets far worse as the rings stick and score the cylinder walls. Once the cylinder walls are damaged improved pistons and rings won’t help. Cleaning the intake of gen3s is a mitigating factor once liquids and carbon start accumulating.

Most agree 5k mile (or better yet 5 km) oil changes is the best thing if done religiously (excluding Scientology) before any damage starts.

 

Can't argue with that TSB that Mendel posted, that's excellent info. The bad part is, 2015-2017 (Gen 3 2ZR's) still blew head gaskets, albeit at a slower rate...at that point I'm thinking failed water pump and LONG EGR intervals (or never cleaned) on those later models caused the gasket.

 

It's a 3rd gen.....

 

If you're thinking about buying one don't.

 

2016-2017 CT200 or Prius V (same years) are "better" and worth buying. Anything before 2015..meh..be careful.