Completed Head Gasket Replacement

Just wanted to post about my Head Gasket replacement. The procedure was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Total cost with new parts about $300 and 16 hours of work. Not really any special tools required, although I did have to buy the Triple Square bit for the head bolts $7. If I had to do it again and I had a clean EGR cooler, and a head ready to go back on. I could do this easily in 8-10 hours. I watched the Gasket masters videos and they were very helpful in giving an idea of what to expect and tools required.

I used the Felpro gasket kit, Felpro Headbolts, about 25% of a tube of Permatex ultra black silicone, 2 seals for the valve cover that are not supplied in the kit about $10 for both from Toyota, new cam chain tensioner and gasket from Toyota. I will say looking at the Felpro HG vs the Toyota, it seemed to be much better quality. As well as the Valve seals, the OEM ones were hard not pliable at all.

It has been over 2000 miles since I did the work and the car has never run so good. The most time consuming part of the job was cleaning that dang EGR cooler, I spent about $6 at the car wash and about 45 minutes of time blasting that thing out. Finally got it clean enough to see through it and when I got back home soaked it in degreaser for another few hours. As far as getting the car apart and cleaning everything up it was pretty easy. The only other part that was a little tedious was the valve seals. You have to make absolutely sure they are seated back properly and the keepers are installed correctly. Not hard, just have to triple check and make sure.

My car is a 2013 Prius Five, I love the car and hopefully will drive it another 100k miles. I bought it back in October 2020, with 180k miles. It now has about 270k and has been a great car. Some of the things I have had to do in the past year were the Brake Master, and Water pump. One thing I noticed after completing the Head gasket replacement, is the car no longer uses any oil. Before I would use about 1/2 quart between 5k oil changes. Now oil consumption seems to be non existent. I will know in about 3k miles, but so far nothing or so little I cant measure it on the dip stick. No more rattle, or shaking when starting.

If you are planning on doing this repair, watch the gasket master videos, and take your time. Be sure to label every item that comes off the engine and put it back exactly where it came from. I used a folding table in my garage covered in shop towels. And made sure all parts were put back exactly where they came from. One of the tricks that GM use is to place a folded shop towel in the cam journal to hold the cam in place after setting it to TDC that worked perfectly. Other than that, be sure to follow all torque specs.

I am in NW Arkansas and if anyone needed assistance I would be more than happy to help out.

Todd

 

Cleaning the mating surfaces on the head and cylinder was easy, most of the old gasket material wiped off with a little carb cleaner. any other residue I gently scraped off with a razor blade. I used a precision straight edge to check flatness of the head. I was fortunate that it was perfectly flat. I had never over heated the car so I was pretty confident it should be ok. Some of the signs I realized that the head gasket was going bad was pressure of the coolant reservoir. Before I could warm the car up and release pressure it was quite a bit. Now it barely has any after driving and getting up to temp. Just before replacing the HG, it got worse really quickly. I noticed coolant missing and gurgling in the heater core. I realized it needed to be done immediately. I chose not to drive the car anymore after hearing that. In my area, I was quoted $5000 and up from repair shops that had never done it before. I am normally someone that does their own maintenance and thought this might be a much harder job to tackle. It was really not a big deal, and could easily be done on the weekend with mostly common tools. Of course you will need a torque wrench. But other than that the triple square bit. And a precision straight edge to check head flatness.

 

Yes I did with an accurate straight edge, it was perfect, I spent quite a bit of time on this to make absolutely sure it was perfectly flat.

 

I have not had any issues with the interior. Everything works as it should and the Five has the simulated leather interior. My car is garage kept and I do keep the interior and exterior clean and conditioned. I drive the car like I am trying to save gas, no hard acceleration, no emergency stops. I am an old man, and have learned that I do not want to give the insurance company or the state any more of my money than they already get.

 

Thanks for the info, I will definitely get one the next time.

 

I did not damage the tool, but I will get the proper one next time if I have to do it again.

Here is a pic of the difference I can see where that might be a problem. Bi-hex is what Toyota specs.

 

I actually did that too, I already had the compound and tool to do it. Honestly if I would have had more time or another vehicle to drive I would have sent the head out to have it restored professionally. The car runs great, and my mileage went up from 45 mpg to 55 mpg. That leaky head gasket at the end the car had no power. To keep the first start up from rattling, I would relieve pressure when stopped from coolant res.

 

*** UPDATE***

Just wanted to post an update. I have put about 7k miles on it since doing the head gasket replacement. And all is perfect. I just got back from a 2k trip to Florida and back. Car ran perfectly, A/C on all the time running about 75 mph most of the way. Car was loaded down pretty good. and still got over 50 mpg.


Todd

 

Sorry to hear that, my car is almost at 300k miles and I have owned it since 180k. It has been an excellent car for me. When the head gasket went, I thought about parting it out. I just couldn't do it. I love the car so much I decided to just fix it right and move on. I have had a few things fail, but really nothing major. (Brake master and water pump) Other than that it has been rock solid. We have taken it to Florida 3 times now about 800 miles each way. They are really great cars, and if something happens to it, I will buy another.

Todd