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blown Prius Engine

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by john koleszar, Jul 20, 2013.

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  1. john koleszar

    john koleszar New Member

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    OK... Here are the facts: 2010 Prius which I have had since July of 2010. Now over 175,000 miles on it (yep, I do live in it). Last week noticed a brief "shuddering" of the engine after taking off from my home. The check engine light came on and I drove to local shop for a diagnosis (not a dealer). Code 301 came on, which indicates first piston questions. I had the spark plugs changed out and it went away, only to crop up again. This time I added fuel cleaner to tank of gas. Problem went away for a few days. Started again and I had vehicle towed to my local guys who do service. their impression was a blown engine. I had it towed to Camelback Toyota and they drained oil and coolant and then started vehicle up. They had no codes come up and called to tell me to take it away, it was running just fine. I drove home and went over 30 miles. Getting near home I felt the "shudder" again by the engine, so I went to closest Toyota dealer. After 2 days and numerous diagnosis, they said that the engine indeed has a problem with letting coolant into the first cylinder. I also own a 2006 Tundra with 270,000 miles and have never had an issue. I change the oil every 5,000 miles as directed and pay attention to the details of the vehicle. Everyone says this is first time they have ever had a Prius with a blown engine. Does anyone have any ideas on why this happened?... Dealers are at a loss and so am I....JK
     
    #1 john koleszar, Jul 20, 2013
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  2. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    $hit happens.

    Are you going to fix it?
     
    #2 JMD, Jul 20, 2013
  3. xpcman

    xpcman Senior Member

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    Blown engine? NO, you probably have a blown head gasket.
     
    #3 xpcman, Jul 20, 2013
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  4. john koleszar

    john koleszar New Member

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    Not sure what kind of warranty I would get if I did... looking at an RNR from a Prius with 32k miles on it...
     
    #4 john koleszar, Jul 20, 2013
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  5. john koleszar

    john koleszar New Member

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    Yep... Confirmed that it is a blown head gasket...... WHY?.....
     
    #5 john koleszar, Jul 20, 2013
  6. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    John you drive many miles.
     
    #6 JMD, Jul 20, 2013
  7. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    How much would this cost?

    SCH-I535
     
    #7 xliderider, Jul 20, 2013
  8. ewxlt66

    ewxlt66 Active Member

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    175k is a pretty solid run in my book...
     
    #8 ewxlt66, Jul 20, 2013
  9. css28

    css28 Senior Member

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    Certainly it's not going to be something you can attribute to driving style or maintenance issues.

    Stuff happens.

    Get the head gasket replaced, make sure nothing got warped or damaged by overheating and get on with things.

    Blown headgasket does not equal blown engine.
     
    #9 css28, Jul 20, 2013
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  10. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Replace a Head asked is about $75 plus labor is a good guess. However if the car overheated. There must be more to it if he is thinking of replacing the car. Doing almost 60,000 miles a year is incredible mileage on a car.
     
    #10 JMD, Jul 20, 2013
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    It would be cheaper to buy a l.m. used motor. Plenty on eBay. Any half competent garage could pull & install it.
    $1600 all in I estimate used.

    Dealer new head gasket more than maybe $2000 after they got done with you.
    Doubt it just needs a new head gasket once they open it up and see the pistons. Bet it uses oil too. 200 miles a day! What a tough little motor.

    #1 cause of blown head gasket on an aluminum head engine is somewhere in this car's very hard life it overheated
    IMHO.
     
    #11 edthefox5, Jul 20, 2013
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  12. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    $900 is cheaper than a Newer used car.

    But how long before other Problems
     
    #12 JMD, Jul 20, 2013
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  13. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Exactly. Real good run on the OP's car so far though. Its taken a beating. These are great cars.
     
    #13 edthefox5, Jul 20, 2013
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  14. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I just checked eBay and Gen III motors are substantially more than the Gen II's but there's alot of them and OP can probably get one locally. So I raised my $900 quote to $1600 to reflect that but still cheaper than a short block rebuild I bet. But that raised quote makes your question even more important.

    But thanks for the like though man.
     
    #14 edthefox5, Jul 20, 2013
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  15. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Thank you again sir lol.
     
    #15 edthefox5, Jul 20, 2013
  16. dbcassidy

    dbcassidy Toyota Hybrid Nation, 8 Million Strong

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    Get a complete inspection on the rest of the car is probably not a bad idea. A little money for inspection is money well spent. If an inspection shows the rest of the car, sans. engine, is good, them have a used motor installed.

    Thats' my take,

    DBCassidy
     
    #16 dbcassidy, Jul 21, 2013
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  17. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    Call any local import shop. Get a quote for a Matrix for removing the head, having it pressure leak checked and the surface milled. Find a specialty machine shop that does quality head work. A head gasket set and some labor and there you go! They might talk you into a valve grinding while the head is off,, but you get fresh valve stem seals that way.

    That is a good quote, then spring upon them that this same engine is in the Prius also.

    175K is nothing, especially if the engine has not been an oil consumer.
    If you haven't run it out of coolant and over-heated bad, this engine has one repairable problem.

    Don't listen to these guys telling you to throw the car away because the head gasket gave up the ghost.
    Your engine showed its weak link. Have a quality job done replacing the head gasket and you may be surprised how many miles are left on this car!

    Good luck, keep us posted !
     
    #17 Bill Norton, Jul 21, 2013
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  18. Feri

    Feri Active Member

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    I had an SV21 (1990) Camry blow a head gasket at 270,000 After repair it ran for another 200,000 (Kms)> it was finally stopped by being rear ended by an SUV.
     
    #18 Feri, Jul 22, 2013
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  19. milkman44

    milkman44 Active Member

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    Replacing the engine because the head gasket is blown is like cutting off your arm because you mashed a finger. For heaven sake, get the head gasket replaced and drive it another 150K miles.
     
    #19 milkman44, Jul 23, 2013
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  20. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

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    It's possible the cylinder head is still good. The OP's Prius might only need a new head gasket.

    Anyone else had this done? This would be the first to my knowledge. Bummer for the OP.

    My '05 has 201K miles and it is still pulling strong!
     
    #20 jadziasman, Jul 23, 2013
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