Blown head gasket

Take it to an independent car mechanic for less money to repair. Or look for a newer less mileage engine to install. Does the motor use oil?

 

Has the Exhaust Gas Recirculation circuit and intake manifold ever been cleaned? That might be the root cause. Consider an Oil Catch Can install too.

The head gasket is $44 here:

Head Gasket - Toyota (11115-37061) | McGeorge Toyota Parts

And the labour's gotta be under 8 hours. Interesting video here. Engine in horrendous condition (engine oil like custard, coolant cavities look like Pepto Bismol), and they're pretty cavalier (dirt falling off the valve cover into camshaft area) but worth a watch:

 

Drop a lower mileage motor in.

 

Agree.
Get a different motor installed rather than head gasket on the existing motor.
There are plenty of them out there.

 

I see no reason why. Hour of labor is say $30 + $50 for gasket is about $350. Why spend a few k on a new engine?

 

Miles is pretty high.

Was dealership just headgasket replacement, or? For example in video they check valve seal, talk about lapping. Maybe dealership would plane the head if needed?

 

Buy a lower mileage engine, do the head gasket before it’s installed. If the engine is already out, the gasket change can be done in less then an hour. Maybe about 30 minutes.

The engine can be removed and installed in a weekend. Peremptory strike on a known issue plaguing the Gen 3 engine. Or buy a Gen 4 engine and put a good/reman Gen 3 head on it.

 

If you can do it for cheap sure. My 2010 never had a head gasket issue. But at one point I got a quote for it from Luscious Garage, the famous and highly regarded shop in San Francisco, because I was wondering "what if" when I was trying to figure out a misfire issue. They said for it to be reliable, they were wanting to put in a new short block. The quote was for $7177. That is probably the highest number I've seen on Priuschat for the job though.

The used, low mileage Gen 4 engine swap into a Gen 3 seems like the best option to me.

 

That is because they are ripping you off. Since we know what the issue is and why it happens, no need to replace half the engine.

 

Planing the head can be done in about any machine shop. I do not know whst the prices are but I did that on 3 different motorcycles and the price was about 12 USD. It is sure more expensive in USA but I do not see it being over 100, 150. If the engine is high mileage you could do the valve check while in there but that really is a few minutes of work. So do not let anyone rip you off. In fact, if you know how to set the timing right the whole process could be done at home with only a few tools. Asking 7000 USD or whatever for something that is a one day job for a pro is just funny. They do not even need to drop the engine ffs.

 

Just asked my mechanic what the price would be - with valve job about 200 USD he says. I supply the parts, so add about 150 on top.

 

7 grand was for short block replacement through Luscious Garage, maybe even brand-new. OP has one head gasket quote through dealership, 3.7 grand, and that does seem high, watching the video I posted above. There's a fair bit more to it than just the video, but I'm guessing they do that in half a day?

I saw another video, a guy DIY'ing a head planing. He even acknoweledges multiple times it's easy and cheap through machine shop, but shows that it can be done in a pinch.

 

To be fair to Luscious, that was a quote for a car that they didn't see. Maybe they've seen enough that were overheated to the point of short block damage, so they quote for the worst case scenario. It's likely they could determine if that extreme measure was actually necessary if they actually see the car. Luscious has a sterling reputation - probably the most recommended independent shop in these forums, and probably the highest volume independent hybrid shop in the US. San Francisco is also one of the most expensive places to live, and rates were fair enough for the one time I visited for spark plugs, transaxle fluid change, and engine coolant change.

That said, the $7177 quote was nuts. I wonder how many actually have been willing to pay that?

 

Hello very common for head gaskets to go bad in gen 3, also oils consumption on 2010 and 2011, I offer a complete long block replacement freshly rebuilt with all oem parts 6 months warranty unlimited miles for a total of $1950 parts and labor. Located near USC find us on Yelp and Google.

 

So how much did he take off? Will a standard gasket work? Or do you need a thicker one?
"IF" it was very minor, you could probably get by with the stock head gasket.
But if you take a certain amount off, the piston could hit the valves. Plus you increase the compression.

I saw another video where the guy uses a piece of glass with different grades of sandpaper on it and slide the whole
head back and forth across it. So it was even. He was able to measure how warped the head was between the
2nd and 3rd chambers so he knew how much he needed to take off and bought a thicker head gasket.

PLEASE don't ask for the video, I have no idea wear it is. It was several years back.

 

We may have seen same video. He notes there's depressions on the head, that indicate machining limit.

 

This is something you would/could do to clean up the surface.
I used the glass way on my astro van with a bad head gasket. No damage to the head, which was surprising.
I guess I caught it before it did damage.