NEW!!! Service Bulletin for Engine Knocking at Startup T-SB 0012-10

I found my problem , I bought a cheap borescope for my iPhone and found coolant leaking into cylinder 2. So I guess I have a blown head gasket. I went to Autozone and bought k seal and it has sealed the leak, it has been 3 weeks now and no lost of coolant or startup knocking. I’ll probably change the haeadgasket my self , there is a diy on YouTube. I have all the tools, I’m just waiting for the summer to get here. But I’m amazed with the k seal stuff in a tiny bottle

 

Also the coolant sound going through the dash is now gone.

 

@Tcortez:

did you get the $16 "multipurpose coolant repair" that looks like a tiny antifreeze bottle or the $36 "ultimate permanent head gasket repair" tall and thin bottle with no handle?

Ive got the exact symptoms as you and Tamas Patai on a 2010 I just bought. My borescope is in the mail, but I'm really tempted on trying K seal instead of the tedious work that replacing the gasket will be.

Could you and @Tamas Patai keep me posted how long the K seal lasts or when you replace your head gasket?

I'll let yall know what my engine internals look like in week when my borescope shows up.

 

I got this tiny tiny bottle of k seal for around 16 dollars at Autozone, I poured it in the coolant overflow and drove it in the free way for 30 to 40 min. The k seal did not overheat my engine and I’m still running good. No loss of coolant. I am going to change the head gasket myself through the YouTube DIY. I have all the tools and mechanical experience. I got the small
Bottle that looks like a tiny coolant jug, it’s amazing how this tiny bottle worked. Yes it’s the multipurpose and I believe it said on the bottle that it is for head gaskets.

 

So my 2012 gen 3 with 123,000 miles just developed the same rough idle at start up, I found this thread and now cannot believe it, I have the same fn problem, I just put a new hybrid battery in he Gosh damn thing 3 months ago, I cannot believe it
This is accumulation of coolant in cylinder 2 in about 2 hours, every time the car goes into battery mode and restarts I was getting the rough idle, I will be going to Autozone to buy some of the K-Seal and hope it fixes it temporarily until I decide what to do next

 

Thanks for the info. I decided to skip the Kseal and replace the gasket. The guy I bought the car from got it 9 months ago at some shady used car dealer, so it occurred to me that it might have already had some type of pour in treatment done.

I also didn't want the leak to come back a few months from now after Ive sold my current car and need the car running. No time like the present to do the 210k worth of maintenance the car might need.

Also, here's a pic of my #2 cylinder (second from the passenger side). The weird thing is the code is misfire cyl #3 which did look cleaner than 1 & 4:

 

That is good; I've heard that stuff can really "haunt" you, messing up the radiators (cabin and engine), theromostat, and who knows what all?

 

I think I found a ghost in the thermostat housing. It feels like calcium deposits, could be from regular coolant for all I know.

 

Bet it's sealant. Stop Leak???

 

From the department of redundancy department...

 

Hi there,
I'm reporting again. So I was on a longer (2000 km) trip with my Prius, and my K-seal fix has gone: After this long drive on highway, my coolant temperature went up to 96 Celsius (I'm using OBD Fusion to log data), and some coolant boils out from the reservoir through the cap. Coolant smelled like exhaust, so I was sure the leak re-opened against the k-seal fix.
There is a company here in Hungary, they repairing HGF on 1.8 engines very often. My car was repaired last week, and I'm really glad with it now. They made a radiator clean (outside) and EGR system clean too.
They said HGF probably caused by dirty radiator, ineffective water-pump, or their combination. I think I was lucky to have it repaired in the early stage, because it could be worse. Possible connecting rod deformation or even crack, they said.

Conclusion: K-seal can be useful, but in the end, the HG must be fixed - sooner is better.

 

Good to know. How many total miles would you say the kseal held for?

On a separate note, im finding that Fel-pro parts are junk: I got a head gasket set-the valve stems would not seat, and got a set of head bolts--which are 3/16" to short and dont come with washers. I called felpro tech support and the 'guru' says they dont need washers! He was also more interested in filling out my date code, vin number, make, which factory it was made in...all after I told him the engine code, so he already knew what he needed to. Long story short I lost all confidence in he was saying so they lost me as a customer.

Has anyone used fel pro or other brand head bolts? If so, what brand and how were they installed?

 

Why not use Toyota head bolts and gaskets?

 

I will now, but theyre twice the price, have to be ordered, and have proven to be problematic, the gasket design I mean. I bought felpro because it was the only thing in stock anywhere. Now I have to leave the engine open for the next rainstorm, until parts show up, or use the bolts which seem suspect.

I forgot to mention I took the head to a shop just because of the stem seals...so felpro has already cost me $150. I was doing the head myself originally.

Lesson: dont use aftermarket parts, even if theyre made in USA, because they wont fit, or will make you uneasy whether theyll work in the long run. One exception: if you can confirm others have had success with that name brand, which is what Im trying to do before I go to the stealership

 

For what you paid (at retail) for the Fel-Pro Kit, you could have almost purchased the Toyota kit.

Also, the new head bolts may be shorter due to your old ones being stretched.

Most Toyota parts are available within 24 hrs from the distribution center. You can also input part numbers into partsvoice.com and see if a dealer near you has it in stock.

 

I don't think a head bolt permanently stretches 3/16" in normal use. That's a lot of plastic deformation.

 

I don’t have the specs in front of me, but 3/16” is a few mm. Toyota lists specs in the FSM on the criteria for reusing head bolts, and several mm of stretching is a possibility. These are TTY bolts.

 

If you need, the Toyota gasket kit p/n's in the attached.

Also, head bolt std and max length info from Repair Manual.

 

Rockauto.com - head gaskets range from $30 (Apex) up to $39 (Fel-Pro).

McGeorge Toyota - Toyota head gasket $44.