2010-2012 Head Gasket failure analysis

This seems legit

 

No.

Thanks for the post. I look forward to the resulting discussion.

 

Great analysis!

 

Some great points there.

I have to ask what’s to difference between the Toyota red coolant and standard red coolant?


2010 Gen 3

 

Interesting and useful. We have a 2012 Prius C that I now worry about. I recently had our 2007 Prius need new fuel injectors. I was afraid it might be the head gasket because the misfires were on two adjacent cylinders and the coolant was a little low. Anyway, the mechanic told me head gasket failure is not unusual in 2010 and earlier models.

 

This is an excellent discussion. I do recall a discussion on BITOG way back trying to link an epidemic of Toyota water pump failures with then new pink ultra long life coolant (late 2000's) . There was no discussion on HG though. This reminds me to go ahead and replace coolants on my prius. I was going to wait for 10 years and closer to 120,000 miles for that to coincide with spark plugs, but I guess replacing plugs a bit early will not hurt. I do plan to do cylinder soaks to prevent oil consumption and EGR cooler cleaning to prevent HG problems at the same time.

 

Someone posted that engine coolant was to be changed at 100,000 mi.

 

I'm aware of that. I did a "partial" change at 70,000 when i cleaned TB and a lot of coolant spilled. Burping engine coolant in 2010 is painful BTW (improved in later years). Because there is limited space over the engine in Prius, I want to consolidate all that major maintenance into one long job (will do oil change after piston soak, too).

 

Hey all, found this thread via google looking as to why my 2012 Prius V is experiencing head gasket failure. OP, what did you end up doing and how does your Prius run now? I love my car—it’s on almost 140k miles but suddenly started shaking a lot on start up and idling. Took it to my local dealer to diagnose and got the crappy news
Today. They said my head gasket failed and is leaking coolant into the engine and the repair will cost $3,700 (ouch!) told them to hold off u til I call my shop busy and see what they can do: they quoted me $1900 but warned that a head gasket repair on high mileage cars makes the engine more vulnerable or somethin. I’m not a car pro so I am wondering if a repair is worth it, invest in new engine, or trade up. Toyota needs to be aware that this may be a flaw in their manufacturing of cars for these years.

 

My 2012 Prius Two with just 77,500 miles has a head gasket problem and is currently being fixed at my friend repair shop. (It would cost me $4,300.)

if you have an issue with the head gasket, submit it on NHTSA website. They might investigate the issue and issue a recall.

Shinji

 

Join the lawsuit that a member here is putting together.

 

Wow, sorry to hear about that at such low mileage.

I'm new to this, with a 2012 with about 55k miles, seems to be running fine. Thought I'd be WAY ahead of the game if I started with special preventive measures such as EGR cleaning, but maybe not. Are failures at such a low mileage as 77k extremely rare, or what? I'm sure somebody has compiled a histogram of HG failures vs. mileage; where is it? Thanks.

 

55K is timely, maybe a little early, but debatable. I cleaned the EGR around 71K kms, plus Intake Manifold cleaning, plus Oil Catch Can install. The EGR was not badly clogged, but I don't regret doing it. I will probably repeat around 120K (kms).

Not that I know of, but it seems like head gaskets fail a lot between 150K and 200K miles. Some sooner though. I think it's down to the the protracted overly-high combustion chamber temps, likely due to clogging EGR.

 

But this is just your personal theory.
There could be other reasons, right?

 

And my personal theory: the Gen 3 change to lighter weight 0-20W oil + extended 10K mile oil change intervals leads to oil breakdown, carbon deposits, more blowby gases and EGR carbon build up ... resulting in higher combustion temps and blown head gaskets.

 

Of course, Toyota won’t make car sales if we keep our Prius running as we drive pass their dealerships. Post planned obsolescence.

 

If ICE don’t get up to optimal temperature for long periods of time such as many short drives, you may experience it sooner than later. One person here had 44,000 mi and theirs began knocking.

 

Not sure it's a conspiracy as much as a "failure to envision the future" ... but if Toyota doesn't step up and support their customers with a proper fix, then you're right - when gaskets blow a lot of us will be driving past the dealerships.