Self proclaimed expert explains why Prius Headgasket Failures are normal, early, and inevitable

i've heard of this before. it's usually because the designer did not pass material engineering class.

since the gen2 wasn't a problem, and many gen3's don't have a problem, i have to wonder about inevitability...
that being said, these guys know there stuff, and i don't.

 

Total BS.

The temperature variation isn't THAT much while the engine is OFF.
In a conventional hybrid, the engine really is ON most of the time.

Like most self proclaimed experts, he really isn't.
The other stuff he advocates is really just a waste of time and money.
Now he has had his 30 seconds of fame.

 

if anyone knows math= 60 minutes in an hour....10 hour "uber" comes to 500-600 times

So if MY math is correct, the guy is saying a prius uber/taxi is starting and stopping and engine is
cooling down every minute??? Or was I mistaken and two peeps taking shifts for total of 20 hrs/day
so maybe every 2 minutes this happens :/facepalm...what was I thinking?

Something tells me this guy is smoking something really good.

 

Yeah my money's on EGR clogging.

 

I find that Torque shows the engine holds a pretty darn steady temperature once it is warmed up, even if it cycles on and off a lot. I DO believe that perhaps the original coating material on the metal head gasket was not totally compatible with the organic acid based coolant that Toyota uses. A reason I believe this is that I have yet to hear of a failure of a replacement head gasket (at all), and suspect we would be seeing it on this site by now if it were happening. I am sure that several DIY mechanics have done this job, many of us less than perfectly, and yet I still see no reports of a second failure once the original gasket is replaced.

 

The reason you see no reports is because a second failure (after the original gasket was replaced) would need ANOTHER 180,000 miles, or more. The average owner would not drive the car 360,000 miles in anticipation of another head gasket problem and the joy of reporting it. The car is wrecked, junked or sold well prior to those high miles. The "new owner" would have no knowledge of head gasket replacement. YMMV

 

2ZR-FXE head gasket pandemic - pick a side and be a Richard about it.

I'm still hunkered down as an EGR theorist, with a strong lean toward keeping the coolant and water pump/t-stat fresh, too

 

no vaccine planned!

 

Have only had one head gasket failure in fifty years..... 2013 prius v and the egr system was cleaned 60,000 miles ago.
Plan on it going out.........plus inverter, brake system, plugged erg, traction battery, water pump and more.... these are expensive and Hard to replace...the water pump is the easiest.

 

My 2012v coolant temperature will cycle from 195f to 150f and back, especially when the system is in an extended "ready/idle" with the ac on. This is repeatable during long traffic delays and somewhat during long downhills. I think the Gasketmaster video above is a reasonable suggestion and, as he observes, similar engines in non-hybrids have less problems. There is little doubt improved designs and better materials in later models resolve the frequency of head gasket repairs.

it is interesting that Gasketmasters can change head gaskets in your driveway for 1/2 to 1/3 of the dealer price. With a warranty. The dealer (and most of us) will usually suggest a new or used short block because of the oil burning issue, further discouraging the average consumer. Given that high priced dealer estimates on older cars drive new car sales, companies like Gasketmasters are a great value and service. As always experience is the best teacher. "Only He who has traveled the road knows where the holes are deep".

 

I changed mine for $156.00 and a lot of cussing...... my two other toyotas running fine with hundreds of thousand more miles and never a head gasket problem
car running exactly as is was before head gasket failure.....

 

The EGR passages in the intake manifold, the small ones at each port, tend to completely clog at cylinder one first. Cylinder one is also where the head gasket tends to fail.

 

When I did the egr I cleaned everything including all intake manifold passages....... with power washer and carb cleaner
special attention applied to the small holes below each intake port
and I have a Catch Can
and I'm still running walmart 10W40 in the trani.

 

At what miles?

Where I'm going: if the EGR cleanout is later, say well past 100k miles, maybe the damage is done.

 

197,000

It went an additional 65,000 after that till HG failure.

 

Yeah maybe too late, engine had been EGR starved too long, cylinder one the most/longest.

 

I have worried about that since the intake / egr service....
If I would have known about this crappy HG stuff back then I might have changed it then.

 

Why does there have to be one smoking gun cause for head gasket failure? EGR issues and heat cycling could certainly both be contributing factors to the problem. With a better EGR system the heat cycling might not matter. With a better head gasket maybe the EGR doesn't matter as much. Everyone is just guessing.