Any Gen 4 Owners Out There With Blown Head Gasket ??

I assume that it will be, as there were hundreds of thousands of Gen 3 built with the same system and I have not heard of leakage being an issue with those.

 

They fixed it around 2019. There is a revised part for 2016-2018. Seems early adopter's have an issue around 100K

 

This is correct. Mine is a 2016 model, with the old design, hence my leak. In 2019 Toyota redesigned the heat exchanger and put out a TSB to replace the part with the redesigned version for 2016-2018 models. Unfortunately my mileage was over the limit to have it done under warranty.

 

So as far as head gasket failures go, that's a non-starter? At least you guys have some issue cropping up.

 

A little over a year ago, I had purchased a 2019 Prius LE w/ 190k miles from auction, and when it arrived it had blown gasket with all the coolant drained out to keep it from showing white smoke....

I purchased a used engine with only 5k miles to have installed and been driving fine ever since.

Trying to decide if I'm wanting to sell everything and buy a sprinter van

 

Is that the first (4th gen head gasket failure) in this thread?

Addendum: appears to be. Unless, it was actually the exhaust heat recovery leaking? Did you get definitive tests, say leak-down (pressurize cylinders and watch for leaks), boroscope inspection (visual inspect combustion chambers, for coolant leak or “steam cleaning”) or block tester (checks for exhaust gas in coolant)?

 

With that many miles on it, in such a short time frame - I'm guessing it wasn't properly maintained and driven by non-owners who didn't care.
"oh, the CEL is on - I'll let them know when I get back to home."

Will, are we sure it was a blown head gasket? Since you just did a motor swap rather than a tear-down inspection. The reason I'm asking; I just did a Mazda - assuming the same. Head gasket was intact, had a ruptured casting plug in the head allowing oil & coolant to mix. It looks like the previous owner pulled over right away; since neither the head or block showed any signs of warping, cracks, or major overheating. I put 15K on it and sold it.

 

Was blowing white smoke and overheating with no power to accelerate. Mechanic said head gasket blown with coolant in cylinders

 

Am I reading this right ? (feel free to correct any errors) you bought a 2019 mk4 (presumably facelift model without the Zoro tail lights) in 2021. With 190,000 miles on the clock.

Even as a taxi 95,000 miles a year is Very Heavy usage. That’s a service every 6 weeks.

 

Ykbj, is Toyota fixing it under warranty or charging for it? I have two Gen 4's so keeping an eye on ours....no issues yet.

 

Fixed under warranty.

 

@ ykbj: Just to be clear; Toyota replaced your exhaust gases heat exchanger under TSB warranty - NOT your head gasket?...

 

Looks like, judging from this:

Any Gen 4 Owners Out There With Blown Head Gasket ?? | Page 2 | PriusChat

If I'm not mistaken, no 4th gen'r has reported a failed head gasket in this thread. Which kinda begs the question, why are the 3rd gen head gasket failing in droves...

At least 4th gen'rs have another cross to bear, with the exhaust heat recovery...

 

I've spoken to a number of master Toyota technicians and they have all said it's pretty rare of an issue...not something they see very often. They've all said their dealerships' service departments are very busy right now, and most have raised up their fees because part prices have skyrocketed...just a regular oil change (non-synthetic) is $65 when it used to be around $30...ouch. The reason they are so busy is folks are trying to help their vehicles last as long as possible in this crazy hyper-expensive market for both new and used vehicles.

 

Would you do an oil/filter change for $30? I think some places still have those, but they're loss-leaders, to bring in the suckers, erh I mean customers.

If I was going to put a value on an oil change, I'd consider the time and effort it takes me to do it. Yes the dealerships have the nice lifts, enclosed/heated service bays, all the best tools, parts-on-hand and oil-on-tap, pro waste-oil systems, constant Techstream access, efficient mechanics, but that stuff doesn't just fall in your lap.

 

Might be down to better cooling and heat efficiency in the new shape.

 

In this video, they said the 2016 Prius was mis-diagnosed as a head gasket failure, which was replaced but didn't fix the issue (white smoke from the exhaust and the car guzzling coolant). So they replace the heat exchange. It's a lot bigger than what I expected. So now we know both symptoms can have two completely different root causes.

 

4th gen EGR was a complete revamp. They even mentioned "revised EGR" in one white paper introducing the gen. Seemed oddly techinical, in what was essentially an infomercial.

Addendum: Mighta been this:

Return of the Disrupter: All-New 2016 Toyota Prius Rewrites the Hybrid Rule Book It Created - Toyota USA Newsroom

There's a paragraph on the subject, uses the phrase "Among new features is the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system". Which is a little odd, considering they introduced EGR in 3rd gen.

 

Let’s face it. There were a lot of “lessons learned” from the gen 3. And it’s an evolving journey from the gen4. In the uk there have been 4 recalls re “this or that needs changing” 2016 2018 2019 2020 revisions. Including speedo wiring. Radiator valve. HUD vulnerability