Generation 4 2016 Prius Head Gasket

A TSB is a Technical Service Bulletin. It's a bulletin to service technicians that tells them how to address a problem that has been happening.

A recall says, "Take your car to the dealer and get it fixed for free." It's usually safety related like fires, wheels falling off, brake failures, etc.

 

They probably would have repaired for free if you took it in immediately, especially with recent visit on file for the TSB repair. But that you drove for a while after the overheating began, that'll sink your chances every time. They'll blame you for any damage they think can be caused by overheating up to and including head gasket failure. If something gave out and you had a sudden coolant loss on the highway, stopped and had it towed straight to the mechanic that would be good for your case.

My wife once ignored a coolant warning for almost 100 miles and that killed our 2006 Camry hybrid. It was 10 years old and had 200k miles and probably would have lasted longer if she had stopped and got towed to the mechanic. It was in limp mode when she pulled into the dealership after driving all day. We only got $500 on trade for it.

 

The reason it's your cost is the coolant light came on in late February and you were still driving it on March 1. You just can't do that.

I certainly would not pay a dealer $10,000 for a used engine from LKQ. If you want that engine have some independent shop buy the same engine from the same place and install it for about $5000 total, maybe far less.

A dealer can get you a new short block and a new cylinder head using most of the other bolt on parts and effectively give you a new engine. Many dealers will do it for thousands less than $10,000.

A completely rebuilt engine is usually as good and can be done for about $5000 as well.

 

You should call more knowledgable shops. The one I just retired from replaces engines in Prii fairly often. On my last day there, we had four rebuilt 3rd gen engines sitting in inventory.

 

There is also Prius hybrids sales and service Scottsburg Indiana. They use salvaged low mileage engine/transmissions for Gen2 Prii for about $2k.

JeffD

 

@Mukunda's zip code indicates Dallas, Texas. @rjparker has recommended a shop in that State IIRC.

 

So, at this point who cares?

I have counted - TWELVE - threads where you repeat the same story, again and again (and again). I might have missed one or two.

What's the point of all this? We can't collectively "think" real hard and WILL Toyota into fixing your car.

At this point, Toyota has decided it's your problem. Yeh, that stinks- but not much that can be done by repeating it here.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I use the leak in a tire example warranty vs abuse. If you had a tire with a leak and it goes flat, would you continue to drive on the flat tire because fixing it was not convenient with your schedule? Shred the tire and ruin the rim then expect the tire company to replace everything with new after driving multiple days with the flat because you bought the road hazard warranty?

 

the 12 volt battery, yes. the hybrid battery, no.

 

I think your exhaust heat recirculation system is at fault. Your previous engine might not have been the culprit. Get ur exhaust system checked for coolant. You could bypass the system if u r not in warranty. That shud solve ur problem

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I'm not sure anyone here is going to know more about your repair than your own mechanics. Did they drop in an entirely new engine or did they rebuild your old one? Did they replace the exhaust and coolant systems with the engine or leave those alone?

With a major engine failure like what you experienced it might have impacted more than just the motor. The exhaust system could have been damaged or warped leading to additional leaks, the connections with the new engine could be messed up. If they rebuilt your old engine there could be other problems with it that rebuilding it didn't address.

It sounds like they're doing what they can for you. They can certainly try to find out if the exhaust system repair done by the first dealership might be contributing to coolant loss, but it might be impossible to determine depending on how much damage was caused when the engine overheated and seized.

 

Yes. Most likely, due to low-to-none coolant due to leak in the exhaust system, the engine overheat and caused damage to head gasket which could lead to multiple issues. I think you should get a detailed checkup of the Exhaust system. Someone else had suggested in another post to bypass the exhaust system for coolant. I think that is a wise option

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.