Head Gasket - who should repair?

$4k sounds awful high to me.

A Prius head gasket job is really ordinary. The work is little different from what it would be on any other 4-cylinder FWD car on the road.

The water pump is a little weirder, but no real mechanic is going to struggle with it.

 

What about the EGR? There's many discussions about this issue causing this.

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Yes. Instead of treating symptoms, deal with the cause. See first two links in my signature; on a phone turn it landscape for signature.

 

What's the status of your hybrid battery ? Still the original ??

I think:
It might be time to trade it in on a newer model of something.
After you spend ~$5000 on it, you will still have a 10 year old car with high mileage.
And if the HV battery then fails, that might be ANOTHER ~$4000.

Have you asked about the cost of putting in a rebuilt engine ?
Might be around the same price. If so, that would be a better option, probably.

 

My own experience is I've been to some 7 or 8 mechanic shops and had a bad experience in every one of them. Personally the only person I trust to do mechanic work is myself. Sadly, I can't do everything these new fangled cars need to be done to them.

 

No, you need to deal with head gasket first, but to avoid a repeat, get on the EGR.

 

For that 4K I could swap JDM spec engines in the car twice with money left over so I'll take my way any day JDM engine stuffed in the car with or without a low mileage transmission to go with it all said and done was less than 2K not doing anything crazy just pretty much regular straight up swap. I would never pay $4,000 to work on the week open deck design it is a problematic issue If you're going to order a new center section from Toyota etc then fine but then you're talking more than four grand now if for the four grand he's talking about getting the center section from Toyota That's the reciprocating mass having the head rebuilt etc then the 4000 is somewhat reasonable and that's doable because you're getting the reciprocating mass from Toyota ready to go then it may last about the same as it did when it was new $179,000 mi so you'll be it you know three something almost 400 still not for 4K.

 

10k! Yikes! That's scrap it time and buy something else.

 

If your going down head gasket replacement route any good mechanic can do it, use genuine gaskets and have the head skimmed and valves reground, new valve steam seals ect.
Water pump is removed when doing this job so shouldn't charge extra ( except for pump) for fitting as he has to put one back on car.
I have just had mine done in the UK.. Total was under £1000 after oil change antifreeze change ect.
Has this guy done head work before if so it's an easy job, only thing I would do is make sure you clean up your EGR valve, EGR cooler, and manifold as its already taken off its an easy job.
While the head is off I would be giving the pistons a good soak in somthink to free up your oil control rings, this will reduce oil consumption and better to do with head removed.
Mine was done 3 weeks ago and I've done 4000 miles since... Happy bunny

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Oh should have said if you go down motor swop route how do you know your not getting a motor with a already failing gasket... Better to replace with a new modern gasket in my opinion.

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In the generation 3 there has no modern gasket has been invented since this engine came out gasket technology hasn't changed since the beginning of the Gen 3 so it's not the gasket technology that I'm worried about It's the rest of the engine assembly just by its design but as long as everybody's happy carry on and keep doing what you're doing It seems that a lot of the JDM spec engines don't seem to have a lot of the problems of their exported units to certain areas Go figure I stop trying to a long time ago I've been importing Toyota engine since the early '80s and running them in my cars just because I could and wanted to but like anything else in this world I would think the stuff that was going to my own country etc would have to be top notch My name is on it and it's staying right here where I live and poop. What I send out to other places well you know .... And with the way companies are doing business today I would think stuff like this would be at an all-time high It's just the nature of the beast if you will

 

You could always try a head gasket sealer. At this point - what do you have to lose?

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=head+gasket+sealer

 

NNOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! HUGE MISTAKE!
Never use that crap! You'll be replacing the radiator and the heater core also.
Plus having to flush out the engine and all the hoses... Another nightmare.

 

Nope, the new stuff is engineered better than that. Once it's sealed, be sure to change the oil.