Finally the dreaded P0301 Code

Bummer... Condolences to you!

Rough running symptoms prior to headgasket repair can sometimes bend a rod...

Reminds me of Drew's most recent post on Instagram about a bent rod. Any chance you saw anything like that when the head was off?

 

Recent work is always suspect.

It'll be tough to figure out without a complete tear-down, the sort that isn't worth doing for anything other than curiosity's sake.

Likewise it is very difficult for anyone to assess the health of the bottom end (crank and rod bearings) of an engine beyond a) lack of knocking noises and b) sufficient oil pressure. So a 'clean bill of health' doesn't mean a whole lot there.

I've read a few cases where a head gasket replacement was performed, but during the work the mechanic failed to notice that a rod had already been bent by hydrolocking from use in the period after the gasket started leaking but before the repair was performed.

After that there's stuff like a glob of sealer breaking free and clogging an oil passage somewhere.

Better luck next time!

 

They make tools that go on the end of your electric and/or air grinder flat wheels and little things that will clean all this up that aren't too detrimental to the aluminum steel etc A lot of this stuff will clean up once the engine sealed up and running right it'll just blow off but since you have it undone and you're interested in housekeeping and cleaning up apparently You can whiz over this stuff and make it be silver and gold and what have you again since you want to usually most shops send the head out to a machine shop and they tank and clean it replace the valve seals measure the valve stretch lap the valves things like that but you know some people don't really know anything about that and they do it all in their yard which is cool too but you have no way to check these other things on the head like the machine shop has the tools and capability and the know-how to do with that not being done when you put your engine back together and something happens well then you'll be taking it apart again and learning even more that may be a good thing and good for your experience if you're not in any hurry to be needing to drive.

 

This is why you have somebody that has some experience with engines to look at the mess when it's apart It is possible to see I saw it in one of mine but then it's also possible to continue on because one is hardheaded this engine in particular is known for these faults in this particular model of vehicle the same engine without the Atkins in cycle used in the Corolla doesn't have half of these problems It's just the way it is I guess when you flood the cylinder head with huge amounts of EGR gas well it may not be a great thing I don't know personally it's just my guess That's why a lot of these things get a new reciprocating mass when it's time to fix that adds $1,800 plus to the build You're getting a new crank pistons rings rods and mains in that center section basically your engine and all your installing around that is the ancilliaries that you have draped around your old mess in your existing chassis time consuming so it's all completely disassembled all reassembled and then dropped back in and connected up to the transmission whereas when you're doing a head gasket and you're just trying to get paid $1,900 things move at a much faster pace and aren't looked that very well and here we are some people think getting a JDM spec engine out of the Japan domestic market is a good idea and it can be You're getting an engine that has about 65 $70,000 mi on it so when you get it if you maybe clean out the EGR cooler and all that stuff while it's sitting on the ground and then get it ready to put in your car you know you may make $100,120,000 mi with that engine certainly not what I would be looking to do personally I expect $500,000 mi from almost every Toyota I own in the last 40 years It seems to me 2010 is where all this stopped in all Toyotas for the most part planned obsolescence is in full swing after 2009 notice how your 2009 Yaris Prius Corolla Tacoma truck all that stuff can make a million miles pretty easily and never see a Toyota dealer after 2009 it's almost unheard of. And I do hear and I do I make this mileage regularly.

 

You did the head gasket repair yourself? Did you check tops of pistons at TDC were all the same? What's the miles on it?

Addendum:

More info here:

Finally the dreaded P0301 Code | PriusChat

(more than 245K miles)

 

What lead up to the original head gasket failure? How bad was the misfiring? Maybe the damage to the rod was done then and it finally let go now. If you don't catch these things early, chances for success for a head gasket replacement are greatly diminished. How many miles on the engine?


iPhone ? Pro

 

Sorry to hear that.
When you had the head off, did you check the pistons to see if they were all the
same heighth in relation to the top of the cylinder? If one was lower, then you had
a bent rod.

But, sometimes, things just go bad.

 

Here is OP's previous thread about P0301 misfire codes and head gasket replacement. https://priuschat.com/index.php?threads/244810/

The car had 245k miles, used a lot of oil, and the oil pressure light (see post #19) would come on while driving the car. The engine should have been replaced rather than replacing the head gasket.

 

Yeah nothing like a fresh thread to keep everyone on their toes.

 

Thanks for the link. Now that I've read that history, I'm tempted to agree- a head gasket was always just going to be a band-aid on a bullethole for this car.

 

imgarrett: This should have been continued in the thread you started.
Without ALL the important information, you cannot expect to get proper or decent answer.

You should have ordered a complete engine from the hybrid pit....
Plus $300 for a new coolant pump....

 

Yeah reported.