Hello Everyone, My name's Carl and I'm from SoCal. Completely new here and can already tell you guys are the subject matter experts. I have a 2013 Prius (Two, I think), with 185K mi. I recently made the decision to not buy a Tesla, like all other Californians and invest in my Prius. Here's the work I've put into the car in the past year: @150K miles, self performed cleaned throttle body @ 165K miles w/local hybrid mechanic: $1,000- Replaced ABS Pump and Accumulator and brake fluid flush @ 167k mi. $120- Replaced sway bar links @ 175K miles w/local hybrid mechanic: $900 EGR deep cleaning (Valve, cooler, and pipes) Intake manifold cleaning Throttle body cleaning Air mass flow sensor cleaning Fuel injectors cleaning and testing new spark plugs new pvc valve $185- HV battery fan cleaning $245- transmission fluid drain and replace @ 180K miles, self performed New front wheel bearings New CV Axles The engine is now doing the "cold-start engine rattle"! Just marked, with a sharpie, the coolant reservoir and looks like the level has dropped about 1/16" to 1/8". heater in the morning sometimes doesn't blow hot until I've driven about 5-10 mins. I'm going to do a "cylinder splash" test tonight... saw this on YouTube where this guy pulls the coils and lays some white paper over the coil holes and identifies the cylinder with splash. Engine is also consuming a TON of oil! I change the oil every 5K and have to add 2-3 quarts between services. I'm pretty good with wrenching but replacing the head gasket on my own seems like a weekend job that might go bad if I make just one mistake putting it back together. I like this car, and was hoping to keep it a couple more years, but just seems like there's so many things that can go wrong... biggest thought looming over my head is the battery replacement. I'm going to start comparing the costs between: replacing the head gasket doing a complete engine rebuild (leaning most towards) Selling as is and buying another used vehicle. If anyone knows of great Prius mechanics in the Riverside, Orange County, or Los Angeles area, please let me know, I'd like to get at least three comparables. Thanks for reading Prius Peeps!
I am brand new to owning an gen 3 after having several gen 2 Prius. If it was a gen 2, I would pickup a used motor from a junkyard for $300 and swap it. On a gen 3 I would lean toward replacing the gasket myself, with the optional trip to the machinist to check that the head is flat. If you have driven the car and it never had an excessive heat episode, maybe that step isn't needed. I did watch a youtube video a while back and it was about an hour long and didn't say a thing about what these two guys were doing, but what I took away from that is it didn't take lots of expensive tools and was just time and attention to detail. There are probably other good videos out there. I see my time as cheap and am always looking to accomplish something new, so I would opt toward a head gasket and other gaskets and replace myself. cost is relatively low and if it failed I would probably look at a low mileage motor. What I don't know is all the other things that are wearing in these engines and might dictate a more thorough rebuild, OR, what about all those low mileage JDM motors that I see for sale? If those are real, maybe that is a good path to follow if you don't mind pulling a motor.
