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

Gasket Masters on youtube said they have seen many Generation 4 prius with blown head gasket. (Youtube Shorts) I saw it yesterday.

 

Most if not all of those are due to faulty heater control valves along the exhaust system that stick and dump all the coolant out of the tailpipe causing an overheat condition. I think I've only seen one early 2016 car with "Uber miles" on it go through a head gasket naturally from a bad water pump.

 

If I may, it's not virtually the same at all on the inside. There are a ton of differences for the better, like more efficient cams, heads, pistons, water jackets..etc. Remember head gaskets fail mainly (Gen 4 since this is the forum to discuss this... because A) Water pump old and failing/failed B) Never flushing engine coolant C) Gen 4 heater control valve down below. If there's any evidence of gasket material being the issue on Gen 4's failing prematurely outside of those scenarios listed above....please, would love to see the evidence.

 

Leak maybe, likely just coolant reservoir level dropping and/or Temp Light at which point you've done damage to the head gasket already or it's already failing. Always pop the hood and watch coolant levels on ALL Prius cars.

 

Hopping in here as a first time poster but long time reader of these threads fir helping with repair. Had a 2010 Prius for 12 years, bought with 11k miles and traded in at 186k only having to do spark plugs, regular fluid changes and a set of rear brake pads. Traded for 2016 prius 3 about 9 months ago with 50k and have loved it, just had a cold spell in Oregon last week and just the other day my heater stopped working... Hadn't seen any fluids going down or temp light come on but am seeing white smoke while going uphill on my commute to work. Was going by toyota dealership on way home from work and to look at picking up a thermostat to start with and found this thread today at work. I had a talk with the guys at service counter and was news to them about the heat exchanger as well. Have an appt for tomorrow to have them diagnose the issue and hoping will be covered under the TSB! Thank you all for help along the way, your time spent sharing this information is very helpful!!

 

Not a whole lot for the update yet, have been in contact with the service rep to see if they will confirm that it is something that will be covered by them to repair after they do the diagnostics or if something that I will be charged for after they confirm the issue. They will not give me a straight answer on that... I do not have an extended warranty on the car which gives me a slight pause as to if it will be something that will b e covered, but it is at just over 50k miles and everything else is in good shape. I am leaning to just do the bypass for now and then work on a few of the different Toyota dealerships around here to see if I can get anyone to state that they will cover the expense to replace.

 

Thank you, yes the coolant level was low initially once noticed the heat wasnt working. Got that topped off and been keeping that way, picking up the gates hose to get that done for now and will see if I can stay on toyota for getting the section of exhaust replaced.

 

I change my oil every 10000 miles but i do use the 20000 mile synthetic oil and 20000 mile filter, so far i got 150000 miles on the car and its working good, i drive a lot working as food delivery

 

I am having the same symptoms On my 2016 gen 4 Has 82,000 miles on it. Is this covered by the Toyota Federal Emissions Warranty?

 

Not that I have read, but it’s always worth asking the dealer, and calling Toyota if they decline

 

I thought Toyota had acknowledged it, published a TSB. IIRC member "electroeng..." started a thread, posted the TSB. Sorry, can't remember his full name.

 

Here it is, fwiw:

TSB: Coolant leakage at front exhaust pipe (Prius & Prius Prime) | PriusChat

 

If your still within Federal Emissions Warranty period, the answer would be yes. There's no warranty question if Nevada ascribes to stricter CARB pollution standards which some states do.

 

Toyota shows their true colors with stuff like this. An "honourable" stance would be:

1. Admit they messed up.
2. Increase manufacture of the required part.
3. Nix the time/mile limit.
4. Make sure dealership are fully responsive, and aware of the coverage.

Food for thought, next time you're buying a car. Maybe they're all the same, but who knows.