head gasket?

On my car I can smell it in the oil, it has hard starts and my oil cap gets stuck like it's over tightened, but it's not. I assume the exsaust gasses get it hot in there. I just don't understand what's putting pressure on the exsaust to push it out the oil.

 

This quote will be the longest in my archive.

 

I'll check if it's mentioned elsewhere also, but at 200k+ miles do their catalytic converters fill up very often? I don't have high oil consumption and use low or mid grade Chevron fuel in a 2013 Prius Plug-In.

 

Which? About the dashboard looking like Christmas lights or the don't buy the first year of a model of any vehicle?
Ones smart the other is classic.

 

They're going to! COUNT on it.
- but that's not your biggest problem!!
You're already into this car for $3000 and you're buying eyeglasses, hearing aids, and a walking cane for a patient with congestive heart failure!

See if the tool rental place will loan you a leak-down tester.
A borescope or those test strips might tell you whether or not you have a leaky head gasket.
A leak-down test WILL tell you whether or not your head gasket is leaking.
A decent borescope can be had for about $40 - and you can use it for........scoping bores!
You might consider just buying one of those while you can still afford to.

Honestly?
The best thing you can do with this car is to put down the shovel, climb out of the hole, and start parting it out.
Use the money as a down payment for something simpler like a Corolla.
Some parts from Prius will even fit the Corolla.
If you insist on living the Prius life you may also consider replacing the engine but remember that you'll be putting most of another $2000 into a car that (like many politicians) is already WELL PAST it's sell-by date.

I can see now that despite my best efforts I will never achieve my lifelong dream of being honored in @Grit 's signature! I am outmatched by the competition!!

 

Put a fork in it

 

Extra curricular reading are the best!!!

 

First of all this is a year old post from Seymour that Wonder has hijacked and started asking questions about his car without context.

As a result everyone after is confused.

New questions on a different car should be a NEW THREAD. Seymour has enough problems (almost every known gen3 issue).

Start a new thread with YOUR car's background and symptoms. This could be various things small to huge.

No

Even Wonder is confused and he started the confusion hijacking Seymour's problems.