2010 Prius: Headgasket issue - should I fix it or get engine replaced

Are you guys local in the bay area?
Lafayette near Orinda? I'M in the Concord, Walnut Creek area.
I NEED YOUR HELP!!!
I JUST GOT GAFFELED BY A GUY WHO DIGUISED THE SCENT IN HIS CAR WITH AIR FRESHENER.....NOW I KNOW IT'S COOLANT AFTER GOOGLING IT...that I just bought a lemon. I'mean a single 50 year old siingle Mom who just bought a car from a private dealer who screwed me over very bad. I paid $3,300 for a 2005 prius after having trouble with my own 2005 prius...it looked clen and I love my current prius so much (except recently after I let to the wrong mecahnic work on it (he was just dumb) I thought I'd get another one with sixtyfive thousand miles less than mine I left my corporate job after my boyfriend died recently and now work only a day each week and drive uber to offset..which I like but. I let the wrong mechanic work on my car that is NOT a Toyota specialist...he sucks as a mechanic in general. I can't afford Toyota dealership. I have a shop and a friend who will do the work but he's not Familiar like a Toyota pro...or does he have to be?
Can anyone help I can't pay my rent because I have what I think one car had bad EGR or needs to be clean and the I just bought I wish was just a heater core but I think it needs a head gasket....I have a mechanic and a luft, just need someone efficient with Toyota hybrids.
Thanks Joy
Signed I can't drive with the terrible scenti in the car

 

If it's a 2005 prius? I highly doubt it's the headgasket. Very rare on the older second gen prius. Have you checked the coolant level and oil?

 

Welcome to Prius Chat .

You sound flustered and I’m not sure what the issue with your new to you Prius is. Some questions:

• How many miles on your Prius?
• Are there any codes or lights on the dash?
• What mechanic were you using?
• What mechanic are you planning on using?
• Do they have access to Techstream?
• Is it just a smell of something in the car, or is something leaking that you can see?

Good luck and keep us posted .

 

Regarding the "smell", the very common smell is from the Air Conditioning system developing mould. If the AC's near constantly on, moisture tends to sit, grow stuff. Another possibility is rodent got in. Removing the glove box you can check the condition of the vent system filter too, see how it looks.

 

Coolant hasn't got much smell, hard to describe, sort of like it's taste (which you DON'T want to do), a subtle/sweet chemical kind of smell. If you've got a bottle of coolant that's the simplest way to check what it smells like, take a whiff. Don't taste it by the way, it's very toxic.

 

Not only toxic, but one drop will leave a taste in your mouth Ajax won’t wash out for an hour. Just reading this thread I taste the drip that got me

 

It has always seemed to me that that sticky sweet smell is pretty distinctive and hard to miss. I wonder if it's one of those things that some noses pick up and some don't.

Sit me in the cabin of a car with a pinhole heater core leak, or walk me through the white cloud behind a car with a head gasket leak, and I'll be wrinkling my nose up and asking when you checked the coolant last....

It did seem like pinhole heater core leaks were more common when I was a kid. These days, it seems the anti-corrosion additives in coolant are good enough that (as long as you change the coolant often enough that the additives stay effective), you can see really old cars with no heater core perforation.

Maybe part of that is the additives being better, and another part of it is more people understanding that that's why the coolant has to get regularly changed.

-Chap

 

Years ago they used a valve to the heater core. So in the summer, coolant didn't flow through it.
That is why it would corrode, because the coolant just sat, for months.
Now it continues to flow when the engine is running and there is a flap that blocks airflow.
UPDATE: Okay, "many" auto manufacturers used valves to block water flow to the heater core.
Today, "many" auto manufacturers use a flap to block off the heater core in place of the valve.
Maybe, some auto manufactures us both a flap and a valve to control to either block air from passing over the heater core and/or to control the flow of water/coolant/anti-freeze through the heater core.

 

You have that too huh. I get the same thing watching shows, like Coronation Street pub scenes: all of a sudden I'd get a whiff of booze and cigarettes. The brain is a funny thing.

I'm not sure about that. I think they still modulated how much coolant flows through the heater core, depending on what you've got the cabin temperature set to. This instruction from the Repair Manual, on how to replace engine coolant, would seem to corroborate that, the object being to maximize flow through the system, including the heater core:

 

See update above...

 

Have the same issue myself. Have 2010 with 196K miles and have the same symptoms. Tried replacing the manifold and that seemed to pacify things for about 6 months. Now it is back to the rough idle on start and at random stop lights as well as low radiator coolant. Not sure what to do but it seems like the most logical thing is to replace the engine as the cracked gasket may be a band aid. Another angle here is that my son was in an accident that hit the right front side of the car and I'm wondering if that may have caused the cracked gasket. Pretty confused how to move forward as the car runs great except for these issues.

 

If you have no notable oil consumption, there is no real reason to call a head gasket repair a “band aid”. Done properly, eg; replacing all head bolts(10 small ones holding cam caps together, 17 larger ones holding cam bridge to head, and 10 holding head to block), ensuring head is flat and not cracked. Flatness can be checked by drawing a file or honing stone along the head surface. Make sure(this one got me) all the valves are sealing properly. You can do this by, a, turning the head upside down and pouring a small amount of water in the combustion chamber. Watch it for 10-15 minutes. If it disappears, the valves are not sealed. Or, b, set the head right side up and put water in thru the manifold ports. It will run out the valves that aren’t seated.

As far as the actual labor to do it, I have had the engine out of mine several times. I feel safer realigning the timing marks where I can see the entire timing chain, rather then looking over the fender. Plus the timing cover can be a pain in the bumpus to reseal. The engine can be out in a couple of hours with proper tools and a competent assistant.

Feel free to ask questions, that’s what we are all here for.

 

I see you frequently on this forum so i could use your opinon,

I bought a 2010 Prius about 2 months ago, and everything was fine until recently i had a check engine light I got code p0303 which was cylinder 3 misfire, so I replaced the spark plugs but no luck so I removed the EGR and cleaned it, but still no luck, i used some injector cleaner and the CEL went but came back so I decided to take out the injectors and clean them with acetone, seems to have done the trick as the CEL went after a few drives, however, my engine is still rattling when I first start it in the day and only then however I have noticed it does vibrate a lot around 8-16MPH but this usually goes away after I accelerate

miles:174,000
coolant has been dropping
I removed my oil cap and it looks dirty and sludgy but the oil still looks clear but I will replace it
the car is not consuming oil
the cap also had some sludge which i will share a pic of when i can

 

here are the pictures of inside the cap and the engine, I have also attached a picture of the coolant which is almost down to nothing even though I filled it up 3 days ago (haven't seen any leaks on the floor so I'm not sure if its a leak which happened when I was driving or if its the head gasket )

side note: i will try to catch a video of the noise on the start-up and will post it here if that's allowed or ill send a link to it

cheers

 

Sounds like a head gasket issue.

While getting the head gasket serviced, I would also have the egr circuit cleaned stem to stern.

Add an oil catch can.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

@Raytheeagle he says he’s already cleaned Exhaust Gas Recirculation system. Maybe not intake manifold though? That’s part of Exhaust Gas Recirculation, needs thorough clean as well.

anyway, maybe the cleaning was too late? A leak down test can diagnose head gasket leaks.

 

whilst cleaning the EGR I also cleaned the intake manifold

update: I changed the oil this week and the start-up noise only comes for about a second, definitely see an improvement. also, i added some coolant and it hasn't dropped in the past 300 miles I've driven.

i just remembered whilst changing the spark plugs the socket got stuck in the spark plug hole so i did put some oil down the hole so i can wiggle the socket out, do you think this would have caused any issues? it was only about 50 ml

 

what kind of oil catch can would you recommend? honestly, if it is the head gasket ill probably just sell the car

 

Did you get all the oil out??? It it possible it's causing a short.
If you have access to a compressor you can spray carb cleaner in it and spray it out, putting a
wrap around it so it doesn't make a nasty mess.
Or just stuff a rag in it to soak up as much as possible, then pull the plug out and spray the rag
with carb cleaner and clean out the oil after removing the plug.

 

Here's what I have on our Prime:

Oil Catch Can

I bought it off of Amazon .

There are plenty of choices, and I chose one that had a bottom outlet valve for easy draining purposes.