2011 Prius Head Gasket Failure

$1700 is an amazing deal for that job.

 

$1700 is on the thin side. I would say $2500(ish) is a fair price for the job. Book time on the job is 18 hours with engine removal and parts plus machine shop costs are around $400.

 

Debatable. The timing cover would be a lot easier to reinstall if the engine was removed.

 

The job is all done. It clattered for the first 5 minutes, then quieted down. I think this may have been due to ISC learning. I drove the car for about 25 miles under a variety of conditions; no more misfires and no more knocking at start-up.

Some notes:

1) I did not keep track of time during reassembly but it was around 6 hours. So in total, I probably spent 11-12 hours.

2) The timing cover is a lot easier to reinstall with the engine removed. If you are doing this job w/o engine removal, you need two people to guide the timing cover in place so that the bead of RTV does not get disturbed.

3) Attach (and fully fasten) the exhaust manifold to the cylinder head on the bench, then install the entire assembly onto the engine block. Again, you will need a second person to assist with this so that you do not “drag” the cylinder head onto the new headgasket.

4) Do not forget to apply RTV to the two specified areas of the headgasket. Prior to installing the headgasket, there are two spots on the engine block which will need RTV applied. They are about 15mm long and you need a 3-4mm wide bead. After the headgasket is installed, the same spots require RTV on top of the headgasket. Then you will need to wipe off any excess that squeezes out. Failure to do this may cause oil seepage from these locations.

5) Be sure to get everything spotless (I used CRC gasket remover, plastic razor blades and a HF wire brush) and free of oil before re-applying RTV. A 3mm wide bead is sufficient, 4mm may be a bit too much. I recognize that Toyota specifies different diameter beads, but the height of the bead (not just the width) is a factor that they cannot control. Too much RTV will clog up oil passages.

6) I recommend installing the latest revision of the intake cam gear (part #13050-0T050). Yes, it is a bit pricey, but the the latest intake cam gear will reduce (and practically eliminate) the brief rattle at start-up. This part is a common failure on all 2ZR-FE and the 2ZR-FXE engines up until 2014-ish.

7) Purchase the Engine Overhaul Gasket Kit from Toyota. Not the valve grind kit, but the complete engine overhaul gasket kit. It includes every gasket you need. Most of the o-rings and gaskets were quite hard.

8) Buy new head bolts. Regardless of what Toyota says, the old head bolts should not be reused. I have not had an opportunity to examine my old bolts in detail, but one of them appeared to be visually distorted.

9) My total cost for this repair is as follows:

Parts from Dealer:

Thermostat $51.86

Head Bolts $8.88/ea *10

Head Gasket Kit (04111-37313) $258.64

FIPG: $35.06 (2 tubes)

Gear Assembly, Camshaft Timing - $294.65

Total (w/tax and 20% discount): $634.31

Parts and Tools from outside of the dealer:

Gearwrench #85079 Angle Torque Wrench: $224.07

Coolant (2 gals, GC/CCI Super Long Life 50/50 PINK): $26.17

Engine Oil (5-qt, SuperTech 0w20 synthetic): $17.38

Oil Filter (Genuine Toyota): $4.71

Spark Plugs (Denso SC16HR11) $47.28

Total: $319.61

Sublet:

Machine Shop (clean cylinder head, resurface head, check valves for proper sealing and install the new valve stem seals that I provided): $160

Grand Total: $1,113.92

 

I actually installed the exhaust manifold ONTO the cylinder head and installed the entire assembly into the car.

View attachment 166855

 

Yes, start-up noise is the only reason.

 

But hey, it is now dead silent during the morning start-ups. I cannot remember the last time that it was this quiet!