2011 Prius, typical problems, thinking of replacing engine

At what point should a manufacturer be responsible for a later detected issue? 100K, 125K if one of those are fine, wouldn't 200K be better, and if so, how about they be responsible for the life of the car?
What determines whether it was normal wear and tear, abuse, or just a failure? I thought I was doing great on out maintenance until....
It's not Toyota's fault that my EGR cooler clogged, it was my lack of diligence in understanding our car and READING THE ENTIRE MANUAL. Had I read the manual and done the EGR cleaning before the head gasket failed, I still would not blame Toyo. It's just a failed part. It took years and miles before any of the problems began to surface, and guess what? When they realized that there was a problem with oil consumption they devised a solution and implemented it. Same with the head gasket. The EGR has to be inspected and cleaned, just like the oil and air filters, but it just wasn't in the forefront as it is now. If you are looking for a car that will perform for well over 250K miles with zero issues, you are shopping in the wrong places along with 100% of the rest of the population, but when you find it, please let us know.

 

I would either go with a 2015 engine or get the same pistons and piston rings from a 2015 engine installed in an early gen 3 engine.

 

To implant a Gen4 engine, you have to reuse the Gen3 EGR system and intake. At least two of use had to transplant the flywheel and damper, and I think (IIRC) one didn't. Where the input shaft and damper changed. There is a slight mod to the lower radiator hose, a connector with two wires have to be lengthened, a nub cut off of the head, and replacing a fitting lost in the EGR change to a simple T added to another, and I made a slight mod to the EGR. @Ragingfit did a series of vids on youtube under name of FixThatPrius showing the entire engine swap, including the mods. Granted I was able to take the the information from Ragingfit and @cnc97 and use my growing up in a Ford dealership and private garages to do this on my own. A moderately skilled mechanic can pull this off simply by watching the vids and reading the commentary, plus he is free to post and ask specific questions before or during.The EGR and intake have to come off anyway, so it's a great time to clean them and the soaking method should work taking breaks to rinse and repeat until clean.
Granted, my doing my own labor made a big difference for me, and I opted for a very low mileage Gen4, but with Toyo's upgrades to this engine and the 5,810 miles (They just broke it in for us), and the way somebody drives, the engine will now probably well outlast the chassis. I had to buy a hoist and stand, but I will sell them and then I will have less than 2K in the swap. Just be sure to invest in Bandaids as they didn't plan on dudes with big hands working on them.
We will be here to help in any way that we can.

 

I spent the past 3 days doing a 2.0 swap in a Ford Transit Connect (Focus drivetrain). This was way more labor intensive then my Prius swap. I hope I never have to do another one.

 

I have have a Lexus ct and just searched the manual and it doesn't say anything about the EGR needing to be periodically cleaned. Can you provide a page number where you found that in the Prius manual? (not trying to argue, genuinely interested in reading what it has to say). I am one that also lost out on this EGR/Headgasket thing, which is a bummer, but engine swap is done and gotta move on...but yeah from here on out, stricter maintenance is warranted. Our old engine did not have the oil loss issue that many complain about, unfortunately our "new" engine has devoured a quart in 800 miles

One other thing i keep seeing (and was mentioned at the beginning of this thread) is to replace the intake manifold. I have my old one pulled off and it's just a piece of plastic with air flow diverters. No electronics or baffles or anything I can see, so why would a new one be needed over just cleaning it? The EGR cooler has not be pleasant to clean as there are tons of fins and close quarters for stuff to stick, but the intake seems super easy to clean. Am I missing something?

Lastly, since i was just gonna post in a different thread, but might as well just ask here, When the EGR is completely cleaned: Should I be able to see through it? Blow air easily through it? Or is there a drain test, like water should drain through it quickly, 5 secs, 10, secs, etc...? I have had mine soaking in Oxy on and off for a week, as well as Easy Off oven cleaner, ( haven't been able to use a pressure washer yet due to weather) and I'm still not seeing through it and it's tough to blow air through it.

Thanks.
Spiral

 

I was told that it was in the service intervals at about 150K covered under exhaust emissions. I could see through parts of the EGR, but not all off it.

 

There is squat about cleaning the EGR. I've gone through the US maintenance booklet, summarized it.


Toyota Canada sent us a notice, that there "could" be a problem with EGR, stressing "the majority of vehicles will not experience this condition"....



I didn't bother waiting for the bs to happen, cleaned it myself, at 70K kms. Kudos to @NutzAboutBolts, and all the pioneers here.

 

I bought a used one on eBay for like $35 because mine was so clogged up there was no way to clean it. Replaced the EGR cooler and the engine code disappeared.

 

well, over the weekend, we had ONE instance of a rough start. My wife didn't notice it, but maybe because she really hasn't been driving it and tuned for it. It happened pretty quick and hasn't happened since. And this is on our "new" engine. The dealer wants to do an oil change at 2k miles (which will come up by Wednesday) and the oil is already down 3/4 of a quart. I'm not sure what I should do/say when the oil change is done. What will the "warranty" cover? Should I push for them to check all these components and clean/replace them? If so, should I incur that cost or should the warranty cover it? Without the symptom being reproducible, I'm guessing they won't want to do anything about it. But on the other hand, would they rather inspect those things now or possible replace a blown head gasket later?? What is our recourse for it eating oil? Even though its a known problem, i have a feeling it might not be /THEIR/ problem. As much as I want to be proactive about this to keep the car running, we also spent thousands of dollars MORE to have the dealer do this engine swap, with a higher milage motor (what we were offered), to get the warranty and I feel the dealer should be the ones being proactive since this is a known issue.

Oil level after 1.2k miles.

 

The two pips represent 1.6 US quarts. Also, which end is the bottom of the dipstick, right or left? And where's the level, as you read it?

 

The end of the dipstick is to the right. The oil was topped off when we left the dealer, so oil was up to the left most dot. The line give/take is where I am reading the oil level. I took the picture so that the dealer could see how much oil was remaining. I didn't want to fill it up to the other mark for this week of driving and then have the oil changed. If it "appears" full when I take it in, they have no reason to believe me that the oil has dropped. I have since added some oil to get it back to 1/2 way between the two points.

 

Yeah then that's down a few oz's over a quart. It's pretty easy to calc, either in liters or (US) quarts: 1.5 inches measure between the marks, equals 1.5 liters (roughly the same in quarts)

Is that the replacement engine dipstick btw? Looks pretty "baked".

What's the miles on that new engine? (apologies if asked and answered)

 

great/no great. I didn't realize it was more than a quart difference. So thanks for that bit of info, not great in that it lost more oil than i thought, bummer. Any thoughts on what I should do with the dealer?

 

Just report the oil usage, see what they say?

What's the story on the engine, when did it go in, how much $, how many miles did they say were on it?

And how many miles were on your car at time of swap?

 

sorry, i posted my story over on danlatu's post, forgot that info wasn't over here. Original engine 203k, daily commuter of 140 miles, a month ago started the rough start, dealer originally said it was due to valve cover gasket leak causing #1 misfire, asked to inspect further, then said #1 loss of compression and bent rod. We opted for the dealer to put in a salvaged (90k+, don't know the exact mileage) engine. Installed 1.5 weeks ago, Engine was $2.1k, Labor $3.5k, incidentals $600 (new plugs, shop fees, etc). We were able to reuse the original coils (plus we still have the set i got thinking the originals needed to be replaced). They gave us a 1 year unlimited mile warranty. I paid the core cost of $45 for the old engine to possibly rebuild (which i have broken down to the block now). Of course, now reading all these posts, with a 90k "new" engine, we could be right back where we started maybe right after the warranty is up.

That's why i'm kinda torn. If i let things go, I'm gambling with an issue in during this year or shortly after the warranty is up. If I maintain, I might give it more life and fingers crossed it lasts longer (mileage wise) than the original.

 

I am totally in the wrong business. THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS for a days work, two at most???? Holy shipwreck Batman that’s outrageous!! I’d have been able to do the whole job for that, with a Gen 4 shortblock and rebuilding your head.

 

Told ya- the market price for engine repairs on modern cars is nuts.

 

I guess I just have to stop charging the “nice guy” labor rates, and start being real. LoL