Blown Head gasket rebuild....@297k

Awesome, greatly appreciate your help pulling this together. Im off for couple of days so wanna do as much as i can

 

Of course not! It's just for the part number I posted that.

For anyone dealing with piston problems, purchase of a new short block might be the way to go.

 

You could pour some marvel mystery oil on the top of the cylinder while you do all the other work.
Let it soak into it, It might help clean the rings, IF they are dirty.
I believe the valve guide seals are where most of the oil burning is coming from.
Someone recently pulled the pistons on his when he did the head gasket, and the rings looked new.
No sticking or clogging.
I've taken several engines apart can't remember seeing any clogged or stuck rings. Unless the engine
was run out of oil or over heated. Not from normal wear and tear.
Just make sure you replace those guide seals! MAYBE reseat the valves?

 

The Toyota gasket kit includes valve guide seals I believe. Handing the bare head over to a good machine shop, supplying them with the seals, is the usual course I think?

That's how @The Critic went:

2011 Prius Head Gasket Failure | PriusChat

 

Man I feel for you...... looks like BS...... these cars are not meant for long term use............... and Toyota couldn't care less.... now I'll get more hate mail.... Crazy to have to go through this....... I tell people to get rid of Gen 3 and I'm a bad person...... sure glad I didn't pay the sticker price new......

 

Trick is to wait for a refresh of the model. Toyota tends to slowly fix some of the issues with the 1st 2 years of production and finally with the last year of production


iPhone ?

 

There is nothing wrong with the Prius. EVERY car has something quirky.
Most of the people have over 200,000 miles on them, and they are still going.
Most know about the EGR, and if people do research, on any car for that matter, they'll
find the quirks and know what to do about them. Like the EGR cooler on the 3rd Generation Prius.
It's very easy to clean. And if you do it early, the head gasket will be fine, in most cases....

 

That is probably the easiest way to go.
It would depend of if the head was warped or not. Fairly easy to check with a straight edge.
Slight chance it may have a crack, but no one else has reported on this.
The surface is easy to clean, and valve guide seals are easy to change with the head off.

If the head id warped, then off to the machine shop it goes....

 

On the "valve guide seals," ...

I'm not too familiar with this engine, but on the engines I do know,

Guides and seals here are two very different things.

valve guides are typically brass (or equivalent) bushings that the valve stems fit through, with a specified fit tolerance, holding them straight, not rattling, etc. They might wear out, but often they last forever. If the valve guides do have a problem, you may first notice it due to the damage they cause to the valve stem seals, resulting in a smoky exhaust.

valve stem seals are rubber (or equivalent) SEALS that fit tightly around the valve stem, further up from the guide, to keep oil from getting past them, where it would enter the intake or exhuast gas flow. If you have excessive oil smoke in the exhaust that may be due to a valve stem seal problem. Like most rubber parts, they eventually harden with age and heat cycles, so replacing them probably is a good idea if it is easy to get to them, such as if you are already diassembling the valves. The cost of the seals is close to zero. If the seals failed due to out-of-spec valve guides, you'll need to also fix the guides if you don't want the seals problem to return.

So the guides are metal, and keep the valve aligned and moving as it should

The seals are rubber, and keep the oil from getting past

Replacing guides is a job for a machine shop, if needed. And if doing that, a replacement head might be considered instead.

Replacing seals can be DIY, and is part of the process if you disassemble the valves (springs, etc.)

So if you're talking to the machine shop or doing a google search for the parts, using the right words may help.

 

Oem usually great stuff. But Fel-Pro usually a better head gasket.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Heres quick update with picture and video of clogging. I sprayed throttle body cleaner and it just starts puddling instead of seeping through that shows how bad the clogging was for head gasket to blow. I used whole throttle body cleaner bottle and its barely getting through now, still clogged with carbon. There are carbon chunks coming out which were deposited over time, how can i clean it?
can i just use some strong degreaser mixed in water and soak for few hours and then use throttle body cleaner to displace any water left inside? Or any other cleaning solution to break loose carbon?

 

Another quick question, any suggestions to which sealnat tube to use? I see in videos they put sealant ointment from tubes but no one mentions to what that stuff is called and where to get?

 

My egr cooler was nowhere near as clogged. I first used brake cleaner, with lacklustre results. Then switched to a hot tap water Oxi-Clean solution. Plug the bottom of the cooler, mix powdered Oxi-Clean with hot tap water, as concentrated as possible, and pour in.

If it won't flow gently poke with bare copper wire. A thin/bare grounding wire perhaps. Or maybe a guitar string?? Something that can work through the carbon.

Maybe pressure washer will help to blast it open. The solution needs to get through the passages to work.

It will start bubbling, acting on the carbon.

Others have used oven cleaner, which is similar but stronger. Be careful with the latter, use rubber gloves for sure. Oxi is around ph 11, and oven cleaner around 13 IIRC.

 

Oh wow 13 ph is very alkaline. I used to handle 18 baume caustic at my previous job and it was very corrosive, if it gets on hands u have to keep washing for good 2 to 3 mins for it to come off. I will try oxy and water, will use pressure washer as well

 

Valve guides are brass. Have been since the 70's because of unleaded gas.
If they are worn, the valve will move around even when fully closed.

 

Oven Cleaner! I used it on my 1975 Yamaha RD350 when removing the carbon.
Spray both ends of the cooler and fill it up. It will foam out. USE GLOVES!
Give it a minute or so and do it a few times. Let it soak for a least 30 minutes. Probably
longer for yours since it's so clogged.
Then use a pressure washer. You may have to do that a few times.
I would wear eye protection too with the pressure washer...

 

Will def use gloves and eye protection.
Since u have experience working on several engines, what is that grease type thing you use before put seals and head gasket on? Is it some special kind of sealant? I checked at walmart they have black gasket maker but it says on back not to use with head gasket.

 

Don't use anything on the head gasket. But I haven't done a head gasket on the Prius, yet.
You'll have to check the specs, and with Toyota, on if there is a spot or two you are suppose to
put some on there sealant on, usually the corners. But I am not certain.
But those that have done a head gasket, will probably let you know.

I rarely use anyone on a gasket, except for a light coating of permatex to hold it in place.
I use silicon spray on "O" ring though. Unless it's the brakes, then I use brake fluid.

 

Mine was clogged like yours. I used a pressure washer and just blasted it until it got loose and blew out. It took several minutes but eventually got it spotless.

 

I have it sitting everything in oxi clean bath. I plan to leave it overnight and tomorrow i will get back at it and finish it off. I made some more progress now, engine mount is off, pulley is off (i could not even budge it then read somewhere to use AC screw and it popped right off) and water pump is off as well. next up is timing chain cover, number of screws scaring me they r just awful amount of screws to take off.