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Is this blown head gasket?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by justdog, Apr 26, 2021.

  1. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    Hi guys, I did the Gen 4 swap to the Gen 3 about 20,000 miles ago. The motor would get hot and give me a temperature flashing light only in the morning when I left for work. It would stay on for a couple seconds and then go off for the rest of the day. As soon as light goes off hot air comes gushing through the heater. Anyway, I'm driving home from work the other day no temperature light and I get hybrid system failure pull over to a safe spot. Didn't notice anything no smells no leaks or anything like that. I get home pull codes p3190 and 3191. Inspecting the car I see this thick sludge kind of like grease sprayed all over the back of the engine and engine bay. Is this a blown head gasket? I don't see any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. I can't really tell where it's coming from but it looks to be from the gasket. Think it might have been sprayed around by drive shaft. 20210426_162525.jpeg 20210426_162821.jpeg 20210426_162801.jpeg

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    #1 justdog, Apr 26, 2021
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    are you losing any oil?

    do you mean you installed a gen4 engine in your gen3?
     
    #2 bisco, Apr 26, 2021
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Ordinarily that's what a blown CV boot looks like when it spreads grease all over the place, but hard to tell from the camera angles and no doubt if the CV boot was blown you'd of noticed that. And fact the exhaust header looks so greased too you must be smoking pretty bad too, but you didn't mention that as a symptom?

    If I were you I'd get it all as clean as possible up in there and pull the plugs and see if you get any hints from that then keep doing more diagnosis for your error codes.
     
    #3 PriusCamper, Apr 26, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2021
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  4. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    Oil looks a little low, but real clean. Engine came out of 16 w 14k miles. I've only put about 20k. That's why I'm a little bit bummed. Also, just installed a battery set from new prius batteries at $1600. Not even a week before
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    #4 justdog, Apr 27, 2021
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  5. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    No smoke. Car didn't make any noise. Just threw check hybrid system and never started again. Got P3191 and 3190. Those codes need to a bunch of different things. I swapped maf and thottle body with my Corolla just to try. Same parts. I'll check the plugs today. I'm just skeptical about cv boot. That wouldn't stop car from running. Everything was fine until then. Except for the morning overheating. After you mentioned cv boot. It is directly all around like it was flinging it, does look more like grease than oil. Doesn't smell like oil either.
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    #5 justdog, Apr 27, 2021
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2021
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    do you think the coolant needs to be bled?
     
    #6 bisco, Apr 27, 2021
  7. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    An overheating motor can cause a head gasket to fail for sure, but it's going to be hard to tell with the patient still on the table in cardiac arrest. If you get the heart restarted the next thing on your list would be to find and stop the bleeding.....

    Are you sure your car didn't die WITH an oil leak rather than FROM an oil leak?
    Recent traction battery replacement.

    ..."always look where you've been."
     
    #7 ETC(SS), Apr 27, 2021
  8. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    When I get home I'll clean it all off. But it makes sense that that might be the grease from the CV boot. Again, the oil is clean there were no leads the oil that I drained from engine when I received it looked brand new the car only had 14,000 miles on it and I put another just under 20 k. I know that when I did the swap, the EGR cooler was so close to the ECT sensor that it shaved the wires. I changed the connector but not the sensor. Could that cause the car to not start? I've tried everything that the p3191 says swapped throttle body, Maf, new electrical connector for ECT sensor. Maybe I should have changed the sensor. Would that cause engine to not start though? I'm lost tried all kind of stuff. Don't want to junk the car and get a new one because I just installed the engine, and just installed a $1600 new Prius battery.com kit less than a week ago

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    #8 justdog, Apr 27, 2021
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  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Sure is nice to read a thread from someone who is competent at doing a diagnosis. Seems like you're doing everything right to figure out what's wrong. We look forward to what you finally figure out!
     
    #9 PriusCamper, Apr 27, 2021
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  10. royrose

    royrose Senior Member

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    Transaxle fluid? That would be separate from oil and coolant levels/condition.
     
    #10 royrose, Apr 27, 2021
  11. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    I think I might have narrowed it down. Not for sure, but I thought maybe the fuel pump, I've tried everything else except for that. I putting carb cleaner into throttle body into throttle body and engine fired right up. It didn't last very long, but I knew the motor was running and not just cranking because it showed me the power transfer on the display and way higher RPMs it was obvious. It would only run for about 10 or 15 seconds though and then the throttle body would slam shut and turn off car. I'll try to remove fuel line tomorrow to see if it's pumping at all. I'm hoping that is it, sucky job but at least I'll have a conclusion

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    #11 justdog, Apr 27, 2021
  12. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    10 to 15 seconds is about how long the hybrid battery spins the engine before it gives up... Did you actually hear combustion driving that engine, or just the electric motor spinning it? Same error codes after that?
     
    #12 PriusCamper, Apr 28, 2021
  13. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    I actually heard combustion it revved up way higher. Yeah I know the spinning sounds like it's running real weak but no this thing started burning and again it started pushing juice to the EV battery on the dash. When only spinning that part of the dash stays blank.

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    #13 justdog, Apr 28, 2021
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  14. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    Yes same codes, because it would only stay running so long with starting fluid. I just soaked the air filter and went for it. It ran for more than 15 seconds I'd say about a good 30 seconds. That stuff evaporates quick when I took it out was kind of dry. Don't want to keep using that just don't want to ruin anything, just a test

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    #14 justdog, Apr 28, 2021
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  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you think that's carb cleaner splattered all over everything underneath?
     
    #15 bisco, Apr 28, 2021
  16. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    No. I think that is from that cv boot right there
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    #16 justdog, Apr 28, 2021
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  17. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    I ordered an aftermarket fuel pump this morning 400 bucks with a 1 year warranty. I called City Visa and they said they will double the warranty because that's the cards policy. So 2 years for 100 bucks free returns, I'll give it a shot. Hopefully that cheap aftermarket pump doesn't leave me stranded

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    #17 justdog, Apr 28, 2021
  18. justdog

    justdog Junior Member

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    Changed fuel pump. Didn't work. At this point just throwing$ at it! When I do figure it out,everything will be new. Haha, I hear fuel pumping and removed hose from top of pump and has plenty of pressure. Sprayed carb cleaner on air filter and ran fine for about 2 minutes till it evaporated. I'm going to remove injectors to see if they are working. Any other ideas?

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    #18 justdog, May 4, 2021
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