Loud rattle when engine kicked on

If there is damage to the clutch damper is it an expensive repair?

 

Thanks. Great explanations. A car idiot like me can understand what you're saying.

 

I do not have those problems as far as I'm aware. Thank you ToyXW.

 

Thanks ToyXW. I did call one of them. Gentleman was very knowledgeable and helpful. Like most of you his experience suggests it's likely just the head gasket but their cost to fix it is over $5,000. If it ended up being more than the head gasket, we'd be in for big money after that. Don't think I'm going to spend that much for just the HG- especially with the high mileage on my car. It did have a good warranty and included water pump replacement.

 

Thanks, rjparker. What is your level of confidence with the rebuilt hybrid pit motor? The mechanic that I've found that does hybrid engine replacements won't provide a warranty on the install because he's not heard of them.

 

Just got off the phone with them. Talked to Greg. Great conversation. Thanks for suggesting them. Not sure I'm going to fix the car (& decided not to spend $6400 at the dealership, especially w/out a warranty to do it), but I do feel better about it the possibility after talking to him. If I lived in CA, I would be there today having them do it. Part of my problem is finding someone in Columbus with the expertise to do it who will give me a warranty on the install. The place here that I found sounds very good and has good ratings but they won't give warranties unless they pick the engine. Also still a little nervous about something else going wrong- battery, breaking system in the near future.

 

Also in Columbus. NW Side. Would definitely like to hear your advice. I'm definitely not doing this myself, though. Deciding whether to give up on the car or get a remanufactured engine from Hybrid Pit and have a mechanic in Columbus install it. May have found a mechanic but not certain. I tried to start a "conversation" with you but I got an error message. From what I can find, it looks like true hybrid mechanics are few and far between in these parts. See if you're able to message me. There's something you put in another post that I want to tell you about.

 

For anyone still following, I'm leaning heavily towards purchasing an remanufactured engine from Hybrid Pit (if the shipping is reasonable) and having it installed by a mechanic here who has good reviews and experience with hybrids, including installing engines (although unlike California and other places, nobody near me specializes just in hybrids). Since I'm not sure how much experience this mechanic has replacing these particular engines, I want to be certain that everything that should be done is done. Here's what I think should be done. If anything is wrong or anything needs to be added, please let me know:
-replace water pump
-peek at clutch damper in the transaxle to see if there's any damage (largely because this is where I think my mechanic noticed noise---he suggested it was a motor generator that's part of the hybrid system, which I think based on all of your comments is the clutch damper, right?), paying particular attention to the springs.
-clean the egr (this was supposedly done at the dealership ~20,000 miles ago. If it looks clean should I still have him clean it?)

 

Same. I get "We could not find the page you were looking for." when I click on "start a conversation". I just "followed" you. Maybe that will make a difference?