Head Gasket Replacement vs New Engine

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by anthnyalxndr, Mar 21, 2017.

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  1. anthnyalxndr

    anthnyalxndr New Member

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    Hey guys,
    I'm new to this forum looking for some advice. I own a 2010 prius IV with about 120 k miles on it. It was running great until the engine started shaking upon start up. I took it to the dealer and they diagnosed the shaking as a head gasket that needs to be replaced.

    Apparently I'm left with two options. 1-move forward with the head gasket replacement but risk not being able to put another head gasket on b/c the part that the head gasket fits on may be stripped or 2- replace the engine.They're quoting around 3k for a head gasket replacement and 5k for a new engine.

    To give some more context the engine has been burning oil (not excessively) for the past year.

    What are your thoughts?
     
    #1 anthnyalxndr, Mar 21, 2017
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Is that 5K for a new new engine, installed? I just happened to be looking up the part price: discounted online price from a very competive site for the engine is $7700 and change.

    I'd assume it's a salvaged engine, see if they have one lined up, see if they can give you info on it, how many miles on it.

    Seems like a lot of head gasket failures happening, btw. :confused:
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, Mar 21, 2017
  3. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    if you're not losing coolant then engine is fine,just clean the egr system.
     
    #3 tankyuong, Mar 21, 2017
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  4. anthnyalxndr

    anthnyalxndr New Member

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    @Mendel Leisk thanks for your response, but the engine is used w/ about 50k miles on it. To me it just seems it shouldn't be that hard to replace a head gasket, so I'm looking for guidance from someone who's gotten it done on their prius. But yea, definitely seems like this has been happening more an more.
     
    #4 anthnyalxndr, Mar 23, 2017
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  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would shop around for a local mech qualified to put in salvage engine.
     
    #5 bisco, Mar 23, 2017
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    On the face of it, it would seem simpler to replace head gasket, but there's a couple of issues:

    1. It's a lot of tricky labour to get to the gasket, eclipses the cost of just replacing the whole engine.
    2. If the gasket has failed, it could be because the head is warped, and then you're looking at more expense for machining and/or replacing the head, or going back to engine replacement.

    (Full disclosure: I've never been in that situation, am not that knowledgeable, am mainly just regurgitating what I've read.)
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, Mar 23, 2017
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i should have that disclosure as my byline.:cool: hmm... it seems a certain person got elected president doing the same thing.:whistle:
     
    #7 bisco, Mar 23, 2017
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