Blown head gasket? Need new engine?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by crispyphage, May 9, 2025 at 4:19 PM.

  1. crispyphage

    crispyphage New Member

    Joined:
    Yesterday
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Hi everyone, my car started making this noise when starting up. It is a 2014 Toyota Prius Two with 165k miles. My research says it has a blown head gasket, and I’ll need a new engine. Is this right? Does anyone have an idea of how much this will cost? Was this preventable? I would love advice.

    I have a video but I can't upload it. It's a quick rattling sound that goes on for 30 seconds and then stops.
     
  2. MAX2

    MAX2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2024
    1,412
    460
    101
    Location:
    Third planet from the Sun
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Until you have five messages, you will not be able to post links to other resources.
    What do you have besides the video? Diagnostic data, codes with error designations?

    How, besides the sound, did you determine the blown engine head gasket?
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    58,473
    40,269
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Assuming it is head gasket failure, you’ll need something. Most expedient is to acquire the Toyota gasket kit (includes replacement head gasket) and new head bolts (not mandatory if old ones are still within specs, but prudent). Doing the job yourself can be just the cost of those items, say around $300~400 USD. If you employ a machine shop, say to refurbish the head, maybeanother $500~1000?

    regarding “new” engine, it’d more accurately be salvage or refurbished engine. Hybrid Pit Stop is one source (for the latter), worth checking out.
    Turnkey quotes vary widely, say $2500~$6000.
    My 2 cents: a full EGR system clean at least every 50k miles, this wouldn’t be happening.

    attached has parts nos for aforementioned gasket kit and head bolts. Also have a look at links in my signature. Last one is full engine section from repair manual. (On a phone turn it landscape to see signatures).
     

    Attached Files:

    #3 Mendel Leisk, May 10, 2025 at 9:06 AM
    Last edited: May 10, 2025 at 11:03 AM
    MAX2 likes this.
  4. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2021
    2,599
    1,395
    0
    Location:
    SacTown, Ca
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    LE
    Welcome;
    If you catch this problem early enough; you may only need a head gasket replacement. Try these guys.

    Prius Head Gasket Repair San Francisco, CA | Gasket Masters, Inc.
     
  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
    11,627
    2,058
    0
    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Minimum 4 grand I can almost guarantee you unless you are well experienced and have a good game this car is generally not worth your trouble but that's in the eye of the beholder we've been through two wouldn't touch another one my friends love them we drive generation too they can last forever they have a chance the three does not