I found a 2012 on my local Marketplace, a good price for a well-optioned Prius with almost 200k miles. Just one fly in the ointment - it's throwing a check engine light for a P0301. Okay, sounds like it needs a head gasket, maybe they should take a couple thousand off the price, lol? Not so fast. The owner told me that he had head gasket issues about 20,000 miles ago, and his mechanic replaced the head and camshafts with an aftermarket one (???) Not sure if that's rebuilt or whatever. Seemed a little odd to me; I would think you could use the old head, maybe mill it flat and put in some new valve guides. Sounds like the operation was a success and the car is now driving nicely. Anyway, the car has fairly recently begun throwing a P0301 (cyl 1 misfire). The owner has tried replacing plugs and coils, but the misfire remains. Owner says that it's not using any coolant. Seemed to imply that it wasn't even running rough, if I remember right. He said a compression check showed everything good. As far as I can tell, there are two possibilities: 1) the head gasket fix has failed again, due to a defect in materials or workmanship. Or 2) there is some other cause for the misfire. The only thing I can really guess is a fuel injector. Of the two possibilities, #1 seems WAY more likely to me, and I should probably avoid this car unless it is deeply discounted. What do you think?
Listed for $5000; I think it would be an OK price if it was running good, but way too high if a head gasket is needed.
I would go with the assumption a head gasket or new engine is needed. In CA a car like this would be around $2500, needing an engine. But at $2500, they sell really fast
Yeah, that price sounds about right for this area too. Seems odd that the HG job would have failed in such a short time, but mechanics can mess up.
It seems this seller has gone through all the steps to solve the issue, and he can't. So besides fuel injectors (if he hasn't tried), it would come down to a bad repair. Also if he didn't clean out the EGR system, intake manifold from carbon, the problem can definitely come back
He did say that they had cleaned the EGR when the HG was done. And that they had not tried injectors.
so if you can install injectors and see if it'll fix the problem. If yes, then buy the car. If not, then you have to decide the next step
Hopefully including the intake manifold EGR passages. They’re the last leg in the recirculating exhaust gas travel before the intake ports in the head. They’re skinny, easy to overlook, and crucial to be cleaned. Usually cylinder one passage is the first to clog.
Let it go. Owner is trying to get an "is fixed" price but it ain't fixed. You did the work to figure out what is (likely) wrong with it, either strike a deal at a lower price or move on to the next one.
i would price out a new engine install and deduct it from the book value, just in case. sounds like his mech screwed up, maybe the block was warped
The only time somebody else worked on my car they screwed up big time. I've been doing my own repairs since then.
