Gen 3 Head Gasket Problems?

[mpm235]

Hello all, at some point I will replace my Gen 2 Prius. Possibly with a Gen 3. I've seen stuff on online about the 1.8 Gen 3 engine having cylinder head gasket problems, ( possibly caused by dirty EGR valve). Has anyone on here owned a Gen 3 that has had this problem? Or any mechanics who have seen it? ( I would guess the 1.8 Auris would have the same problem, is that the case?)

Thanks, Mark

[FROSTYBALLS]

See recent topic:

 

[TonyHSD]

Hi Mark,

I have Auris Hybrid from 2010 same as gen 3 Prius it’s just over 160k miles no problems so far touching the wood, I did cleaned my egr at 140k miles as the engine started  knocking at specific times, I found a lot of info on the web here in uk and us but tbh not much cases of failing head gasket in uk ., more relevant to the us market. My advice is if you buying a car with less than 100k miles first thing to do is to clean the egr , or if you are looking at car over 100k miles make sure you have information about the egr if been taken care of and at what mileage. Maybe take the car to a trusted garage for inspection too. 
Good luck 

[greenleaf]

Hi Mark,

its a common problem in hybrid engines and its caused by engine water pump failure its better to change the water pump on 100k just to be on safe side.

hope it helps

[mpm235]

7 hours ago, greenleaf said:

Hi Mark,

its a common problem in hybrid engines and its caused by engine water pump failure its better to change the water pump on 100k just to be on safe side.

hope it helps

Hello Greenleaf, thanks very much for the reply. The water pump on the 1.8 Gen 3 is, of course, an electric one (no drive belt). Do you know if it is more expensive to replace than a conventional one? Is it a main dealer only job? Or can a good general mechanic do it? Thanks in advance for any replies, cheers, Mark

[Gerg]

Hi Mark,

The water pump is around £250 when I last looked into this (but that was pre-Brexit!).  There are suppliers outside of the Toyota dealer network, including EuroCarParts etc. etc..  I can see no reason why it should be any harder than a normal pump, if anything a little easier (no drive belt to refit etc).  If it wasn't that you had to drain the coolant, then I'd expect it to be very easy indeed.

One poster on here, TonyHSD, was doing mega miles in his 2010 Auris hybrid, (so same engine etc.).  I have an idea his car is at 160,000 miles.  I don't think he has had any problems that way.  I have an idea that this is a 150,000+ miles issue, but I'm still looking for other people's experiences.  I'm not aware of any early warning signs of impending pump failure - it's not like they can leak, as a normal one would, as they are sealed from the outside world!

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

water pumps are electric but that’s only how they spin otherwise same as any standard water pumps. Since they don’t spin all the time and when they do, they spin at different speeds than the crankshaft they are likely to last longer than conventional pumps, changing coolant regularly I believe also helps prolong the life of it. I don’t see a reason to change the pump or thermostat before it’s gone since if any of those  is not working you will get info on the dash and temp gauge will go up, also if the turbine it’s gone you will loose heating as coolant won’t be able to circulate the system, once all or any of these signs occur changing the pump it’s easy task , just 5 bolts and it’s off the engine. Price is high though therefore I am keeping mine until I notice malfunction for now. These also can be tested on the car with diagnostic tools and see if the operational. 

 

[mpm235]

Thanks very much for the info Gents. £250 is slightly steep, but not the end of the world, although I would see if I could get one from Blue Print (I've always used Blue Print on my Japenese cars, both Toyota and Honda employees have told me they are up to origanal standard), Cheers, Mark

[QuantumFireball]

I've heard more about head gasket failure from blocked EGR valves than water pump failures.

[AisinW]

For waterpump, always buy Aisin. It is identical with Toyota genuine parts, they scrap the toyota symbol on Aisin waterpump

[TonyHSD]

But even blueprint boxed parts the water pump will be aisin and the thermostat will be the same brands as the genuine Toyota ones. Third party aftermarket for these and especially unknown names not a bright idea. 👍

[AisinW]

I started using Blue print products especially their OIl and air filter. The cabin filter is not as good as Bosch/Denso with full fiber glass, mold resistance.  The oil filter in Blue Print is nicely glued and packed and better than Bosch or OEM filter. OEM filter is too expensive to what it is and Bosch filter has unclean cut on the plastic perimeters, probably I got some bad batch recently.