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What trouble could empty coolant cause and how to repair it ?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by scramasax, Feb 5, 2021.

  1. scramasax

    scramasax Junior Member

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    I had my manifold replaced which lead to coolant leak because the mechanic did not know that there was coolant in the catalytic converter(what was told to me by the garage) so they put back some coolant and forgot to put the cap back. When I took my car back the coolant empy itself on the road and pretty remove most of the coolant of the system.

    It was in winter so the motor did not got hot enough to light up in the dash the car was just pushing cold air. I brought back the car to the garage they put back coolant and sent me back but this time the hot motor light up after 45 minutes. . The air was still cold so I got back again a the garage and they put back coolant but now the pipe before the thermostat was a lot hotter than the pipe after the thermostat and there was no heat in the car so they changed the thermostat. There is still no air in the car so the mechanics do not know what to do.

    Is there other parts of the system that could break if the car is run with pretty much no coolant ?
    Is there more than one thermostat in a Prius?
    Is there a procedure to follow to remove the air from the coolant system that I could give to the mechanics?
     
    #1 scramasax, Feb 5, 2021
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    do you have a toyota dealer available?
     
    #2 bisco, Feb 5, 2021
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Any time the engine runs with no coolant, there are serious risks, and you just have to hope you were as lucky as possible.

    You did not get an overheat light on the dash, but that light depends on a temperature sensor in a single location, that did not have engine coolant flowing past it, so it did not know how hot the engine was getting.

    There are areas in the engine where much more heat is produced than others. When no coolant is flowing, it is not just that the engine as a whole gets warmer, it is that the certain concentrated-heat areas get really hot, and the temperature differences between areas get really drastic, because there is no coolant circulating to even them out. That can lead to warped metal and other lasting damage.

    A thermostat that has been severely overheated can fail to operate later and need to be replaced. It sounds like that happened.

    The procedure to bleed the air from the cooling system is in the repair manual (more info) and the mechanics certainly should have access to that, either directly or through one of the third-party services that mechanics can subscribe to.
     
    #3 ChapmanF, Feb 5, 2021
    mikey_t likes this.
  4. scramasax

    scramasax Junior Member

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    That was my next move if the mechanics did not found the trouble.

    From the comment above I have pretty much no choice to go back to the dealer just in case later problem are related to that.
     
    #4 scramasax, Feb 5, 2021
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Maybe mention lawsuit to those clowns...
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Feb 5, 2021
  6. scramasax

    scramasax Junior Member

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    After many things they tried they are saying the pump is broken but the garage is saying it is not related and want to charge me for it. So the car will be towed to the dealer for repair. Does somebody has some documentation about the pump running dry because I will have to go in court against the garage
     
    #6 scramasax, Feb 11, 2021
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  7. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    How many kilometers on the vehicle?

    Which manifold was replaced and why did it need replacing?

    If the coolant system is intact and working correctly, there shouldn't be a situation where the coolant would flow out of the reservoir, even when the cap is loose or missing. Any ideas as to where the coolant was actually leaking from?
    Did you find a resolution at the dealership?
     
    #7 SFO, Mar 9, 2021
    Raytheeagle and mikey_t like this.
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