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Can DTC codes pinpoint which engine water cooling parts need replaced?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by PriusFL2007, Jul 1, 2024.

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  1. PriusFL2007

    PriusFL2007 Junior Member

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    #1 PriusFL2007, Jul 1, 2024
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    A 2007 mechanical water pump recall on the one NZ sounds good to me buddy seems awfully old I don't know how they have to honor these things that water pumps probably a whopping $25 few minutes to put it on there's no alternator in your way and if it's one of the electric ones even faster than that but they might cost a few more dollars so I don't know what Toyota is going to do 10 years after the fact on a recall have no clue Good luck with it.
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Jul 1, 2024
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Recall C0U was about the electric pump that cools the power electronics and transaxle, not the engine.

    Is that the cooling issue you're thinking of?
     
    #3 ChapmanF, Jul 1, 2024
  4. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Extremely unlikely. A water pump isn't a pressing safety issue, like an airbag recall. Your car at this point is at least 15 years old, everything on it is way past warranty and, more to the point, at the age where parts wear out. It doesn't make much sense to do anything until you have read the codes, or shown that there are no codes. There are at least 2 pumps in the engine cooling loop, the main one driven by the belt and one under the thermos bottle. There might be another associated with the heater core. The last one (or two) are electric. If the belt driven pump is going it should be pretty obvious, it would be leaking, or maybe the belt wouldn't be moving.

    Not sure how you ruled out a failure of the inverter pump. The OEM ones only last 60k miles or so and when the inverter starts to overheat the car becomes progressively less functional in a big hurry. You can check that it is running visually, no OBD2 required. Open the coolant reservoir next to the inverter and start the car. Look into the reservoir. If you don't see coolant movement the pump is probably bad. One caveat, be sure it is filled to the appropriate level first. If that is the problem it isn't hard to replace one of these yourself. However, buy an OEM pump from a known Toyota source. The non OEM pumps are far less reliable and there are lots of OEM fakes on Amazon and Ebay. Call around to dealers for the best price.

    Not having an OBD2 reader is a big mistake. Do you have a cell phone? Then buy a blue-tooth OBD2 adapter that you can use with it. A very good one can be had for roughly $50. Alternatively, you could get the blink codes (search for "prius blink codes") which may give you some information.
     
    #4 pasadena_commut, Jul 1, 2024
  5. PriusFL2007

    PriusFL2007 Junior Member

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    My car had LSC A0N done I was thinking rather about 12V-536 a/k/a C0U – (C1U)?)
     
    #5 PriusFL2007, Jul 2, 2024
  6. PriusFL2007

    PriusFL2007 Junior Member

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    My understanding of cars is truly poor. I reported to the mechanic that the car A?C would cool off for maybe two hours and it would then get to the point of blowing hot air. These f***kers (no other suitable word for it), are either completely ignorant or truly female biological parent copulators because one of them privately disclosed they get paid a commission on each job rather than a set amount per hour which meant that they had an incentive to diagnose the most expensive job possible. They wanted to discharge the freeon, charge it again and test for leaks and test other A/C parts just to get money out of me. I knew this was unrelated because the car becomes a virtual igloo often enough that I knew this was no freeon related. I kept searching in PriusChat for symptoms and somewhere I read about water pump issues. I do not remember what thread that was, but I ended up asking Chat GPT for a list of symptoms of water pump failure and it gave me a long list that was at least a 90% match with the symptoms I've been experiencing with this vehicle.
     
    #6 PriusFL2007, Jul 2, 2024
  7. PriusFL2007

    PriusFL2007 Junior Member

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    I agree, it'sa mistake. For someone as obsessed as I am with saving money and with making the best expert possible choice (without being any sort of expert), I've read almost an entire thread on recommended OBDII scanners here and it was overwhelming. I almost settled on one unit under $100 (do not remember anymore what it was because I was still trying to digest every thread I found in here about OBDII choices. The one I was settling for required a subscription (which I despise) for the option of bleeding the brakes and stuff like that. It was (according to the reviews) almost at techstream level when used with the subscription. I also have a mini VCI that came with TS and an XP laptop laying around just for that but it's convoluted to use and it is scorching hot out there. I ultimately made an appointment with the dealer for an inspection on the 8th. I doubt I could possibly get an OBDII to arrive here much sooner than the 8th. Will report back after the inspection though. My dream OBDII scanner is compatible with Android 9 (Oreo), working perfectly and no plans on upgrading my phone unless it somehow disintegrates, and ideally, it should be able to clear codes as effectively as disconnecting the battery does. Is there such a thing?
     
    #7 PriusFL2007, Jul 2, 2024
  8. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    If your car knowledge is poor the last thing you should consider doing is bleeding the Prius brakes. It is very complicated and even the experts have problems with it. One glitch in the software during the procedure and it is back to square one.

    For OBD2 I have a Veepeak which I like. The Autel AP200 has been gaining in popularity in this forum, and it is said to be able to do that brake bleed procedure - which you should never attempt.
     
    #8 pasadena_commut, Jul 2, 2024
  9. PriusFL2007

    PriusFL2007 Junior Member

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    A friend did the surgery and changed the ABS on another Prius I still have (a 2007) and it was not recognized by the ECU (I guess). I was never able to get that car back on the road safely. We tried the bleeding thing (he knows much more about brakes than I do) and I was just the operator and I was running StreamTech with the XP laptop and the mini VCI to no avail. He didn't have a lot of time and I don't have anyone I can trust. There is too much financial incentive for people who are knowledgeable and make a living at this to conceal the truth or lie just to get the maximum amount of money from people who like me, know nothing about cars.
     
    #9 PriusFL2007, Jul 2, 2024
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