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08 Prius No Heat, blowing only cold air

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by fishbones, Apr 17, 2011.

  1. fishbones

    fishbones Junior Member

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    Last week one day I took off for work one cold Michigan morning and found my 08 prius blowing only cold air. I took it to a local Prius dealership for a diagnosis. They had it for quite a while, said they had a hard time figuring it out but it turns out my thermostat was stuck closed. I kindly passed on there $300 thermostat change and picked up my vehicle and purchased the parts to make the repair myself. Well today I finished the cooling system drain and thermostat change but when I fired up my prius and brought it up to operating temperature I found that I still have nothing but cold air blowing :confused:. Has anyone else ever seen this before?
     
  2. koolingit

    koolingit Member

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    You probably have air trapped throughout the cooling system. I've never done the work but after reading http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...shooting/30813-changing-engine-coolant-3.html by Patrick Wongs description, I feel that I could.

    Start with post #22 and look for Patrick's additions through the rest of the thread. He added info as he gained knowlege.

    Good luck!
     
  3. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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  4. Michgal007

    Michgal007 Senior Member

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    Can't you see, your prius is begging you to get out of Michigan. :p
     
  5. fishbones

    fishbones Junior Member

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    hahaha, hey, with this economy it dont have to beg much :D

    Thanks for the replys, I will give them some try's. I did not think that I could get air in the system thought. I mean, it worked one day great, sat for a day and the next morning it was ice cold.
     
  6. fishbones

    fishbones Junior Member

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    Well got all the air out, used the trick posted by Patrick Wong about jumping the hcs??? pump to purge the air out, worked great got another half gallon in. On the down side, the thermostat change recommended by the dealer did not work, still blowing ice cold air.

    Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.....
    Ruled out
    1. Stuck thermostat - replaced
    2. Air in system - purged

    Also, I use a scangauge and the Water Temp is running 188-193 now, before I got teh air out it was running 225.
     
  7. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    225 for FWT is crazy. I've never seen my car get that high, even in the summer when I was in California.
     
  8. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    In addition to relying on the ScanGauge reading, I suggest that you touch the radiator hose that connects to the thermostat housing to confirm that hot coolant is flowing.

    Once you are satisfied that the engine coolant system is working properly, then the lack of cabin heating means that you have a problem with the HVAC system. Maybe the air conditioning ECU is not working or the heater core valve may be stuck. It is probably time to let the Toyota dealer service dept try to figure out the problem since your work has ruled out the "obvious" possibility.
     
  9. fishbones

    fishbones Junior Member

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    Thanks Patrick for the advice.
    Both radiator hoses are getting hot.
    Today she ran at 193-198 on the scangauge, seems hotter than normal? What does everyone else see for a normal temperature?

    Jim
     
  10. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    More air to purge I suspect
     
  11. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    If the OP hears air bubbling in the cabin air heater core, then I would agree.
     
  12. fishbones

    fishbones Junior Member

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    Well took it to the experts at my local toyota dealership, yah right...:p They had to get Toyota Technical involved who said they have only seen 4 cars like this and they all had a plugged coolant pump that circulates the coolant into the heater core under the cowl. So my trusty dealer says that while they cant say for sure, I will have to pay 3 hours labor to have them find out....:cool: very suspiscious. I made the point that I already paid 50 bucks for one false diagnosis and now they want me to pay for another one of there guesses, you gotta be kidding. Well I had no choice and told them to go ahead. Hopefully they just need to clean the pump otherwise a new pump is over $600 bucks..... How does that saying go.... "you askef for it, you got it, Toyota" my feeling is that I will really get it on this one:confused:

    More to come........
     
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  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    are you past warranty?
     
  14. fishbones

    fishbones Junior Member

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    Bisco,
    2nd owner.
    Just bought it 2 months ago with 85k, now I have 91k, I drive 800 miles per week commute :D

    Dealer called today and said it's fixed and it was exactly as the Toyota Technical team described, a plugged AC / Coolant Pump located under the cowl. The dealer saved the material that caused the block, they said it looked like a piece of foam.......... Of course my first comment was "where did it come from" as there is probably something deteriorating in the cooling system which lead to this.
    Plan to list it on Craigs List next week for those who are interested, 08 prius, silver green, tan leather, level 6, nice car.
     
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  15. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    Foam, huh. Piece of rubber (hose) ?
     
  16. fishbones

    fishbones Junior Member

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    They showed it to me today, looked like some of that black form pipe insulation. Supposedly there going to give it to the dealer rep and Toyota is going to do an analysis on it.

    Wonder if Toyota will pay my bill.....:D

    Heat working great now...
     
  17. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Your post may be the first on PC with this particular issue. It is interesting that more owners have not reported failure of this pump. There have been numerous reported failures of the other three coolant pumps.

    Are you planning to sell the car because of this failure? I'm surprised, since you only bought it two months ago.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how much was the damage?
     
  19. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    For peace of mind I'd blame some abuse or misadventure by the previous owner, and get on with life.
     
  20. cv66-200traps

    cv66-200traps New Member

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    I just went thru the exact same scenario with my 2008 Prius. One day, no heat. I found your article and passed the info (with some skepticism from my mechanic). After a day of general troubleshooting, he could not find an electrical or mechanical problem. No error code...no mechanical problem. On the second day, he started pulling the components and...VoilĂ !...clogged pump due to rubber insulation pieces!! Do you have a case number from Toyota? I saved the pieces and also would like to know where they came from.

    Thank you for the info. It was very helpful.

     
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