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TSB: Coolant leakage at front exhaust pipe (Prius & Prius Prime)

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Elektroingenieur, Nov 2, 2019.

  1. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    On September 26, Toyota issued Service Bulletin T-SB-0135-19, “Low Coolant, MIL ON DTC P148F00, and/or Poor Heater Performance” (PDF), for 2016–2019 Prius and 2017–2019 Prius Prime cars, if they have low coolant level, diagnostic trouble code P148F00 (Engine Coolant Pump Over Revolution), or poor heater performance.

    The bulletin asks dealers to check for “signs of coolant leakage into the exhaust system from the front exhaust pipe heat exchanger,” and if such signs are found, initially or after pressurizing the cooling system to 122 kPa (17 psi), to replace the front exhaust pipe assembly with a new one of improved design. The repair is covered under the emission control warranty.
     
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  2. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Thanks - could we assume this would only refer to cars with Exhaust Heat Recirculation System?
     
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  3. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    Correct; it’s on all 2016 and later Prius and Prius Prime cars built for the U.S. market, so they don’t mention it in the bulletin.
     
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  4. rosencrantz

    rosencrantz Member

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    Thank you for the notification. I looked up Toyota's California emission warranty and it wasn't clear to me how long this particular problem would be warranted for. Do you know whether this problem would be covered by Toyota's "long term emission defect" warranty? I see online that to get the 7 year/70,000 mile warranty, it would have to be a problem with a listed, specific part. Is the "front exhaust pipe heat exchanger" noted in the service bulletin the same thing as "exhaust front pipe (including catalytic converter)" noted on page 25 of the warranty booklet? Just trying to figure out how long I've got to have this potential problem looked into....
    Thanks again.
    EDIT: I looked at your included link and saw the warranty period. Thanks again for posting this information.
     
    #4 rosencrantz, Nov 3, 2019
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2019
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  5. Elt31987

    Elt31987 Active Member

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    Unfortunately i noticed i was loosing coolant. I had just so happened to have a Blackstone labs analysis done 1000 miles prior so i knew it wasn't in the oil. I used one of those Block Tester Exhaust Leak tests and that passed. So after some quick digging i found this post with the TSB. Of course in NH Emissions warranty is only 80K and im at 101K so this was out of pocket. Parts at MSRP is 1183.76 but if i ordered them myself online at my dealer the discount on parts brought the parts total down to 874.98. Labor was 228.38. So if you need this done outside of warranty, look to spend around 1100. At least i get a new cat so i don't need to worry about the second one. A local yard will give me about 130 for the old cat so i guess better than nothing. Took some pictures and video(Youtube) for anyone interested in seeing how the actuator opens and closes to either route hot exhaust through the exchanger or straight through the submuffler. PXL_20210806_182946481.MP.jpg PXL_20210806_182959652.NIGHT.jpg PXL_20210806_183046141.NIGHT.jpg PXL_20210806_184342025.NIGHT.jpg

     
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  6. Mukunda

    Mukunda Junior Member

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    I own 2016 Prius Two.
    Dealer replaced Exhaust pipe in Sep 2022 using T-SB-0135-19 free of charge

    Service notes says coolant is low, it is not saying anything related to coolant leakage test.
    now I have 51K and engine stopped working due to overheat
    emitted P00B111, P011511, P148F AND P319000

    P148F and T-SB-0135-19 are clearly connected.
     
  7. CA Guy

    CA Guy Junior Member

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    Just to add a data point.

    My 2016 with 100k miles just had the same issue. Coolant was dropping about 1 inch every month.

    Dealer is ordering the parts and will repair it under California Emission warranty.

    Thank you OP for the post. I printed the TSB and handed it over to the service advisor. He said it was helpful.
     
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