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2010 Prius Overheating issue fixed

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Analyst, Feb 18, 2023.

  1. Analyst

    Analyst New Member

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    If you want to read more about the issue I had:
    2010 Prius Overheating issue. | PriusChat

    I was overheating with a full coolant reservoir, a new thermostat from an old Prius and a new ECT sensor from the same scrap Prius. Only thing left to change was the water pump. Today I took out the old water pump and luckily the middle part where it was supposed to spin freely didn’t spin freely, this confirmed my issue that the water pump was in fact seized. This saved a bunch of headache trying to diagnose random shit. I put in my new Aisin water pump$150 (170 overnight shipping) off amazon. I took it for a drive and was still overheating but not as bad, I stopped st a gas station and popped the trunk, the coolant reservoir was empty (I’m guessing because of air pockets) after topping it off it ran perfectly at 192 F for over 4 hours of highway and city driving.
    Total:
    $170=Aisin water pump
    $20= coolant
    $60= auto zone tool set
     
    bisco likes this.
  2. Analyst

    Analyst New Member

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    I wonder why the water pump seized. Maybe because of my overheating during when my thermostat was failing
     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Well it was a 2010 Asian plastic impellered electric water pump just with the age of the vehicle it's X amount of years old doesn't worry me too much probably should have failed If you would have taken the four bolts or the two or three bolts on the other side of the water pump and pull that cover off you could have pulled the impeller out and seen what you were feeling I've taken pictures but they're too hard to post here from a pump I did a while ago it seems pretty common actually especially once they overheat or get really hot a couple of times I guess this plastic can just lift off the impeller It's wrapped around the metal I guess it's to keep it smooth and spinning freely when it's working properly but once it gets overheated and cracks then it keeps the impeller from spinning and it's bore and you have overheating quite normal actually I would think you might want to get a new thermostat just because I don't know how old the old one is as in mileage or time or years thermostats are very inexpensive as parts go or if you start to overheat your car again your new water pump will do the same thing. Good luck
     
  4. Analyst

    Analyst New Member

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    I would’ve gotten a thermostat from autozome or some shit but my father told me OEM is better than any aftermarket so I just stuck with it. Hopefully this fixed my issue permanently, but if this current water pump fails (Aisin) I will be replacing it with a genuine Toyota one
     
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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    The Asian brand is the original maker of the pump so if that's what you bought online that should be the original factory the ones that don't do so well are made by the same factory people seem to think but when you look at the cover the silver part you can clearly see the Asian word has been ground off maybe that's done during quality control ones that don't pass get that name ground off get thrown in a bucket some other company buys all those and does I don't know what with them sells them on eBay an electric water pump should not pose such a threat and a failure rate problem it is a pretty simple device My big bore Italian scooters have had them for a quarter century almost so I don't see what the problem is most of these actually that I've seen fail have well over 100,000 miles on them by most accounts that's generally life.
     
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  6. Analyst

    Analyst New Member

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    The water pump I bought off Amazon does indeed have Aisin not scratched off but has Toyota scratched off. I’ve read many reviews and people on these forums telling me the Aisin water pump ($160) isn’t as good as a Toyota parts water pump straight from Toyota. I believe my car is running healthy now, I have put around 250 miles since replacing it and have been carefully monitoring using my diagnostic tool to inspect live data. Stayed within the range 187-194 (highway 65mph). So I don’t believe there is any reason for this water pump to fail or have any extra stress on it since everything. is doing its job properly as of right now
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you are better off with the oem, there have been a lot of bad fake water pumps and other parts
     
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  8. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    I do not think your thermostat was failing. If it was failing, you would still have the problem since you did not replace it. Your problem with the engine overheating was caused by the water pump impeller not being able to rotate freely. The impeller sticks and does not rotate at the required speed to move the coolant to cool the engine.

    The coolant should be replaced at 100k miles/10 years and then 50k miles/5 years thereafter. Maybe the coolant was not replaced at 100k and 150k miles.

    Please report back on this thread 1 and 2 years from now, and let us know how the Aisin water pump is holding up.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #8 Brian1954, Feb 21, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2023
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Just my impressions from what I’ve read here: Toyota’s water pump is made by Aisin, and genuine Aisin (WPT-190) is equivalent, same quality.
     
  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I've even seen people here go as far as to say they received Aisin pumps where a Toyota logo was part of the casting mold, and then ground off of the pump.

    Not all of those threads go on to consider on what basis Aisin might decide which of those pumps to sell to Toyota, and which ones to grind the logos off of and sell in other channels.
     
  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Or someone makes a fake Aisin, and grind a little (blank) zone where Toyota logo would be? :coffee:
     
  12. Analyst

    Analyst New Member

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    I did replace the thermostat, from an old Prius but it was still replaced along with an ECT sensor from the same donor Prius.
     
  13. Analyst

    Analyst New Member

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    Once I replaced the thermostat and ECT sensor, I put around 500 miles on it with no overheating. A week later the water pump started to show major signs of being seized.
     
  14. Analyst

    Analyst New Member

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    What I was thinking too, Aisin most likely intentionally grounds off the area where Toyota is located to make it seem like it’s “OEM”