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2014 Prius c overheating

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Edoricko, Dec 21, 2023.

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  1. Edoricko

    Edoricko New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2023
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    Location:
    Hawthorne, ca
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius c
    Model:
    Five
    Hi all, I had a leaking head gasket, rough starts every time for a minute (coolant in cylinder?) so did blue devil, seemed to seal it, but electric water pump was damaged got codes-prior due to overheating low coolant so I replaced water pump with new because started overheating again and did 2-3 radiator coolant flushes (no circulation) and then kept overheating (1.5” coolant tube coming up from thermostat housing was always cold when others were hot and boiling, so I replaced with new thermostat housing, same problem exists. I replaced radiator cap with new pan, same problemThe car overheats after gas engine heats up driving for 10 minutes or so.
    questions-
    1-can I remove the thermostat from the housing and then coolant will always circulate hence no overheating/boiling? What’s the downsides of this?
    2-one mechanic said needs new head gasket because he piped radiator cap and steam came out (said bad head gasket causes pressure) but engine is 265,000 so don’t want to invest as I’ll eventually put new used low mile engine in
    3-how would I effectively Bleed out the air? I put a radiator cap funnel and tan it 30-40 minutes bubbling out the cap into funnel, a couple times but not sure it ever stopped bubbling since no circulation on cold hose up from water pump/thermostat
    I can’t find videos specific to bleeding out small tubes going to heater coil etc for Prius C and it’s different then regular Prius.

    many help comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks
     
    #1 Edoricko, Dec 21, 2023
  2. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
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    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    It can be difficult to recover once the blue devil does its devilish thing. It sometimes seals head gaskets and almost always constricts the radiator and heater core, so you tend to lose a lot of cooling performance afterwards.

    I'd probably start with a new radiator, and I would definitely have one in there before another engine goes in. And pray the heater core isn't blocked by the devil, because that's an insane amount of labor to replace.

    I've never tried running a c without a thermostat, but in every other car? It usually means the engine never makes it up to full operating temperature, so your MPG takes a hit.

    You can also have more atmospheric condensation gathering in your motor oil than usual. This is because it never gets hot enough to boil the emulsified water out through the PCV plumbing like normal.
     
    #2 Leadfoot J. McCoalroller, Dec 21, 2023
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    #3 bisco, Dec 21, 2023
  4. Sonic_TH

    Sonic_TH Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2020
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    Location:
    Puerto Rico
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    You should have replaced the ICE water pump and thermostat on the first overheat. Do not keep using the car like that, the engine will get damaged with that many overheat cycles.
     
    #4 Sonic_TH, Dec 21, 2023
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