Reservoir/Overflow Inverter Tank Leak??

Hi All,

Aside from other issues I am having with my prius, this was one lurking. I orginally thought the prius was "using" the coolant insufficiently. Anyhow, I bought this prius from a private dealer....(know how that goes)......

I would like to fix this asap, I removed thee cowl and beneath from an awesome tutorial from Patrick & company... Thanks

Now I see this little black hose that is dripping the coolant out of the reservoir . Its the skinny black hose which is clipped usually down by the tank.

MY assumption is that its supposed to be connected to the inverter? or a hose leading to an inverter..because this thing drips out all the coolant in less that an hour or so.

 

Thank You!

I have to rule it out now, I feel like such a rookie. Wow, I have never noticed this type of setup on a car before lol. Okay that will be ruled out.I m looking for a leak and it seems like its coming from somewhere behind the middle or underneath the inverter. ..So frustrating

 

Thank you @andrewclaus.

I also find t hard to believe the inverter is leaking. I feel I may have to pull or have the inverter pull out for inspection. Not really sure if I want to pull it out myself. I am almost there but I don't have the time. I'm inspecting this vehicle with my two children constantly trying to intercept me.

On second though I don't think the inverter itself is leaking, or at least I hope not. Either today or sometime this week I plan to inspect the location again. The disturbing part is how the leak is very fast.

Thanks for the tip on the seal. I will be checking it very very soon

 

When I pulled out the tank I noticed there was no seal. I very slowly pulled it out to make sure I cold see if the seal was damaged. Before I pulled the tank out I listened for the drip. It sounded like it was coming from the area where the tank feeds into the inverter. I placed my fingers in the area and the dripping stopped. I removed the tank and the dripping completely stopped. I plugged the inverter so nothing more than whatever leaked out wont again and now I placed a cardboard under the prius to see if the leak has been pinpointed.

Right now I'm praying it is just the seal. Do you know what the part number is?

@andrewclaus


To be continued.....

 

It has to be coming from somewhere near the tank because the tank itself empties out. Not the entire coolant system. I believe they share the same coolant??? or are the systems separated?

 

Does a seal go here? it seemed to be missing or broken I think....

 

@andrewclaus

Thanks for the tips! & Oh I really do hope so... either way, I will confirm here results here, Also do you think a local auto part store will carry it?

Like one of those NAPA stores? I also know another place which probably supplies thousands of mechanics.Thanks a million!

P.S. That is a super helpful graphic!

 

I'm having a hard time as well trying to figure out how it could be leaking through that seal. It makes no sense to me. Unless I dropped the deal somewhere in the engine bay when I took it off. (My 2 year old was pulling on my leg while I was doing this)

Another scenario I can imagine is the inverter itself where the coolant flows(bottom casing). I was looking at an inverter teardown from the member hobbit & and he explained how some 2nd hen Pri may possibly be victims of corrosion of the metal. This is very rare I believe. ( I will return with a reference to his page)

The only way for sure is to just replace the seal and cross my fingers.... lol. I still havent ordered the part by I think I will be so today.

 

@andrewclaus

Okay, problem has been solved. If it wasn't for your suggestion I wouldn't have found out the problem. However, I took a huge risk since I needed the car for work and I needed a o-ring from Toyota. I instead used a dermatex gasket maker for coolant systems.. It worked like a charm. I have driven about 212+ miles and the pri is not throwing any hv control codes. It has been 3 days and I have no leaking or overheating!

Solved for now. When I replace the brake actuator I will have the oem gasket so this is most likely a temporary fix.

thanks