I have a 2003 prius here in Northern California. It has been a reliable car, and the maintenance has been a lot less than my previous cars. Mostly, we took it in for any recalls, and otherwise routine maintenance. It is on its third set of tires (which usually last 5 years), we change the oil on schedule (every 7500 miles or so), and it is on its third 12-volt battery. The HV battery seems to be just fine. So no major complaints. Today (Sept 2014) when it went in for a routine oil change, apparently the pump is leaking and it needs a new one, at just under 90,000 miles. I am surprised only because the water pump was already replaced in this car after 63,000 miles in May 2010 (52 months ago). Toyota tells me this pump was never subject to a recall, and they agree with my independent shop that this situation is within the realm of just normal wear and tear, and there is no way to predict whether this pump will last 5 years or 10 years more. Does that sound right to the smart folks on this forum? Thank you! Of course, the HV battery is getting old, too. Maybe I should start thinking about replacing the 2003 with a 2015 model?
1. Are you referring to the engine coolant pump? 2. If so, did you go and look at the engine to confirm that in fact the pump is leaking? 3. If not, I would encourage you to do so, rather than take the word of the service writer or mechanic. Ask them to show you the leak and bring along a flashlight if needed for viewing. 4. If in fact you see a substantial leak (typically a pinkish residue on the coolant pump pulley) then clearly the pump will need to be replaced, regardless of how new or old it may be. 5. But it could be that someone is pulling your chain in the hopes of extracting an additional $300 from you and if so, then no action is required other than removing your car as quickly as possible from that shop, and making a personal vow never to return. 6. That happened to my daughter when she was driving my 2004 Prius in Orange County and took the car to a dealer there for an oil change. The link below will take you to my thread which explains how to replace the engine coolant pump - in my case the pump leak was really minor and the pump could have remained in service, but I already had purchased a replacement and needed a topic to write a thread about. How to replace engine coolant pump and thermostat | PriusChat
I replaced my ICE coolant pump a couple weeks ago at 160k, as a preventative measure...along with new serpentine belt, tensioner pulley, AC clutch, and lower hose...essentially everything belt related all in one swell foop. I have had failures of these individual parts on the road on other cars requiring a tow, so on high mileage cars, I replace them all as a system and I recommed you do, too. I bought my parts ahead of time off Ebay, all came in 3 days and it took me an hour and a half to replace all with the car up on a friend's lift. The water pump itself cost $22. delivered. There is little additional time needed to replace the rest of the parts once you have the belt off. R.
A friend of mine has a 2002 with about 150,000 miles on it. He got the "triangle of death", and thought that it must be the big battery. Well, the experts at the Toyota dealer fired up the diagnostics, gathered together, and solved the problem for $150. It was the gas cap. Lesson seems to be if the car has the triangle ON and seems to otherwise be working ok, replace the gas cap.
Ha-ha! I also have had a gas cap thingy. I had the P0420 code that was coming up about every 60 miles or so and everything I was finding leading to replacing the cat converter which I was not going to do. Well off of a whim as I just happened to have an extra used gas cap from a different car I said what the heck I am going to just try putting this one on. I have now gone over 5000 miles with the code only coming on once so I re-tightened the cap and it has not come back. So I think these cars are touchy about the gas caps. TomK
