Well my wife just drove the new prius C to shopping about 15 miles from here. On her way home she said she noticed an engine light and the screen came up with check Hybrid system stop vehicle in safe place and the last bit the temp symbol came up. She had to get off the expressway and we are only a couple miles off the expressway so she drove it home being a Sunday. Upon opening the hood there was coolent sprayed all over, the cap must have given under pressure. The car has 600 miles on it.
Stuff breaks. Unless you can find the leak and seal it.......and put some water back in there temporarily....... Call your dealer and have them come tow it. Your wife really make a mistake. Hope it didn't make things worse. (Might want to NOT tell the dealer that it was driven after the warning lights came on.)
I don't think it was a leak. I think it the pressure built up and overcame the cap seal. They are usually set at about 15 or so PSI. If they do not cover it they can come get it and I will not pay the first payment. LOL. Not a good sign for prius. It was bought at Cramer Toyota Venice Fla. We will see how they do on loner cars and service. Not sure if they will pick it up or if I have to put it on my insurance.
It is under warranty. That includes towing when the car is not driveable.......which yours is not at the moment. Unless you did something to physically damage it, Toyota should cover it. And they won't know that until they get a look at it. On most models, just simply not tightening the cap properly will allow the coolant to boil out. If you have not had the cap off before, YOU can't be blamed for the problem.
I have checked the oil and put gas in it once. That is the extent of my playing with engine parts. I put a hitch on it and put a bike rack with two bikes on it for a 12 mile run to the bike path. If that hurt it its a POS car. LOL
Got the call, it was a failed elect. water pump. New one ordered and I asked if it heated to hurt the heads. Was told no, it would have shut down before that. Should be done tomorrow afternoon.
Really ?? These cars now have automatic overheat shutdown protection ??? Should be possible......and desirable......but that's the first I've heard it mentioned. I'm more than a little skeptical.
Just telling you what the service manager told me. Not that a service manager was ever full of crap or anything.
Well my wife went to pick it up and they said they do not have a key for it at Cramer Toyota Venice. What a LOS. I watched as their tow truck guy drove the car to the back of the tow truck, how did they run it to test it? I am fast becoming not happy with Cramer Toyota. They finally found the key and then the front seat had oil marks on it. LOL It just keeps getting better an better.
Welcome to the modern American car dealer. I always expect the worst. From the full of crap nitwit service advisor to the army of sales people Who descend on you to the greasy fingerprints all over the car.. I only go there to buy the OEM oil filter and then run out of there like the cops are chasing me.
When my wife got home I inspected the car. The eng. compartment still had coolant all over it. I would have thought they would have at least did a minor detail. I rinsed it down myself and did a quick wipe down. Took about 2 min. I am not sure where the coolant level should be on the C. The reservoir has two parts an upper and lower with a throat in-between. The reservoir on mine is built like an hourglass in that it has an upper and lower compartment with a thinner center. The lower is full cold. I expect this is fine and will expand.
Your C has an overflow container with the HI/LOW molded in. I ran over the markings with a sharpie just to make things easier to read at a glance. After a heat and cool cycle or two, check the level. Add accordingly if low.
When I read stuff like this I'm so glad my Toyota dealer seems honest, competent, and concerned about my happiness with the service department. I've never had a problem with them in regards to servicing my C or an Echo I owned some time ago.
