Help! Hybrid Engine overheating!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by YoDaddyAlex, Jun 18, 2007.

  1. YoDaddyAlex

    YoDaddyAlex Member

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    These past 2 weekends I receive a "problem" screen when driving on the freeway, or even on a street when it seems like I go above 50 MPH and it shows the icon that in the manual says the hybrid system is overheating.. I am taking my car into service tomorrow morning, its a "new 07" and I use quotes because a lady hit me and caused 16k in damages... so my question is, is this a serious issue with the hybrid system, or maybe just an electrical bug? Its really starting to scare me, I hope it isn't anything major. What should I expect when I go to the dealer? I hope they give me a free rental and I better not be paying anything for them to look at it and fix it. It should all be under warranty I hope.

    Thank you for any help!

    -Alex
     
    #1 YoDaddyAlex, Jun 18, 2007
  2. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    probably air in the coolant system. if they had to refill it (front end damage?) all the air probably wasn't bled out. it's really tedious to do it right, so chances are that's it.
     
    #2 galaxee, Jun 18, 2007
  3. YoDaddyAlex

    YoDaddyAlex Member

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    thanks for that. yep complete front end repair, everything replaced except the gas engine. Is that technically under warranty, or should I take it back to the repair shop that did the repairs not the dealership? I am afraid to take it to the repair shop because they always seem to find ways to scratch my car in various places
     
    #3 YoDaddyAlex, Jun 18, 2007
  4. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Gal's thought was my first thought as well. The coolant fill is notoriously difficult and time consuming. It probably needs a full bleed and proper fill.
     
    #4 efusco, Jun 18, 2007
  5. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Waitaminit... "repair shop [...] not the dealer"? Are you saying that you had $16K worth of repair work (presumably with someone else paying for it) done somewhere other than at a Prius-certified shop? If so, why? Prius is a great car, but I get the willies thinking of all the things that can go wrong with one and go undiagnosed and unrepaired by someone who doesn't know exactly what they're doing.

    (You can have warranty work done by any Toyota shop, you don't have to take it to the place you bought it. Pardon if you already know that, but it's surprising how many people don't. There are Prius-certified shops which are not Toyota dealers, but not very many yet.)
     
    #5 richard schumacher, Jun 18, 2007
  6. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    that's under your repair warranty, not the toyota warranty. but you may want to request that a dealership does the bleed procedure because it takes some finesse.
     
    #6 galaxee, Jun 18, 2007
  7. YoDaddyAlex

    YoDaddyAlex Member

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    I was directed to this shop by the Toyota Dealer, so I am assuming they were certified. They have my car now, and someone is going to pay for it if it costs money, the repair shop told me to take it to the dealer but he somehow tried to say if it ended up not being caused by the repairs they wouldn't pay for it. how can I prove it was? the rebuilt the entire front end again, of course it is caused by them!
     
    #7 YoDaddyAlex, Jun 18, 2007
  8. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    For what it's worth, proper air-bleeding of the two coolant systems should *not* cost a lot of money. Just an hour or so effort by somebody who understands how to do it. Seems very likely that you need this done, so please proceed, and then do you best to put the bill on somebody else's desk.
     
    #8 tochatihu, Jun 18, 2007
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