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NEED your advise, what to do, dealer mishap...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by juliolopezgonzalez, Nov 3, 2011.

  1. juliolopezgonzalez

    juliolopezgonzalez Junior Member

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    I need your expert help. After having the towing company jumpstart my 05 Prius backwards I took it to the dealership to have it fixed. $300 and a claim against the towing company later and before pick up time I get a call from the dealership regarding the fan belt. They say it is noisy and/or worn and should be replaced. Since this is not the first time they tell me this I go ahead and replace it. $80 well spent and peace of mind that I will not be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a broken belt. Later in the afternoon I pick up the car and after running an errand I drive home (5 miles total). This has Haloween day.

    Yesterday I got up at 4am and prepare for my 1,000 miles Bend to San Diego commute. Left Bend at 4.30am. It was 20 degrees. I crank the heat to the max (86 for us Prius owners). No heat. Maybe it takes a little longer. 5 miles. Still no heat. AC works fine, but no heat. Dont really need AC in a morning like this though...10 miles. It must be 30 degrees inside the cabin. Still no heat. Maybe they forgot to replace the heater fuse that controls the heater that got burned when they jumpstarted the car backwards? 20 miles. I start to get the shivers. Outside temperature is in the single digits now. I am on 31 going south, past La Pine, middle of friggin' nowhere. Stop for a second, get my sky gloves and hat, my jacket and continue. After 40 miles I am convinced that the heater fuse is gone, so I decide to deal with the cold and drive. Stopped for some coffee in Lakeview and keep going. I switch to the energy screen and the SOC of the traction battery is down to one bar. I monitor it closely. Car is lacking power. The ICE is not recharging the main battery. Can barely make it up the hill. On the way down I let it coast down and the SOC goes up to 3 bars. They are gone in the next flat stretch of road. I pull over and call the dealer. The technician does not have a clear explanation of what is happening. Car is running ok other than the low battery and the lack of heating, it is about 10am now and I have covered about 300 miles. Temp in the mid 30s. I hit construction, stopped for 10 minutes. Red triangle goes off. Temp warning light on the screen goes off. Smell of refrigerant. I pull over inmediately and shut it off. Call USAA to send a tow truck over.

    By now those mechanically inclined know exactly what happened. For those like me, tow truck arrives, he opens the hood and says "there is no belt in this engine" to which I innocently answer "so what does that mean" The rest is now history. Had the car towed to Susanville, a non Toyota mechanic reaches to the bottom of the engine bay and retrieves a brand new belt, not used, clean, and proceeds to install it back and this time he makes sure that is solid and it will not fall the heck off, and we start the car. By now the engine is cold and is running very rough. Shut it off again. He checks the oil, dipstick right at the minimum, pours 2 quarts in. I tell him that this is very unusual for my car since every time I change the oil (every 5k religiously) the mechanic has told me that it is still full and very clean. Here is his mundane explanation: "belt fell off right after pick up. It was never mounted correctly. You drove a short distance and parked home. Next morning it was so cold that you drove 300 miles without a functioning water pump (hence no heat) until it got warm enough outside and you hit slower traffic; then the red light came on. You went thru the oil because the engine overheated but not hot enough for the warning sign to come on. And now what I suggest is that you have it towed to Toyota of Reno so they can have a look at it since there might be further damage that I am not able not feel confortable assessing"

    So got to Reno last night, got a hotel by the dealer and I was knocking on their door at 7am this morning. Checked in, told them the story, got a rental car and drove to SD. Got a call from them at 4pm and they told me that they were still testing and figuring out what happened to the car. To what I ask: what do they need to figure out?

    Toyota of Bend promised to make things right, but only if it is their fault. "Well the car has 114k and you might have a bad water pump" I was told...What??? Really??? What kind of proof do they need to assume responsibility for an incorrectly installed belt? I took pics of the empty pulley, a video of the retrieval of the belt, and have all the invoices from both the dealer in Bend and the mechanic in Susanville...

    Apologies from the long verborrheic story but want I am looking for is some input on how to handle the situation. Do dealers have insurance against this kind of "ooops"? Why is Toyota of Reno taking a full day to diagnose the car? What if they come up with some reason blaming me of driving it while overheating? (how could I know if the light did not come on-Toyota needs to put a temp gauge in the car). I love the car, I want to keep it as long as I have this commute, there is no other car that could come even close to it for this purpose. But if there is engine damage, or main battery damage that results on thousands of dollars... then what are my options? Please help. And thanks again for listening!
     
  2. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    At the fill line, a Prius only requires 1 quart -anything more than that is overfilling.
     
  3. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    Did you take a picture while the car was found to be without the belt? If not then at least get a receipt or written statement from the mechanic who put the belt back on and then complain to Toyota directly. Good luck!
     
  4. NYPrius1

    NYPrius1 Active Member

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    Write to Toyota, if no satisfaction from the Dealer.
    I would ask to be made whole for the Tow, Repair and Hotel Stay.
    Good Luck@!!
     
  5. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Well that sucks, hopefully you will prevail.... nice write up though!
     
  6. tv4fish

    tv4fish Member

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    My advice -- While everything is still fresh in your mind -- "Document, document" - you have pix, but I would write down the details of what has happened - Date - time - who you talked to - what they told you, etc, etc. I think you're going to be in for a long battle here. Good luck.
     
  7. 3prongpaul

    3prongpaul Hybrid Shop Owner, worked on 100's of Prius's

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    Shops have insurance for this kind of misshap. Talk to the service manager in Bend and tell them you expect them to "make it right" or you'll be in touch with Toyota Corporate....especially since they "sold" you on the new drive belt then improperly installed it....had you not taken their suggestion you'd probably be in San Diego driving your own car....and make sure other shop didn't overfill oil...too much oil is not good in a Prius....they may need to drain some out and/or clean out the intake manifold.
     
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  8. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    I guess that in this case by "right on the minimum" you probably mean right at the very bottom of the dipstick rather than right on the bottom dimple. As already pointed out the volume needed to fill from the bottom dimple is only about one quart.

    You need to monitor the oil consumption very closely over the next few hundred miles and see how much permanent damage has been done.
     
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The Reno dealer service dept may just be busy. The only way that the engine coolant pump could be at fault would be if the bearing froze, causing the belt to fall off. However from your story it sounds like the engine coolant pump is working fine.

    The Bend dealer will have insurance to cover the problem, but you first need to determine whether any lasting engine damage is present. This may require an engine compression test. Good luck.

    ~1.6 US quarts is needed to move from the lower to the upper dipstick dimple.
     
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  10. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Thanks Patrick. So does that mean that if two quarts was added to bring it up to the full dimple that (while obviously not an ideal situation) it propably had enough to at least maintain oil pressure?
     
  11. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Yes, if two quarts brought the oil level to full, then the engine had ~2 quarts circulating and that would allow engine oil pressure to be maintained as long as the OP did not take a corner fast or perform some other vehicular gymnastics.
     
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  12. juliolopezgonzalez

    juliolopezgonzalez Junior Member

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    Re: UPDATE!!!! NEED your advise, what to do, dealer mishap...

    Thanks everybody for the replies. Got a call today from Toyota of Bend. Engine is cooked. They have sent a guy down to Reno to pick up the car and tow it back to the tundra. A used engine with 50k in it has been ordered. There will be 1 yr warranty for both the engine and the labor. I will be doing 2500 miles a month so plenty of testing...They are paying for the Mechanic in Susanville, the tow to Reno, the hotel and the rental car, just like it should be. My Prius is getting a 2nd chance and I am rolling back the odometer about 65k miles on the ICE.

    If there is anything that you can think of I should do please let me know. My only concern is that main battery SOC down to one bar for 6 hrs...will that stress shorten its life?

    Again thank you and I will post a final update when everything is over and my little guy is safe resting in our garage.

    Julio
     
  13. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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  14. DonVentura

    DonVentura SoCal Prius Driver

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    Glad to hear they are stepping up and taking care of you. That means alot in my book!
     
  15. mickaphely

    mickaphely Senior Member

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    glad everything worked out for ya...
     
  16. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Make sure the A/C works after they do the job, since the compressor will be unbolted from the engine block and will have to be moved aside to drop the engine + transmission. Monitor the axle seals for leakage in the first month.

    This whole story is troubling. Not so much from the standpoint of the technician mistake, as this happens all the time. Rather, if the serpentine belt breaks, slips off, or whatever, then you may not know it until the red triangle tells you that you have overheated the engine, which probably means blown head gasket by then. :(
     
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  17. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Hey, keep us updated.

    I'm really happy to hear a dealership story that seems to be unfolding where the dealership does RIGHT.

    I'm really rooting for you, and Bend Toyota. Hope it all ends with everyone satisfied.
     
  18. juliolopezgonzalez

    juliolopezgonzalez Junior Member

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    Just ordered the Scangauge II, so I can keep an eye on that coolant temperature!!!

    Thanks again!
     
  19. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Re: UPDATE!!!! NEED your advise, what to do, dealer mishap...

    That wont hurt it Julio. Some people drive in conditions/terrain where they drain the battery to one or two bars quite regularly. Yours was only a "one off" and it probably only went down right near the end when the engine wasn't supplying enough power so the electrics were trying to compensate. Definitely shouldn't be a problem.
     
  20. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    That's the thing that I found most troubling too Seilerts. That's a very poor over-temperature warning if it only alerts you after the damage has been done. I've always thought it a bit lame that the Prius only has idiot lights instead of gauges but previously I'd thought that at least the idiot light for over temperature would work correctly. Now it appears that it might not. :(