Serious issues with my prius

About 2 months back I had a front end collision on my 2008 prius. After a long stay in the dealership/collision center I got the car back a couple of weeks back.

It ran fine for a few days with trips less than 20 miles. Then on Friday when I went on a Long Trip started getting the warning lights at about 40 miles into the trip. I pulled over the checked under the hood and saw the coolant was almost empty. So towed it back to dealership who after a couple of days said they had replaced the water pump which was under recall anyway. (At that time I didn't know there were 4 pumps and so didn't ask which pump)

Last week the same story again. Ran fine for shorter trips and on Friday started acting up after 50 miles. However this time there were no warning signs at all. Instead the car started stuttering and slowing down. After pulling over I shut it down and when I tried starting it again the car jerked every time it tried to switch over to engine from battery power, but could not start engine. So it's the tow truck again.

Anyway, the car is currently with the dealer who is yet to reproduce the issue (and haven't taken it for a really long drive yet). Here are my questions?

1. Some threads on the forum seem to indicate the problem is with inverter pump. If so and with the pump recently replaced could the dealer have done something wrong. Are there any specific things I can ask them to look for?

2. Why didn't the warning lights come on the second time? Could some sensor or warning system also have been messed up? Is there a way to check it's working alright?

3. Could anything like the inverter have been possibly ruined by this?

4. Could anything else cause these issues?

I really hope the knowledgeable people here can help me as I don't have a lot of faith on the dealer's service dept. now.

Thanks.

 

F8L: I don't own a code reader and I don't think the dealer saw the codes.

Yes. There were NO warning lights at all the second time. The coolant level was less than the max level but not too low. The fact that the issue happens after 50 miles of driving and goes away after a couple of hours of not driving makes me think it's related to overheating. But it's only a guess.

I am trying to get more information about the replacement part from the dealer. I'll update when I get it.

 

I talked to the dealer. They say they have replaced the Hybrid water Pump (part 0400032528) as it was leaking (This was after the first time the issue happened). But they can not reproduce the issue now even after driving for 150 miles.

uart,
I didn't check for the flow. At the time of the incident I was not aware of that.

seilerts,
Are the cooling systems for engine and inverter? Is there a link where I can read about the cooling system for prius?

Thanks
Sri

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I probably will be going to the dealer on Monday. I'll look for these things. Hope I can get some resolution soon.

 

UART,

That is a neat picture. Thanks. Removed ambiguities I might have had otherwise.

Thanks to the suggestions here, now I have some idea about what to look/ask for. But I am still wondering about not getting the warning lights even when I practically lost power and slowed to a crawl. Is it possible that some wiring related to warning systems has not been connected or a fuse blown? Is there a way to check for that?

 

Well. Finally the dealer was able to duplicate the issue. Now they say the engine oil was overfilled and that's what was causing the issue. Does this make sense? Or are they just blowing smoke?

 

Thanks. Yes. I didn't think it makes sense the car would run fine on short distances, if oil overflow is the issue. Guess it's not going to be over easily.