Diagnostic help 2008 Prius

Please post the VIN

Which duct is missing? There are three: Seat to fan, fan to battery, battery to wheelwell. Strictly speaking, fan to battery is crucial, and the others are more window dressing. Check also to see that the fan itself is plugged in.

How long are you able to drive until it codes?

Clearly, having a missing battery fan duct, on a 4.x year old Prius, with only 1800 miles, that's a very bad sign. What was the story as to why it only had 1800 miles?

 

Does this look like your car?

Salvage 2008 Toyota PRIUS for Sale from Copart

It is both bad news (the car had been in an accident) and good news (we know where all the repairs were made). Because it was hit in the front, I suspect your problems are there, rather than the missing duct. Since it happens after you have been driving for a while, I suspect that the inverter coolant pump is not working. Take a look at this video:

If it is not that, then you will need someone very, very experienced to track down the problem, because it could be a damaged connector somewhere that is causing an intermittent problem. I don't know where you are in WV, but there are a couple of guys that I would take it to: toyotatechwv, a dealership tech, and josh2008, a former dealership tech who might be willing to do it on the side. There is also AutoBeYours.com in Scottsburg, Indiana, which specialized on rebuilding cars that looked just like yours and they also do repairs.

 

In ohio a vehicle that was salvage and restored back to operational condition must be given a rebuilt-restored title. If you have such a title that indicates that it was once salvage and has been brought back to operational condition (in theory). FYI - Ohio has had numerous problems in years past with titles not being properly marked as salvage.

If you didn't receive a rebuilt-restored title then you probably have a great small claims suit against the seller from which you could , after you win, take the repair shop's equipment and lock down their shop if they refuse to pay you. That kind of leverage will most likely allow you to take the vehicle back to them and get you r money back which you should do ASAP !

Always pull carfaxes and autochecks for any Vin on any used vehicle that you ever by from any source.

Since you did pull a carfax, carfax has a buyback guarantee that might apply in this case if it did not show the vehicle as having a branded (i.e. salvage) title. Check here:

http://www.carfax.com/manifest/bbg/termsConditions.cfx

If you didn't pull the carfax yourself and just let the slimy repair shop give you one then they may have given you a carfax from a different car or something equally dishonest.

 

That is NOT a happy Prius
Notice that the passenger side rear door has also been damaged which is where the hybrid battery cooling system is.

not good.

 

According to the auction website, the car had a clear title. This can happen if an owner does not carry collision coverage on their vehicle and causes an at-fault accident. Then, either the owner, the lienholder, or the wrecker/impound sends the vehicle to auction with clear title. It happens, probably 1 out of 20 Prii on Copart are like this. Since there was no insurance payout, there was no total loss declaration, no salvage title, and therefore, no CarFax. I don't know if you have any recourse with CarFax in a case like this.

 

That's an absolute shame.