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pre-purchase inspection - coolant issues?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by timinfl, Jul 3, 2013.

  1. timinfl

    timinfl New Member

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    I posted earlier in the newbie forum, but thought I'd get more responses here. Apologies for the cross-posting.

    So I had a 2006 with 86k mi inspected today as due diligence before potentially purchasing. Unfortunately, the mechanic was not a specialist, but I went with him because he was vouched for by my girlfriend's family and as a bonus he is located conveniently close to the dealer. Anyway, he said almost everything looks great, no issues driving, super clean, the previous owners were good about maintenance.

    However, he raised two issues:
    1. Standard concerns about the longevity of the battery. I've just read up on this here (again), and I'm more or less convinced it's a small risk that I'm willing to take, on par with the risk involved buying any used car.

    More importantly...

    2. The coolant reservoir appeared to be empty, but there was no leak that he could find. Indeed, at the dealer's, I did not see evidence of a leak underneath the car. I'm puzzled about this one. Could this just be dealer negligence? Or a hidden leak somewhere? Both? If the coolant were low, shouldn't an alert have appeared?

    I looked up the service records. Seems about a year/20,000 mi ago they replaced the following:

    HOSE, RADIATOR, N TO16571210801
    HOSE, RADIATOR, N TO16572210601
    HOSE CLAMP TO501064
    ANTIFREEZE GALLON TO002721LLAC011
    THERMOSTAT TO90916030931
    GASKET, WATER INL TO16325620101

    Also, about 3 years ago, the check engine light came on. Here's the description:

    CUSTOMER STATES CHECK ENGINE LIG HT ON WARNING LIGHT ~|~CODE P0A93 TSB ~|~R/R INVERTER WATER PUMP//CLEA R CODE

    And parts replaced:
    SUPER LONG LIFE C TO00272-SLLC2 1
    PUMP ASSY, WATER TOG9020-47031 1

    Apparently 'Super Long Life C' is Toyota's coolant. So looks like coolant issues have appeared previously. I'm worried that there is an internal leak that will be hard/expensive to diagnose, and that if left unaddressed could cause serious problems. Anyone experienced recurrent coolant issues?
     
    #1 timinfl, Jul 3, 2013
  2. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    The two repairs were for two independent cooling loops. The first one was for the engine cooling; looks like the thermostat went bad. The 2nd one was the know problem of inverter coolant pump went bad. So the two repairs are not related.

    Which reservoir is empty now? The one for the engine is at the front of the engine compartment. The one for the inverter is further back next to the shiny cover for the inverter.

    I would point to the dealer the empty reservoir and ask for a longer warranty period for the associated cooling system. (and obviously keep an eye on the coolant level) Good luck!
     
    #2 2009Prius, Jul 3, 2013
  3. timinfl

    timinfl New Member

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    It's the engine coolant reservoir.

    Unfortunately this is an independent dealer that is not able to offer a warranty. I wonder if I should use this as a bargaining chip and hope I can resolve it after buying, or if I should stay the hell away ;)
     
    #3 timinfl, Jul 3, 2013
  4. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    Don't most states require used car dealers to provide some limited warranty?

    The worst case would be an internal leak into the engine. Maybe take an oil sample and get it analyzed for coolant? But if the dealer just changed the oil then a small leak may not be detected.
     
    #4 2009Prius, Jul 3, 2013
  5. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    It is common for there to be air in the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) coolant system after the coolant is drained and refilled (sloppy attention to detail). When the air bubbles clear out, the coolant level drops and the engine may overheat in warm weather. Get an extra gallon of the correct coolant (Toyota type SSL -pink and pre-diluted) and fill the reservoir, then keep an eye on it (the level will drop again as the system fills to capacity when heat cycled).

    Plan on draining/refilling both loops every 50k miles from now on.

    JeffD
     
    #5 jdenenberg, Jul 3, 2013
  6. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Hi Tim. If it hasn't already been topped off with fluid then you should check under the actual radiator cap (with engine cold of course) and see whether or not the coolant level is *only* low in the expansion tank/reservoir, or if it is *also* low in the radiator itself.
     
    #6 uart, Jul 3, 2013
  7. timinfl

    timinfl New Member

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    I came across this suggestion from my googling. In this case, assuming the air has cleared out, if I (or the dealer) refill(s) the coolant, would that take car of the problem? In the suggestion I read, the poster recommended 'burping' the air out by putting the car on an incline and running the engine with the heat going.
     
    #7 timinfl, Jul 3, 2013
  8. timinfl

    timinfl New Member

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    Yes, this is what I'm most worried about, and I think the oil was recently changed.

    I'll have to double check about the warranty.
     
    #8 timinfl, Jul 3, 2013
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