Just purchased a 2009 Prius; why my coolant disappears?

Did you initial service include a coolant drain? That belt you replaced, it's the belt that drives the water pump.

If you had the coolant drained, they probably didn't bleed the air out properly and didn't put in the required amount of coolant. Try topping off the coolant in the radiator and run the car. If there is a blown head gasket (which is not common on this generation), the fluid will splash back up with the radiator cap off.

 

That mechanic sound worse than worthless... I doubt their blown head gasket diagnosis. What were the original error codes from red triangle? This sounds like an inverter coolant pump problem. That's a cheap and easy fix too!

 

1NZ blown head gasket highly unlikely it's just not been bled and the only belt you could replace I would think is the one that drives the water pump so probably just a good bleeding and all that sort of thing.

 

why would the coolant disappear?

 

this would depend if the mechanic drained his coolant. If they drain 2 gallons and put back 1.5 gallons, the car would overheat.

I'd be curious to see if there's actually a belt there, or the belt isn't there. Without the belt, the water pump would not be working.

I find the "head gasket failure" strange as you have already driven this car for 2 days without the problem. Now after the maintenance, you get this problem

 

how much coolant are you adding?

 

It can take a while to get all the air out of the cooling system. Dig around on this forum and you will find some threads discussing how to do this. There are also videos on youtube. If you don't see white smoke coming out of the tail pipe, creamy oil, or coolant dripping out somewhere, then most likely it is still just air in the system.

 

Sitting around with the caps off is a good way to start getting the air out for sure Crank it let it run for a few minutes while you do whatever let it get warm all that stuff where things are open and hoses are doing their things. Turn it off leave the caps off air will work its way to the top has a funny way of doing that. I never have to overly bleed my '09 at all and I've had the fluids drained out of sucked it out with a hose stuck in holes with a vacuum and all that mess. And still can't get the rated quantities back in the thing burping and bleeding and burping and whatever so I don't worry about it but I also have no overheating and nothing vanishing once I get the stuff on the jugs where they need to be they stay that way for years.

 

i would do this:

1) fill the coolant every time you drive and calculate how much you're losing

2) call the shop and ask them for the trouble codes they pulled

3) try bleeding the air out, or take it somewhere that works on prius.

where are you, maybe there's someone not too far away

4) if all else fails, get another leak down test from a hybrid shop if there is one.

sealants don't really work, and they gum everything up from what i've read.

if it is a head gasket, the cost may be too much, but maybe you can keep driving if you keep the coolant topped

 

Doing nothing is not much of an option for an engine with a head gasket problem. It is very likely to strand you and your passenger somewhere inconvenient. Overheating is the worst thing for an engine short of running out of oil. Which gen2s can do. My guess is the seller already used a sealer and it worked long enough to sell it. You need to get credit somewhere and get the engine.

 

Did you fill the car back up with coolant? Why don't you try that, every morning top off the radiator with coolant. See if the coolant is missing daily or it eventually will be full when you open the radiator cap. From my experience, it takes about 3 to 4 days before you actually see the coolant full when you open the cap.

190k with a head gasket failure, that's pretty rare for the gen 2 cars. Also you don't really need a hybrid mechanic to look into a head gasket failure, it has nothing to do with the hybrid side. I'm curious if this mechanic offered to buy your car? The mechanics in LA are very shady, you go in there with a "I want to check if I have a head gasket failure?" they often will tell you the worst possibly scenario to your car and then offer to buy the headache off your hands. When there is very little wrong with the car

 

"How long can a horse run with a broken leg?"

Coolant loss + sometimes misfire + overheat light + " positive" chemical leak test result = failing head gasket. The chemical test checks for CO2 (a byproduct of combustion) in the coolant and changes color in response. Blue is OK. Green is some combustion gas (CO2) present. A bad leak will turn the chemical piss yellow.

Any engine can have a head gasket fail- it's just very infrequent on most any Toyota (except the Gen3 prius?). If you don't do something you WILL destroy the engine very quickly. Once the head gasket leaks it will get worse - faster.

Sealer may or may not buy you some time. Weeks or months- who knows? Do your research as to what brand has the best reviews.

Don't know why places make such a fuss- a Gen2 prius has the "same" engine as a Yaris or Echo. Just nuts and bolts. That said, many shops won't do "heavy" internal engine work (it's high risk of engine failure due to overheat/ damage, or they don't want to tie up a tech and bay for a long time when they can do other work - more $$ for less time.).

Engine swap is the most money but when done correctly is the most reliable option.



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Considering the prices most people in LA pay that's a pretty good deal, especially considering the warranty. Only other prices in the future that could be expensive is battery pack and brake accumulator, but as long as you didn't buy a lemon, the constant driving via uber will keep your battery pack happy. In coming years you'll want to upgrade to an advanced Lithium pack $2300 to boost gas mileage & overall performance, so set aside a little money every month for that soon as you're done dealing with the loss of $2K.