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Front-end damage safety question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by anneinaprius, Feb 15, 2014.

  1. anneinaprius

    anneinaprius New Member

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    My 2008 Prius plowed from an icy curve into a snowbank today, pushing in the bottom front of the car (where the grille is and below) back perhaps 8" or a foot. My question is whether it's safe to drive it for up to perhaps 1/2 hour or so before I can get it into an auto body shop (tomorrow is Sunday). I don't know what would have gotten damaged there.

    I did drive it home after the accident, about 10-15 minutes, and it seemed to be running just fine. Thanks.
     
    #1 anneinaprius, Feb 15, 2014
  2. xpcman

    xpcman Senior Member

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    The cooling radiator for the Inverter is located in lower grill area. You don't want to fry the Inverter because the liquid leaked out. The Inverter is a big bucks replacement item. Saving $100 towing big might cost you $1,000 or more. Can you get it out of the snow so you can check the radiators?
     
    #2 xpcman, Feb 15, 2014
  3. anneinaprius

    anneinaprius New Member

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    Thanks for your reply. I had the car towed out of the snowdrift, then I drove it home. I didn't see anything that looked like liquid on the snow where it was, although I didn't actually get out and look. I can check tomorrow morning to see if anything has leaked overnight (although there would be some melted snow). Would that radiator be on the left, center, right, or all across the front? Is the radiator accessible under the hood? At least we've got cold weather here.
     
    #3 anneinaprius, Feb 16, 2014
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The radiator runs across the front of the car. A large black plastic panel covers the top of the radiator.

    That panel is held on with six plastic fasteners. Each fastener can be removed by using a Philips screwdriver to rotate the fastener while applying upwards pressure on the panel, to pop the fastener out.

    Check the inverter coolant reservoir (located between the inverter and the engine) and the engine radiator overflow container (located behind the radiator). You should see pink coolant in both reservoirs and ideally the coolant will be at or near the full marks in both reservoirs.

    If you don't see coolant in a reservoir then it is likely that system has a leak and the car should not be driven.
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, Feb 16, 2014
  5. anneinaprius

    anneinaprius New Member

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    Thanks, Patrick. Before I go look, I want to ask whether I get to the large plastic panel covering the top of the radiator simply by opening the hood? And I'll see that panel there somewhere near the front?

    Are the coolant levels the only thing I really need to be concerned about? Remember, the grille area is pushed back a good 8"-12". I may avoid the whole issue and take taxis to where I need to go today...
     
    #5 anneinaprius, Feb 16, 2014
  6. orenji

    orenji Senior Member

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    Radiator is at the front and black cover is at the front. If you see any leakage on the ground, red in color don't drive it. The snow will help see it. If you can hold off on driving it, until you have it inspected, it would be best.
     
    #6 orenji, Feb 16, 2014
  7. EKIM

    EKIM Junior Member

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    Based on your responses, I suggest you take a taxi.

    In this case, if you're not sure, spend those few extra dollars today until you can have it checked out by someone who knows. I've completely stripped the front end of a prius before and I can think of a bunch of things in the coolant system that can be displaced and cause trouble in a short amount of time. The coolant recovery tank unfortunately is very vulnerable at the front left corner, plus all of the obvious heat exchangers/radiators right there.
     
    #7 EKIM, Feb 16, 2014
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The ac condenser is in front of the radiator. That's going to get damaged first. Rad is behind it. Sounds like just body damage and hasn't hit anything structural yet.

    Don't use the AC until that's checked out though. If you run the ac and the condenser has been punctured and the gas has leaked out you'll burn up the ac compressor if you use it.
     
    #8 edthefox5, Feb 16, 2014
  9. anneinaprius

    anneinaprius New Member

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    I discovered the basic answer to my question this morning when I went to look at my car. Part of the bottom (rubberized plastic?) had been shoved up and back in front of the radiator; this had snapped down, and with the grille gone I could see that there was simply a lot of space (that 8-12 inches) between the front of the car. Anyway, there was no red liquid dripping anywhere, so I felt free to drive it over to my body shop to get an estimate, and they told me it was perfectly safe to drive. (Nice going, Prius designers! All or mostly only body damage.)

    Thanks for all the various replies!
     
    #9 anneinaprius, Feb 17, 2014
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  10. anneinaprius

    anneinaprius New Member

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    P.S., I did take a taxi to where I had to go on Sunday.
     
    #10 anneinaprius, Feb 17, 2014
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