Over temp !!!

Actually the Prius "transmission" (called a Power Split Device) is incredibly simple mechanically. No clutches, belts, engaging/disengaging of gears, or anything like that. The complexity is in the software that controls the motor/generators.

 

A perfectly plausible scenario is that the coolant in the heat-exchanger became overheated when the exhaust bypass valve became stuck. It seems like the most likely cause for the overheating problem you described. Since the water pump is electric, I'm sure it would have resulted in a check-engine warning if it had failed.

If it was caused by a dead mouse or something, it's hardly the manufacturer's fault. This is the first time I've heard of this problem, so I think it's very rare.

 

My son had a sports car where the engine fault indicators were lit up like a Christmas tree. Seems that rats really liked the insulation material on his model and there were all kinds of shorts in the wiring. Only after we paid lots of $$ to fix it did we find out that this sort of damage is covered by comprehensive insurance .

 

I'd have tried to submit receipts to them afterwards.

 

My '85 Camry LE (a great car, BTW) had a mouse nest in it. Turns out after moving to a more rural home surrounded by open fields, we didn't realize keeping bags of dog food in the garage wasn't a great idea. (Till the bag with the hole chewed in the bottom clued us in.) By then, the mice found the engine heat a nice place to nest, and at the top of the engine was a nice collection of (toasted) dog food, along with a bevy of chewed wires. Fortunately, it was caught early enough that some friction tape and heat shrink was able to fix it. (Along with putting the dog food in a mouse-proof container.

I guess American mice like Toyota noodles (er, insulation).

 

Correction: I didn't mean I thought rodent infestations in vehicles was rare, I was talking about the Prius exhaust bypass valve.

Heck, I found a mouse living in an airplane I was flying!

 

I think there have been experiments with rodent-proof wires, but I believe a rodent will chew through anything on speculation that there may be something tasty inside...

I do digress, but I sense that this thread is no longer on a mission to resolve any particularly pressing issue.