To replace my hoses or not to replace my hoses?

Welcome, and I will try to be.

I would suggest reducing your trust level in this guy.

I'm glad you "felt up" the hoses for yourself so that you can develop your own opinion about the hose condition. I would say that engine coolant hoses are a very low failure rate item on Prius. The engine just doesn't produce that much heat to stress the hoses unduly.

My 2004 had 231K miles when I sold it and the original hoses were still fine.

As to the count of 17, I don't see how he gets there unless he is counting PCV hoses, windshield wiper fluid hose, who knows what else.

The inverter/transaxle coolant hoses have an even lower stress level so don't worry about those unless you actually see a leak somewhere.

I would be more concerned about the 1) engine coolant pump and 2) inverter coolant pump with respect to preventive replacement. If you see pinkish or whitish stains on the interior of the engine coolant pump pulley, or deposited upon the air conditioner compressor housing, change the pump. If the inverter coolant pump has not been replaced in the last 100K miles, replace that preventively.

 

I had had bad hose experiences with an older vehicle before I bought my Gen 1 (which was eight years old when I bought it), so in a fit of boyscoutiness I bought all of the hoses then and there. I was not obsessive enough to put in the labor of replacing them before any need, but I stuck them in the trunk under the spare tire so that if there ever was a problem, I would have the right hose and not have the car out of service waiting for the right one to come in.

They were all still there under the spare tire when I sold the car eight years later at 234k miles, for roughly the value of those hoses (it was after a crash).

-Chap

 

Bought new 07 and have had it for 11 going on 12 years and all the hoses still look and feel good. With the exception of the 2 pcv hoses they make a wicked tight turn at the ends and they were dried up and cracked.

But 17 hoses and $2000 he's trying to rump you hard. Cross him off your list of TRUSTED SITES.

 

$1300 (rounding up) for new hoses. What are these hoses made of?

You should list this “trusted” mechanic, so others in Sacramento area can avoid. He must have a yacht payment due at your expense.

Maybe make a weekend excrusion to the bay area to have your car serviced by trustworthy Prius experts like Lusciou’s Garage (SF) or Art’s Automotive (Berkeley)? Maybe they might know a trustworthy Prius expert in Sacramento area, but younhave to call them.

 

If there’s residue around the hose - why not replace the hose instead of the pump? I’m having thay issue now and it looks like there’s a slit on then hose, leaks extremely quick. I’m trying everywhere on here to find videos on how to replace it but got me it’s simple - remove clamps, put new clamps and hose.

 

You can probably reuse the clamps.

If you choose not to, you can pick up replacement clamps of the proper size and type (constant-force spring clamps) at the dealer. I don't recommend the worm-gear type of clamp your local parts place might want to sell you.

I wonder how the hose developed a slit.

 

Is it at the end of the hose? Somebody might have used a screw driver to pry it off when changing the component to which it was attached. That can put a small cut in the end which might then slowly open up further with temperature cycles. However, that sort of damage usually stops propagating when it hits the clamp, so it usually doesn't leak.

If the slit is in the middle of the hose it might be because somebody clamped it too hard, again, starting a small gash which propagated, in this case both inward and along the line of the gash. This is why I much prefer to plug a hose than to clamp it shut.