1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Dealer possibly damaged my engine, how to proceed?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Brandon_P, Jun 2, 2019.

  1. Brandon_P

    Brandon_P Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2018
    16
    11
    0
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Hello,
    Just looking for some opinions here. My 2010 Prius had an accident where a piece of rebar jammed through the radiator and the AC condenser.

    After having my insurance company work on it, they sent it to my local Toyota dealer to have the water pump replaced and whatever computer update they couldn't do without the dealer software.

    Dealer installed the water pump but incorrectly installed a fuse. When the insurance shop went to test drive the car, of course it stalled out and died because the water pump was not working. They sent it back to Toyota and I was told they "incorrectly installed the fuse" and that's why it stalled out.

    Fast forward to a week later, the car had a massive head gasket leak. I had to replace the engine and my mechanic who did the work said their failure to install the water pump caused the engine heads to seize and break the engine due to a massive leak of coolant into the combustion chambers because the car overheated and went into a fail safe mode.

    Dealer contends the car had a head gasket leak before and any damage was already done. (Car did have a minor head gasket leak at about a few mililiters every 1,000 miles but it was drivable, after they messed with it the car was undriveable).

    My question is, was there any other damage potentially caused by them installing the fuse incorrectly?





    SM-N960U ?
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,693
    49,392
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    how many miles on her? a minor head gasket leak is only going to fail sooner or later
     
    Mendel Leisk and The Critic like this.
  3. Brandon_P

    Brandon_P Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2018
    16
    11
    0
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Failure occurred at approximately 110000 miles immediately after the dealer install the water pump incorrectly. The original leak I cannot tell seems the car always had it? I bought the car with 40,000 miles

    SM-N960U ?
     
  4. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2018
    1,419
    1,528
    38
    Location:
    Evansville, IN
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    You will never be able to prove the dealer did anything wrong. Due to this.

    Rebar thru radiator. Caused a radiator leak, and probably overheating. This is more likely the cause of the head gasket failure. The best you can hope for is getting the dealer to split the cost of the engine replacement with you.
     
    Tande likes this.