Coolant detected in exhaust

So glad, I first read this post before going to the dealership. I printed the TSB and showed it to the adviser. They ran a diagnostic and, it came out as faulty heat exchanger. They told me it's covered under emissions warranty. It cover parts AND labor so, nothing to pay except the one hour they took to do a diagnostic.

 

That should be free too? That “diagnostic fee” is something that came about in maybe the last 20 years, and they love it.

Or you could charge them for doing the TSB legwork, lol.

 

And that's why I usually avoid them like the plague. They asked me if I wanted them to do maintenance work while they had my car. I politely refused, told them to just do the diagnostic and give me back the car. By the way, I had a chance to look at their inventory while I was waiting. I asked a seller if they had any 2023 Prius. He told me they have a two years waiting list but they did receive one last week. He said it was reserved for the manager's wife. Not only do they charge inflated prices but, they keep the good stuff for themselves. Wow, just Wow.

 

Great information on here and I thought I would do the top end pipe bypass on my daughter's car, but there's on limited similarity with the video. The pipes and connections look the same if I shine a torch in, but there's no way I could get my hands or any tools in to do any disconnections. Is it really a Prius he's working on> If so has he removed lots of panels to get at it - looks to me like all the area around the windscreen wipers would need to come off as well as probably the air intake box?
Mike

 

My wife has a 2018 Touring with approx 90K. Noticed no heat when we had our first cold snap in late october. checked collant and it was really low. Topped it up and kept an eye on it. Sure enough, it kept losing coolant. Took it to the dealership TWICE; the first time,(November 23) the only thing that they could come up with after having it for 5 HOURS was to swap out the reservoir cap, which I did. $200 + $60 for cap. Went home relieved but skeptical.
Three weeks later, coolant level drops again. Keep topping it up. Brought it back Dec 23. ANOTHER 6 HOURS AND $180 This time they ruled out heater core and head gasket . Here's his report:
" Check heater core,throttle body, egr,exhaust for leak. Nothing found.
check engine cylinders for leak,nothing found.
Ran through everything in the engine coolant system and could find no leaks. Nothing to fix if I can't find anything wrong"

I mentioned the TSB but they were somewhat dismissive. There's never been an engine light indicating any problem. What should I do?

 

call toyota, the dealership is purposefully avoiding the issue for some reason.

 

Be glad there's no warning light. You'd get "engine overheating, shut down immediately" and possible engine warping/damage when the coolant runs out.

What do you want them to do? You're out of warranty. It's pretty clear it's the heat exchanger leak issue. Either spring for a new exhaust or figure out a way to do the bypass. Order the Gates 18777 Premium Molded Heater Hose for $8.85 from Amazon.com and either DIY or find an independent mechanic to remove the existing hoses and install the bypass hose between the car and catalytic converter. Reuse the existing hose clamps.

 

I would do the bypass as a simple diagnostic test and then decide whether you want the new exhaust

 

Yep, and don't forget to zip-tie the hoses way from heat sources and sharp edges that can potentially rub a hole into the hose.

Good Luck....

 

was cleaning out the MAF on my 2016 prius with 134k miles and noticed low coolant the other day. took it to the dealership with the TSB in hand and they wanted to charge me $220 for a diagnostic to confirm it was indeed the issue. I wasn't 100% sure so I told them I'd come back. I'm planning to continue monitoring the coolant levels and see if it keeps dropping and if it does then I'll go ahead and take it to the dealership to confirm since they'll waive the $200 fee if its covered under warranty. Are there any other tell-tale signs that I should look for? No check engine light, heat seems to be working fine, mpg is low (but has been low for the past few months).

 

White smoke from the exhaust

 

Bumping this thread because it now seems I have this same issue, indeed every Prius owner 2016-2019 is going to have this issue

Im from UK like Original Poster , I think someone else mentioned also its not covered by UK warranty anyway.

Urgh what a nightmare , I dont see any point in getting the issue fixed as the engineering flaw remains and will re-appear again in a few years.

Just to post this video again which explains the problem very well